movies about mental illness

just finished watching One Flew Over, it was great

I see "A Beautiful Mind" has been overlooked! I do believe the main character was Autistic.

I love "Good Will Hunting" and "Ordinary People" but the book, Ordinary People, was better. Little known movie, "Captain Newman, M.D." with Gregory Peck, the novel it's based on is wonderful too. "Spellbound" with Gregory Peck/Ingrid Bergman is a good thriller based on mental illness.

"Sylvia" The story of poet Sylvia Plath. (deals specifically with her struggle with bi-polar)

"Bell Jar" (About her breakdown)

Has anyone seen an old movie with Elizabeth Taylor.....I think it was called "Raintree County"?

I saw it when I was rather sick with my own mental illness. I really don't even remember what it was about, just that I felt connected to it some how...........

Raising Cain (1992) - MPD
Flowers In the Attic - Abuse, incest,
The Burning Bed - Domestic Violence/Battered Wife
A Thousand Acres - Abuse, incest
What About Bob - highly manipulative obsessive-compulsive

Just wanted to add: "Neverwas" to the list....... after watching it the other night for what must have been my 4th time in two years.

NEVERWAS

Based on the story of a well-educated psychiatrist who leaves a highly academic career to work at an institution where his father, a novelist, lived before writing a renowned children's book (and) while still trying to cope with his own childhood issue surrounding his fathers death thru suicide he encounters a schizophrenic patient who helps him discover the book's secrets and his place in the story.

Patient Played by: Ian McKellen - from The Lord of Rings - as Gandalf

hi everyone is Pink Floyds' The Wall listed? knocked me out of my chair....

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nowheretorun said:
hi everyone is Pink Floyds' The Wall listed?

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I have never watched it - but I know of it....... Drugs, Rock & Roll and LoVe lost from a Mother.

pretty intense.. i thought it should come with a strong warning... some straight forward stuff intermixed with rock video... warning warning.... an impressive piece of work...

I see Jinny got mine on her list but I'll repeat it anyways because I remember the impact this movie had on me...

"The Three Faces of Eve"

I don't know of many movies, but if you're into books, "Sybil" is a heart-rending one about DID and abuse to the extreme. It's pretty triggering though.

a good read.

September Morn,
With all due respect, "A Beautiful Mind" is about a Nobel mathmetician with schizophrenia (not autism). Just watched it a couple weeks ago. Wonderful. The first part of the movie is filmed from the perspective of the man who is ill--really helps one to understand that point of view.

Someone mentioned "Rain Man" which is about a man with autism, which is not a mental illness but a neurological disorder.

"As Good As It Gets" is great about a man with OCD, but the OCD is just a part of him--it's not the main point of the movie. Love it.

"Nell" isn't about mental illness per se, but does deal with some pretty significant childhood trauma and communication disorder. Jodi Foster starred, with Liam Neeson.

A foreign movie comes to mind from the 80's -- French maybe? "Blue" about a man with a girlfriend who deals with some pretty serious issues, undiagnosed but looks like could be bi-polar disorder. Powerful and realistic.

"Leaving Las Vegas" is about alcoholism and depression. It's pretty depressing to watch.

My favorite all time movie: They Might Be Giants with Joanne Woodward.

There was a really good movie from Argentina, made sometime in the 80's called Man facing Southeast. In my opinion K-Pax was in many ways simply a remake of it. Man facing southeast is in Spanish but has English titles.

--splitimage

sorry don't have one to add..

Sleeping with the Emeny...

is my all time favorite... it is... in my opinion... a classic for domestic violence... the plan she developed... reminded me so much of me.....taking swiming lessons... I planned for a full year...

Hi everyone,

This is a good post. Thank you. I wanted to add two movies to the mix. They are... Fear Strikes Out and Road to Galveston.

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Kelly3 said:
I don't know of many movies, but if you're into books, "Sybil" is a heart-rending one about DID and abuse to the extreme. It's pretty triggering though.

a good read.

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Hi Kelly - I see that you are from England and I am not sure what they show on TV over there.... but I wanted to let you know that Sybil in also in movie form over here in the USA and I have seen it twice...... sad that a mother would do such things to her sweet little daughter (sad that the mother was mentally ill and no one knew it or acknowledged it).

I can see why that little girl grew up so messed up........ and that angers me.

I thought I would go thru the thread and list all the movies posted so far in one areas for all to see.

Movies about Mental Illness & Other Life Changing Topics:

A Beautiful Mind

I never Promised You A Rose Garden

Fight Club

Girl Interrupted

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Secret Windows

Sybil

Powder

Ordinary People

The Rain Man

Good Will Hunting

Requiem for a Dream,

Jesus`s Son

Prozak Nation

The Noonday Demon

Captain Newman

Spellbound

Sylvia & Bell Jar

Raintree County

Raising Cain

Flowers In the Attic

The Burning Bed

A Thousand Acres

What About Bob

Neverwas

The Wall

They Might Be Giants

Sleeping with the Enemy

Fear Strikes Out

Road to Galveston.

Movies posted via Jenne - 11/19/06

FAVORITES . . .

Prince of Tides (child abuse, dissociative disorders)

Donnie Darko (schizophrenia, antisocial personality)

Good Will Hunting (child abuse)

Antwonne Fisher (child abuse)

Girl, Interrupted ( * various disorders)

A Beautiful Mind (schizophrenia)

The Notebook (alzheimer's disease)

Birdy (psychosis, war trauma)

OTHERS . . .

Sophie's Choice (trauma, personality disorders)

Nuts (sexual assault, ptsd)

Stateside (schizophrenia)

12 Monkies (psychosis)

Mommie Dearest (child abuse)

Chattahoochee (* various disorders)

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (*various disorders)

Quills

28 Days (alcoholism)

When A Man Loved A Woman (alcoholism)

K-Pax (trauma * various disorders)

What's Love Got to Do with It (domestic abuse)

Mr. Jones (bipolar)

Radio Flyer (child abuse, DID)

'Night, Mother (depression, suicide)

The Aviator (ocd)

Sling Blade (trauma, child abuse)

Agnes of God

My Life (on death and dying)

Sybil (dissociative disorders)

Three Faces Of Eve (dissociative disorders)

Thelma & Louise (sexual assault)

North Country (sexual assault)

Color of Night (* various disorders)

Gone With the Wind (histrionic personality disorder)

Fearless (trauma)

Analyze This (anxiety)

COMEDIES . . .

Anger Management

The Dream Team ( * various disorders)

As Good As It Gets (ocd)

Don Juan Demaro (delusions)

Matchstick Men (ocd)

Benny & Joon (social anxiety disorder)

Conspiracy Theory (paranoia)

Truman Show (phobia)

VERY SCARY . . .

Copycat (agoraphobia)

Death and the Maiden (trauma, sexual assault)

Gothika (assault)

Sleeping with the Enemy (domestic abuse)

Don't Say a Word (catatonia)

Silence of the Lambs

The Shining

> A Beautiful Mind (schizophrenia)

I heard yesterday a claim that this movie had been altered in two ways from the real story:

1. Visual hallucinations in the movie as opposed to auditory ones in reality. Supposedly easier to portray in a movie;

2. Alleged that the man took and was helped by psychotropic drugs, whereas in reality he did NOT take them after a very early period in his experience (~1970) and that his recovery (to the extent that it did take place) was NOT due to such drugs.

I believe that the link that I heard this on is:

http://www.jackstreet.com/jackstreet/wpsy.dr.karonE.cfm

A movie with a beautiful tone which captures such issues as finding family in other places, foster homes, art expression to deal with the pain, a mother's s sacrifice, the search for truth, situational depression, the chameleon-esque change of appearance as things in your life change, is "White Oleander.." starring Allison Lohman, Renee Zellweger, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robin Wright Penn....beautiful beautiful movie..

And another nod for Girl, Interrupted, again, a beautiful tone, about friendship, and the DVD states what happened to the girls in the mental ward, in real life, they were based on real people......Lisa ended up having a family....they all got out......

Mozart and the Whale
has Josh Hartnett in it....think it was from 2005
Its an Aspergers Syndrome love story.
Great Movie!
my son has aspergers so this really hit home for us!

A Psychological Thriller:
Jim Carrey as a Schizophrenic that is obsessed by the Number 23

Number 23

This movie deals with childhood wounds and how they can effect you as an adult....... repressed memories.

New movie just out about growing up with a schizophrenic mother from a son's point of view (true story). "Canvas" Rolling Stone: "One of the most touching & vital works that I've seen in a good long time" (Peter Travers). NY Times: "A labor of love...that rings emotionally true." www.canvasthefilm.com.--Suzy

The Mental Health America had a free showing at a local theatre here & gave out free copies of the DVD.

Canvas looks beautiful................your name at the end gives the wrong website and this deserves to be seen...

www.canvasthefilm.com