psychiatric view
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Excision
aurorabee — 12 years ago(April 17, 2013 05:08 PM)
I see some people complaining about the "fake caveman eyebrows" of the main character, so just to clear some things up.
The way the main character is pictured matches a lot of traits that are classical in the development of schizophrenia. Withdrawal from society, lack of attention towards looks and appearance, overly complicated way of speaking (could also be a trait in schizotypal personality disorder), delusions, merging of fantasy and reality, bodily dysmorphism, etc. The list could go on. She could be a sociopath, but the delusions seem to be too strong. Borderline personality as she herself suggests in the movie is less likely, as she doesn't seem too affected by rejection.
I found that the film is quite realistic, the main character is not exaggerated at all. But that's just me. -
blacknyellowsquid — 11 years ago(May 18, 2014 12:31 AM)
I agree, I didn't see her as borderline. I saw that just as a sign of her faulty science type mind. I think she wanted to be medically knowledged but wasn't really all that great at it. And people self-diagnose a lot; doesn't mean they're correct. She knew she was mentally ill in some sense.just diagnoses herself wrong, which is believable and in character.
I agree with the OP that it had more schizophrenic/psychotic undertones. -
are_you_strange666 — 11 years ago(March 18, 2015 12:03 PM)
Thank you for explaining that. As someone with diagnosed BPD, it frustrates me when movies toss around terms with little understanding. I certainly have no behaviour that reflects her in the slightest.
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Monknificent — 9 years ago(October 30, 2016 07:36 AM)
Interesting diagnosis, you could be right.
Films have a poor track record of psychiatric diagnostic accuracy, possibly the most famous being Hitchcock's Psycho, whose titular character was, in fact, clearly a schizophrenic, and not at all psychotic.
I suppose "Schizo" doesn't have the same ring to it, but an entirely different direction for that title would have been a better all-round decision IMHO, even if only to not contribute to a now entrenched popular misconception about two very different conditions.
"It's too late Always has been, always will be
Too late." -
aurorabee — 9 years ago(October 30, 2016 01:23 PM)
I'm not sure I'm following. I agree Bates had schizophrenia, but then again schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder. I'd argue that the title Psycho isn't wrong. The problem is that in daily speech we use the term "psycho" to describe psychopaths, or, what one in psychiatric terns would call antisocial personality disorder. But Bates was by no doubt psychotic.