Movies and Mental Illness

Book excerpt: This popular and critically acclaimed text, using movies to help learn about mental illness, has been fully updated with DSM-5 and ICD-10 diagnoses, dozens of evocative and informative frame grabs, a full film index, "Authors' Picks," sample syllabus, more international films and shorts... Films can be a powerful aid to learning about mental illness and psychopathology - for students of psychology, psychiatry, social work, medicine, nursing, counseling, literature or media studies, and for anyone interested in mental health. Movies and Mental Illness, written by experienced clinicians and teachers who are themselves movie aficionados, has established a great reputation as a uniquely enjoyable and highly memorable text for learning about psychopathology. The new edition has been fully updated to include DSM-5 and ICD-10 diagnoses. The core clinical chapters each use a fabricated case history and Mini-Mental State Examination along with synopses and discussions about specific movies to explain, teach, and encourage discussion about all the most important mental health disorders. Each chapter also includes: Critical Thinking Questions; "Authors' Picks" (Top 10 Films); What To Read if You Only Have Time to Read One Book or Article; and Topics for Group Discussions. Other features of the new, expanded edition include: * Full index of films * Sample course syllabus * Ratings of around 1,500 films * Fascinating appendices, such as "Top 50 Heroes and Villains," psychotherapists in movies, misconceptions about mental illness in movies, and recommended websites, plus listings of the PRISM Awards for Feature Films and the SAMHSA Voice Awards.