List of films about mental disorders explained

This is a non-exhaustive list of films which have portrayed mental disorders.

Inclusion in this list is based upon the disorder as it is portrayed in the canon of the film, and does not necessarily reflect the diagnosis or symptoms in the real world.

Agoraphobia

• What About Bob? – 1991 – character of Bob Wiley played by Bill Murray^[1]
• Copycat – 1995 – character of Helen Hudson played by Sigourney Weaver^[2]
• The Aviator – 2004 – character of Howard Hughes played by Leonardo DiCaprio^[3]

Antisocial personality disorder

(Antisocial Personality Disorder should also include psychopathy and sociopathy.)

• Badlands – 1973 – character of Kit Carruthers played by Martin Sheen^[4]
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – 1975 – character of Randle McMurphy played by Jack Nicholson
• Wall Street – 1987 – character of Gordon Gekko played by Michael Douglas
• The Talented Mr. Ripley – 1999 – character of Tom Ripley played by Matt Damon
• Training Day – 2001 – character of Alonzo Harris played by Denzel Washington
• Monster – 2003 – character of Aileen "Lee" Wuornos played by Charlize Theron^[5]
• Nightcrawler – 2014 – character of Louis Bloom played by Jake Gyllenhaal^[6]
• The Invisible Man – 2020 – character of Adrian Griffin played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen^[7]

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

• Juno – 2007 – character of Juno MacGuff, played by Elliot Page^[8]

Avoidant personality disorder

• Finding Forrester – 2000 – character of William Forrester played by Sean Connery^[9]

Bipolar disorder

• Misery – 1990 – character of Annie Wilkes played by Kathy Bates
• Michael Clayton – 2007 – character of Arthur Edens played by Tom Wilkinson
• 3 – 2012 – character of Ram played by Dhanush

Borderline personality disorder

• Play Misty For Me – 1971 – character of Evelyn Draper played by Jessica Walter
• Mommie Dearest – 1981 – character of Joan Crawford played by Faye Dunaway^[10]
• Fatal Attraction – 1987 – character of Alex Forrest played by Glenn Close^[11]
• Basic Instinct – 1992 – character of Catherine Tramell played by Sharon Stone^[12]
• Single White Female – 1992 – character of Hedra Carlson/Ellen Besch played by Jennifer Jason Leigh^[13]
• The Crush – 1993 – character of Adrian Forrester played by Alicia Silverstone^[14]
• Mad Love – 1995 – character of Casey Roberts played by Drew Barrymore
• Fear – 1996 – character of David McCall played by Mark Wahlberg^[15]
• Girl, Interrupted – 1999 – character of Susanna Kaysen played by Winona Ryder^[16]
• Thirteen – 2003 – characters of Evie and Tracy played by Nikki Reed and Evan Rachel Wood respectively.^[17]
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – 2004 – character of Clementine Kruczynski played by Kate Winslet^[18]
• Notes on a Scandal – 2006 – character of Barbara Covett played by Judi Dench^[19]
• Obsessed – 2009 – character of Lisa Sheridan played by Ali Larter^[20]
• Silver Linings Playbook – 2012 – character of Tiffany Maxwell played by Jennifer Lawrence^[21]
• Welcome to Me – 2014 – character of Alice Klieg played by Kristen Wiig^[22]

Conversion disorder

• Tommy – 1975 – character of Tommy played by Roger Daltrey^[23]

Dependent personality disorder

• What About Bob? – 1991 – character of Bob Wiley played by Bill Murray

Dissociative identity disorder

• Manichitrathazhu – 1993 – character of Ganga played by Shobana^[24]
• Primal Fear – 1996 – character of Aaron Stampler (or Roy) played by Edward Norton^[25]
• Split – 2016 – character of Kevin Wendell Crumb played James McAvoy^[26]

Folie à deux (shared psychotic disorder)

• Dead Ringers – 1988 – characters of Beverly and Elliot Mantle played by Jeremy Irons^[27]
• Bug (2006) – characters of Agnes White played by Ashley Judd and Peter Evans played by Michael Shannon^{[28] [29]}

Kleptomania

• Häxan (1922)
• Klepto (2003)
• De Dhakka (2008) – character of Dhana played by Siddhartha Jadhav.^[30]

Narcissistic personality disorder

• Terms of Endearment – 1983 – character of Aurora Greenway played by Shirley MacLaine^[31]
• The Boys – 2019 – character of Homelander played by Antony Starr

Obsessive–compulsive disorder

• Aham – 1992 – character of Sidharthan played by Mohanlal^[32]
• As Good as It Gets – 1997 – character of Melvin Udall played by Jack Nicholson^[33]
• The Aviator – 2004 – character of Howard Hughes played by Leonardo DiCaprio
• North 24 Kaatham – 2013 – character of Harikrishnan played by Fahadh Faasil^[34]
• Nitham Oru Vaanam – 2022 – character played by Ashok Selvan^[35]

Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder

• The Odd Couple – 1968 – character of Felix Ungar played by Jack Lemmon

Paranoid personality disorder

• The Caine Mutiny – 1954 – character of Philip Francis Queeg played by Humphrey Bogart^[36]

Post-traumatic stress disorder

• The Perks of Being a Wallflower – 2012 – character of Charlie Kelmeckis played by Logan Lerman^[37]
• Iron Man 3 – 2013 – character of Tony Stark played by Robert Downey Jr.^[38]

Schizoaffective disorder

• – 1991 – character of Sarah Connor played by Linda Hamilton^[39]

Schizoid personality disorder

• The Remains of the Day – 1993 – character of Mr James Stevens played by Anthony Hopkins^[40]
• – 2002 – character of Gollum^[41]
• – 2003 – character of Gollum
• Lars and the Real Girl – 2007 – Lars Lindstrom^[42]
• – 2012 – character of Gollum

Schizotypal personality disorder

• Taxi Driver – 1976 – character of Travis Bickle played by Robert De Niro
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – 2005 – character of Willy Wonka played by Johnny Depp^[43]
• Harry Potter – 2001 – character of Luna Lovegood played by Evanna Lynch

Schizophrenia

• Alias John Preston – 1955 – although described in the film as Schizophrenia, it actually demonstrates a fugue state
• A Beautiful Mind – 2001 – character of John F. Nash played by Russell Crowe^[44]
• Donnie Darko – 2001 – character of Donnie Darko played by Jake Gyllenhaal^[45]
• The Voices – 2014 – character of Jerry Hickfang played by Ryan Reynolds^[46]
• Words on Bathroom Walls – 2020 – character of Adam Petrazelli played by Charlie Plummer^[47]

Stuttering

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest – 1975 – character of Billy Bibbit played by Brad Dourif^[48]
• The King's Speech – 2010 – character of King George VI played by Colin Firth^[49]
• Golmaal 3 – 2010 – character of Laxman played by Shreyas Talpade^[50]
• It – 2017 – character of Bill Denbrough played by Jaeden Martell^[51]

Substance use disorder

• Colossal – 2016 – character of Gloria played by Anne Hathaway^[52]

See also

• Mental disorders in fiction

References

• Danny Wedding, Mary Ann Boyd and Ryan M. Niemiec, Movies and Mental Illness: Using Films to Understand Psychopathology, 2nd ed., Cambridge, MA, Hogrefe & Hufer Publishing, 2005, . Movies and Mental Illness – Hogrefe Publishing
• David J. Robinson, Reel Psychiatry: Movie Portrayals of Psychiatric Conditions, Rapid Psychler Press, 2003, .
• Glen O. Gabbard and Krin Gabbard, Psychiatry and the Cinema, American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc., 2nd ed., 1999, .
• Otto F. Wahl, Media Madness: Public Images of Mental Illness, Piscataway, NJ, Rutgers University Press, 1997, .

Notes and References

1. Web site: What About Bob: A Psychological Analysis . Prezi.com.
2. Book: Sciboz, Daniel . Abnormal Psychology – Agoraphobia . 20 September 2000 . 9783638961134 . 6 September 2022.
3. Web site: The Aviator Howard Hughes OCD And Bipolar Research Paper – 1673 Words by Paperdue . Paperdue.com.
4. Leistedt . Samuel J. . Linkowski . Paul . 2014 . Psychopathy and the Cinema: Fact or Fiction? . . 59 . 1 . 167–174 . 10.1111/1556-4029.12359 . 24329037 . 14413385.
5. Hesse . Morten . Schliewe . Sanna . Thomsen . Rasmus R. . 2005 . Rating of personality disorder features in popular movie characters? . BMC Psychiatry . 5 . 45 . 10.1186/1471-244X-5-45 . 1325244 . 16336663 . free.
6. News: Lou Leminick . Gyllenhaal stuns as a sociopathic TV cameraman in 'Nightcrawler' . New York Post.
7. News: Jake Coyle . Film Review: 'Invisible Man' is a cunning if empty remake . Washington Times.
8. Web site: Gregory, B. and . Milazzo, M. . August 16, 2020 . Peculiar Picture Show: Juno: A Great Portrayal of ADHD, with Teen Pregnancy and Postpartum Depression . Peculiarpicture.show.
9. Thomason . Timothy C. . 2013 . Recommended Movies and Television Programs Featuring Psychotherapy and People with Mental Disorders . . 4 . 54–71.
10. Web site: Gregory, B. and . Milazzo, M. . August 16, 2020 . Peculiar Picture Show: F*ck You, Christina . Peculiarpicture.show.
11. Web site: Jonny Van Luven . Analysis of the Portrayal of Borderline Personality Disorder in Fatal Attraction . March 31, 2021 . Loyola Marymount University.
12. Web site: Lisabeth Ann Bylina . 2012 . A CINEMA OF FATAL ATTRACTIONS : VIEWING GENRE THROUGH BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER . March 31, 2021 . Colorado State University.
13. Web site: April 5, 2018 . Three BPD sufferers break the myths around borderline personality disorder .
14. Web site: Lisabeth Ann Bylina . 2012 . A CINEMA OF FATAL ATTRACTIONS : VIEWING GENRE THROUGH BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER . March 31, 2021 . Colorado State University.
15. Web site: Lisabeth Ann Bylina . 2012 . A CINEMA OF FATAL ATTRACTIONS : VIEWING GENRE THROUGH BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER . March 31, 2021 . Colorado State University.
16. Web site: 21 December 2019 . Everything You Forgot About Girl, Interrupted and Why the Story Remains So Vital . March 31, 2021 . E! Online.
17. Web site: Borderline Personality Disorder in the Movies . Psychology Today.
18. Book: Rieber, Robert W. . Kelly . Robert J. . Film, Television and the Psychology of the Social Dream . Springer New York . New York, NY . 2014 . 978-1-4614-7174-5 . 10.1007/978-1-4614-7175-2 .
19. Web site: Lisabeth Ann Bylina . 2012 . A CINEMA OF FATAL ATTRACTIONS : VIEWING GENRE THROUGH BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER . March 31, 2021 . Colorado State University.
20. Web site: Lisabeth Ann Bylina . 2012 . A CINEMA OF FATAL ATTRACTIONS : VIEWING GENRE THROUGH BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER . March 31, 2021 . Colorado State University.
21. Web site: Glenn Sullivan . The Psychopathology of 'Silver Linings Playbook' . Psychology Today.
22. Web site: Scott . A. O. . April 30, 2015 . Review: Kristen Wiig as a Troubled Lottery Winner in 'Welcome to Me' . The New York Times.
23. Web site: PsyArt: An Online Journal for the Psychological Study of the Arts . Psyartjournal.com.
24. Web site: 15 December 2018 . 25 years of 'Manichitrathazhu': Why the Malayalam classic remains unsurpassed . The News Minute.
25. Web site: Aaron Stampler's Mental Illness In The Film, Primal Fear Bartleby . 2023-05-22 . www.bartleby.com.
26. Web site: Dissociative Identity Disorder in M. Night Shyamalan's Split Fact vs Fiction (Contains Spoilers) . Psi Chi.
27. The Strange Case of the Walking Corpse: A Chronicle of Medical Mysteries by Nancy Butcher
28. Book: Evelyn B. Kelly . The 101 Most Unusual Diseases and Disorders . 2015 . ABC-CLIO . 978-1-61069-676-0 . 83–84.
29. Web site: 2013 . Skeptical Cinema: 'Bug' and folie à deux . June 9, 2017 . CFI Center for Inquiry.
30. Web site: Marathi cinema gets its own Little Miss Sunshine .
31. Kraus . G. . Reynolds . D. J. . 2001 . The "a-b-c's" of the cluster b's . Clinical Psychology Review . 21 . 3 . 345–373 . 10.1016/s0272-7358(99)00052-5 . 11288605.
32. Web site: 13 April 2021 . Why Aham's Flashback Track Is One Of The Underrated Sequences In Malayalam . My World of Movies.
33. Web site: KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWS SERVICE . January 13, 1998 . Disorder in its proper place Health: The film 'As Good as It Gets' brings an accurate portrayal of obsessive-compulsion to a public painfully shy of information. .
34. News: 2 October 2013 . Obsessively Compulsively Unusual . The Hindu.
35. News: Nitham Oru Vaanam Movie Review: A pleasant, if predictable, drama . The Times of India.
36. Bhugra . Dinesh . 2003 . Teaching psychiatry through cinema . . 27 . 11 . 429–430 . 10.1192/pb.27.11.429 . free.
37. Web site: Moosa . Fatima . October 16, 2020 . A list: Good examples of mental health representation in pop culture . April 25, 2021 . The Daily Vox.
38. Web site: June 27, 2013 . Portrayal of PTSD: Tony Stark in Iron Man 3 . Time To Change.
39. Footrin . Ralph . 1991 . Terminator 2, Judgment Day . Psychiatric Bulletin . 15 . 12 . 796–797 . 10.1192/pb.15.12.796 . free.
40. Web site: Philip Kronk, M.S., Ph. D. . The schizoid personality in film, song and story .
41. Web site: December 17, 2004 . Mental health check for Lord of the Rings character . UCL News.
42. Web site: October 27, 2013 . A Psychoanalytic Look at Lars and the Real Girl . The Jung Page.
43. Web site: John August's Charlie and The Chocolate Factory Movie Script: Schizotypal Personality Disorder . Universitas Pamulang.
44. Book: Francine R. Goldberg . Schizophrenia: A Case Study of the Movie a Beautiful Mind – Second Edition . 2013 . eBookIt . 978-1-934107-12-6.
45. Web site: Gregory, B. and . Milazzo, M. . August 16, 2020 . Peculiar Picture Show: Donnie Darko: We Still Don't Really Know What It's About . Peculiarpicture.show.
46. Web site: Crepaz-Keay . David . March 27, 2015 . Why is schizophrenia portrayed so negatively on screen? . The Guardian.
47. Web site: 2020-08-22 . 'Words on Bathroom Walls' is an optimistic film about living with schizophrenia . 2021-04-20 . National Catholic Reporter . en.
48. Web site: Dourif . Brad . March 24, 2010 . 'Dourif discusses acting career' . Yale Daily News.
49. Web site: Firth . Colin . January 9, 2011 . 'Colin Firth: 'Playing the stammering king had an effect on me, a semi-paralysis' . The Guardian.
50. Web site: Shreyas Talpade's character is not stammering in Golamal Again. .
51. Web site: Rubin . Rebecca . September 20, 2017 . 'It' Star Jaeden Lieberher on Deleted Scene, Sequel Plans and Perfecting His Stutter . Variety.
52. Web site: Gregory, B. and . Milazzo, M. . August 16, 2020 . Peculiar Picture Show: Huge on Addiction, Abuse, and Other Metaphors . Peculiarpicture.show.