In this the first film in Bergman's trilogy (Winter Light, The Silence), Karin, recently discharged from a psychiatric hospital, shares an island holiday with three men: her father (David), her brother (Minus), and her husband (Martin). Supposedly in remission from unspecified mental illness she behaves normally most of the time with no sign of thought or mood disorder except for playfully tormenting her 17 year old brother and occasionally describing or responding to hallucinations and fantasies (delusions?).
From as early as 0:05 Karin observes that her hearing has been "more acute" since her treatments (ECT?), explaining why she, but not Minus, hears the call of a cuckoo. We sometimes hear fog horns, for example, but we can only guess whether she hallucinates them.
David and Martin discuss her treatment and the fact that she may not fully recover.
0:13 After presenting poorly chosen gifts to the other three, David, who has returned from Switzerland, cries alone, hinting at how he feels about having spent so much time away from his children. We become aware that we know nothing about the mother.
0:17 Karin and Minus perform a play written by Minus. Karin's character, already dead, beseeches him to join her in death. He agrees, but chooses life in the end.
0:27 Karin, unable to sleep, climbs the stairs to an empty, dilapidated room where she seems to hear unintelligible whispers through the wall and seems to silently mouth words back to them before she falls to her knees, apparently overcome with emotion. She goes to her father's room. He is working at his writing but stops to put her to sleep in his bed.
0:36 David has left his room. Karin finds a journal in his desk, reads that her illness is incurable and his description of curiosity in observing her gradual deterioration which he will use, presumably for a story.
0:40 Suggesting loss of libido, Karin, kissed by Martin, assures him that her "desire will come back."
0:47 Karin describes her fantasies and the voices to her brother. She cries and tells him she is sure God will come. She tells him she will give up Martin, but that Minus should not tell him.
0:55 On a boat together Martin attacks David for his character flaws. David accuses him of wishing Karin dead, but then describes his own suicide attempt in Switzerland. He tried to drive his car over a cliff, but it stallsed. He alludes to a secret.
1:03 Karin runs away from Minus but he finds her in the hulk of a wrecked ship where she seduces him.
1:08 Karin tells David she wants to stay in the hospital but with no more ECT.
1:09 Karin, apparently referring to incest with Minus, tells David a voice ordered her to do it. She describes her fantasies to him.
1:11 David describes guilt at enjoying success in his career at the time Karin's mother died. He suggests Karin inherited her mother's illness.
1:17 Karin in the upstairs room conversing with unseen others.
1:20 We hear, then see, the helicopter ambulance arrive. Karin screams, cowers in a corner, appears terrified.
1:21 While Minus and David hold her on the stairs Martin injects a drug in her leg. She appears sedated, then describes her vision of God emerging as a spider, crawling onto her and attempting to force itself on her. Unable to "penetrate" her it crawls away onto the wall.
command hallucination | hallucination | mental disorder | psychosis | schizophrenia | suicide
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Le Jour Se Lève
Spoiler Alert!
The despicable Valentin, a pathological liar, goes to the apartment of François armed with a pistol with which he claims to have intended to kill him over their shared romantic interest, Françoise. Instead, he tosses the pistol aside. François later impulsively picks it up and fires it at Valentin, killing him. François barricades himself in his apartment, preventing the police from capturing him, but realizing his life is ruined (1:27) he shoots himself in the heart (off camera) just before police throw tear gas into the apartment.
pathological liar | suicide
The despicable Valentin, a pathological liar, goes to the apartment of François armed with a pistol with which he claims to have intended to kill him over their shared romantic interest, Françoise. Instead, he tosses the pistol aside. François later impulsively picks it up and fires it at Valentin, killing him. François barricades himself in his apartment, preventing the police from capturing him, but realizing his life is ruined (1:27) he shoots himself in the heart (off camera) just before police throw tear gas into the apartment.
pathological liar | suicide
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Gardens of the Night
#gardensnight
This disturbing story follows into their late teens the lives of two unrelated children who bond while raised together by kidnappers and subjected to sexual abuse.
0:02 The story opens with a counselor at a shelter taking Leslie's history then flashes back to her childhood.
0:52 Leslie snorting cocaine in a bathroom
Brief scenes of a cross-dressed male at 1:05 and 1:27
1:11 Back at the shelter the counselor gathers more history and tells Leslie the rules
1:15 Leslie and another girl share a joint
1:18 Trying to comfort her, Leslie repeats what Alex, her kidnapper, told her as she grooms (literally and figuratively) a 12 year old runaway for prostitution
1:23 Leslie, having left the boy with whom she was raised, tries to drown herself in a bathtub as she recalls childhood abuse
1:27 Leslie, in another meeting with the counselor at the shelter, reveals more of her history. The counselor challenges her version of the story of her early life. Sobbing, she acknowledges the truth, telling him her parents would not want her.
cannabis | cocaine | counselor | cross-dressing | joint | Sexual Abuse of a Child | suicide
This disturbing story follows into their late teens the lives of two unrelated children who bond while raised together by kidnappers and subjected to sexual abuse.
0:02 The story opens with a counselor at a shelter taking Leslie's history then flashes back to her childhood.
0:52 Leslie snorting cocaine in a bathroom
Brief scenes of a cross-dressed male at 1:05 and 1:27
1:11 Back at the shelter the counselor gathers more history and tells Leslie the rules
1:15 Leslie and another girl share a joint
1:18 Trying to comfort her, Leslie repeats what Alex, her kidnapper, told her as she grooms (literally and figuratively) a 12 year old runaway for prostitution
1:23 Leslie, having left the boy with whom she was raised, tries to drown herself in a bathtub as she recalls childhood abuse
1:27 Leslie, in another meeting with the counselor at the shelter, reveals more of her history. The counselor challenges her version of the story of her early life. Sobbing, she acknowledges the truth, telling him her parents would not want her.
cannabis | cocaine | counselor | cross-dressing | joint | Sexual Abuse of a Child | suicide
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
The Snake Pit
Based on the book by Mary Jane Ward: The Snake Pit
Replete with apparently accurate depictions of psychiatric relevance, this watershed film portrays a renegade psychiatrist (Dr. Kik whose character may have been based on Gerard Chrzanowski) as a hero for bucking the overcrowded and understaffed institution to provide his patient (Virginia) the treatment he alone knows she needs. The classic couch and portrait of Freud on the wall of his office suggest psychoanalytic training, but he combines ECT, narcosynthesis, hydrotherapy and face to face psychotherapy to bring about apparent cure of what we might diagnose today as posttraumatic stress disorder. Except for the narcosynthesis we see no use of medications even though barbiturates and possibly reserpine would likely have been available at the time.
In the opening scene we see Virginia sitting on a bench in what appears to be a park. A male voice asks questions suggestive of a psychiatrist, and a female voice, presumably her inner voice but possibly hallucination, wonders about the situation. She sees another woman sitting near her, but seems to think the woman was transformed from a man.
As the scene progresses she seems confused about the situation, to have no accurate memory of where she is or who the other characters are. She acts frightened until she asserts that she is visiting a prison to work on a project. She even gives the wrong last name, perhaps her maiden name, as hers, and fails to identify the psychiatrist or her own husband (prosopagnosia?). As the story unfolds we see less suggestion of psychosis.
Dr. Kik recommends ECT "to get to the cause, to establish contact with her. Her husband authorizes the treatment. Patients are lined up for treatments. The device and electrodes appear authentic, but when the switch is operated with no anesthesia we hear loud dyssonant music, and the camera pans away, sparing us from watching the effect. Progress notes reading, "lacks insight, judgment" support need for repeated treatments. The nurses seem offended when Kik stops further treatments.
Kik sticks to his plan despite criticism from other psychiatrists, some of whom appear peculiar or almost brutal, for his involvement in her case.
With psychotherapy and narcosynthesis Kik uncovers the significance of May 12 and the deaths of Virginia's father during childhood, and male suitor as an adult, as contributing to her illness. Dr. Kik dictates a letter he hopes will gain her more time in the hospital.
After Virginia tries to hide to avoid transfer to another unit nurses place her in a camisole. We see a sparsely furnished day room where patients posture and perseverate, some displaying rapid speech, inappropriate affect, disorganized behaviors.
Dr. Kik formulates Virginia's case for her: feeling unloved in early life, she was angry at her father for siding with her mother. When he died she felt guilty and unconsciously blamed herself for his death as well as that of the suitor.
In the end Virginia helps a mute catatonic patient talk and admits to Dr. Kik her feelings for him. He relaxes boundaries to dance with her.
anniversary reaction | bereavement | boundaries | camisole | catatonic | Gerard Chrzanowski | dissociative amnesia | electroconvulsive therapy | Sigmund Freud | hallucination | hysteria | narcosynthesis | psychiatrist | psychiatric hospital | psychopathology | psychosis | psychotherapy | PTSD | survivor guilt | transference
Replete with apparently accurate depictions of psychiatric relevance, this watershed film portrays a renegade psychiatrist (Dr. Kik whose character may have been based on Gerard Chrzanowski) as a hero for bucking the overcrowded and understaffed institution to provide his patient (Virginia) the treatment he alone knows she needs. The classic couch and portrait of Freud on the wall of his office suggest psychoanalytic training, but he combines ECT, narcosynthesis, hydrotherapy and face to face psychotherapy to bring about apparent cure of what we might diagnose today as posttraumatic stress disorder. Except for the narcosynthesis we see no use of medications even though barbiturates and possibly reserpine would likely have been available at the time.
In the opening scene we see Virginia sitting on a bench in what appears to be a park. A male voice asks questions suggestive of a psychiatrist, and a female voice, presumably her inner voice but possibly hallucination, wonders about the situation. She sees another woman sitting near her, but seems to think the woman was transformed from a man.
As the scene progresses she seems confused about the situation, to have no accurate memory of where she is or who the other characters are. She acts frightened until she asserts that she is visiting a prison to work on a project. She even gives the wrong last name, perhaps her maiden name, as hers, and fails to identify the psychiatrist or her own husband (prosopagnosia?). As the story unfolds we see less suggestion of psychosis.
Dr. Kik recommends ECT "to get to the cause, to establish contact with her. Her husband authorizes the treatment. Patients are lined up for treatments. The device and electrodes appear authentic, but when the switch is operated with no anesthesia we hear loud dyssonant music, and the camera pans away, sparing us from watching the effect. Progress notes reading, "lacks insight, judgment" support need for repeated treatments. The nurses seem offended when Kik stops further treatments.
Kik sticks to his plan despite criticism from other psychiatrists, some of whom appear peculiar or almost brutal, for his involvement in her case.
With psychotherapy and narcosynthesis Kik uncovers the significance of May 12 and the deaths of Virginia's father during childhood, and male suitor as an adult, as contributing to her illness. Dr. Kik dictates a letter he hopes will gain her more time in the hospital.
After Virginia tries to hide to avoid transfer to another unit nurses place her in a camisole. We see a sparsely furnished day room where patients posture and perseverate, some displaying rapid speech, inappropriate affect, disorganized behaviors.
Dr. Kik formulates Virginia's case for her: feeling unloved in early life, she was angry at her father for siding with her mother. When he died she felt guilty and unconsciously blamed herself for his death as well as that of the suitor.
In the end Virginia helps a mute catatonic patient talk and admits to Dr. Kik her feelings for him. He relaxes boundaries to dance with her.
anniversary reaction | bereavement | boundaries | camisole | catatonic | Gerard Chrzanowski | dissociative amnesia | electroconvulsive therapy | Sigmund Freud | hallucination | hysteria | narcosynthesis | psychiatrist | psychiatric hospital | psychopathology | psychosis | psychotherapy | PTSD | survivor guilt | transference
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Second Chances
A girl who has lost her father in a car accident meets a horse with an injury like hers and it's owner who lost his daughter in a riding accident.
0:34 brief allusion to staying sober for three years
Another girl, thinking she has ruined her chances by making a bad choice, says, "I want to die."
bereavement | suicide
0:34 brief allusion to staying sober for three years
Another girl, thinking she has ruined her chances by making a bad choice, says, "I want to die."
bereavement | suicide
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
The Baudelaire children have lost their parents in a fire.
Aunt Josephine's: fear that a glass door knob will shatter and a piece might get in your eye (0:49); fear that the refrigerator might fall on top of and crush you (0:50); fear that the chandelier might fall and impale you (0:52); and fear of real estate agents (0:54) all quite correctly labeled "irrational fears."
0:59 A suicide note found dangling near a broken window is more than just a suicide note.
bereavement | phobia | suicide
Aunt Josephine's: fear that a glass door knob will shatter and a piece might get in your eye (0:49); fear that the refrigerator might fall on top of and crush you (0:50); fear that the chandelier might fall and impale you (0:52); and fear of real estate agents (0:54) all quite correctly labeled "irrational fears."
0:59 A suicide note found dangling near a broken window is more than just a suicide note.
bereavement | phobia | suicide
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Paradise Now
Two Palestinian men are chosen to carry out a bomb attack to retaliate against Israel. Suicide is mentioned once in connection with Sweden and again in connection with Israel, but never in the context of their mission.
0:05 What are the men smoking with the water pipe?
hookah | suicide
0:05 What are the men smoking with the water pipe?
hookah | suicide
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Children of a Lesser God
A colleague used at least one scene (0:18, 0:23?) from this film to illustrate Avoidant Personality Disorder. And might you consider Schizoid Personality Disorder?
I don't see a Personality Disorder myself. I think Sarah's behavior keeps people at a distance, anger just below the surface, and hurt far below that. She seems to sum it up that way at the end (1:52).
Personality Disorder
I don't see a Personality Disorder myself. I think Sarah's behavior keeps people at a distance, anger just below the surface, and hurt far below that. She seems to sum it up that way at the end (1:52).
Personality Disorder
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
An Angel at My Table
This story of the early life of New Zealand poet Janet Frame suggests that she may have suffered from shyness, anxiety, or, at worst, Social Phobia, likely misdiagnosed as Schizophrenia (probably what may have been called simple type at the time) through many hospital stays over a period of 8 years. Only after she enters a hospital in London does she learn that she does not suffer from Schizophrenia. In fact we never see symptoms that would suggest a diagnosis of Schizophrenia.
0:21 suggestion of Physical Abuse of a Child off camera
0:35 Janet learns that her sister Myrtle has drowned.
1:08 Janet freezes with apparent anxiety when expected to perform as a teacher for an "inspector," then she fleas from the classroom.
1:14 Janet is taken to a psychiatric hospital after her teacher asks her about overdose with aspirin, apparently a suicide attempt, she has described in an autobiography.
1:15 We see a sign "psychiatric ward". Janet refuses to leave the hospital.
1:17 Hospital dayroom, patients with disorganized behaivors; later, outside the hospital Janet's sister reads about schizophrenia that it has also been called dementia praecox
1:21 Janet learns that her sister Isabelle has drowned.
1:24 Another psychiatric hospital
1:25 ECT without anesthesia, as it likely would have been administered at the time. We see tonic and clonic phases accurately portrayed, but I am not sure the scream as the button is pushed is likely to have occurred in reality. She is said to have undergone more than 200 treatments.
1:30 Janet's doctor recommends leukotomy
1:31 Janet in an isolation room at a psychiatric hospital; later her doctor tells her there will be no surgery, and she returns home
2:19 Janet gets herself admitted to a psychiatric hospital in London by talking about suicide
2:20 A London psychiatrist tells Janet she does not suffer from Schizophrenia, that some of her problems were likely caused by her experience of psychiatric hospitalization, and recommends that she continue to write.
2:28 Janet learns that her father has died.
anxiety | bereavement | electroconvulsive therapy | Janet Frame | lobotomy | Physical Abuse of a Child | psychiatric hospital | psychiatrist | Schizophrenia | Social Phobia | suicide
0:21 suggestion of Physical Abuse of a Child off camera
0:35 Janet learns that her sister Myrtle has drowned.
1:08 Janet freezes with apparent anxiety when expected to perform as a teacher for an "inspector," then she fleas from the classroom.
1:14 Janet is taken to a psychiatric hospital after her teacher asks her about overdose with aspirin, apparently a suicide attempt, she has described in an autobiography.
1:15 We see a sign "psychiatric ward". Janet refuses to leave the hospital.
1:17 Hospital dayroom, patients with disorganized behaivors; later, outside the hospital Janet's sister reads about schizophrenia that it has also been called dementia praecox
1:21 Janet learns that her sister Isabelle has drowned.
1:24 Another psychiatric hospital
1:25 ECT without anesthesia, as it likely would have been administered at the time. We see tonic and clonic phases accurately portrayed, but I am not sure the scream as the button is pushed is likely to have occurred in reality. She is said to have undergone more than 200 treatments.
1:30 Janet's doctor recommends leukotomy
1:31 Janet in an isolation room at a psychiatric hospital; later her doctor tells her there will be no surgery, and she returns home
2:19 Janet gets herself admitted to a psychiatric hospital in London by talking about suicide
2:20 A London psychiatrist tells Janet she does not suffer from Schizophrenia, that some of her problems were likely caused by her experience of psychiatric hospitalization, and recommends that she continue to write.
2:28 Janet learns that her father has died.
anxiety | bereavement | electroconvulsive therapy | Janet Frame | lobotomy | Physical Abuse of a Child | psychiatric hospital | psychiatrist | Schizophrenia | Social Phobia | suicide
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Shrink
Spoiler alert!
Moral: Despite rampant drug use and boundary violations associated with variably competent psychotherapy a bunch of people who like movies (or making movies) can survive the suicides of their loved ones, in Hollywood at least. Reminds me of The Son's Room.
"Shrink" here, we finally discover, refers to a psychotherapist with a PhD, presumably a psychologist. In the wake of his wife's suicide, and the suicide of the mother of a patient, several of his patients' lives become intertwined with his and each others', and with lots of drugs. It seems that film makers think we professionals exaggerate the harm that comes from boundary violations. They may be right, but we still need the boundaries and maybe some flexibility.
0:01 Dr. Carter looks bereft when he looks at the empty sofa in his home. He has difficulty recording a lecture about happiness: "Feelings are full of shit"
0:05 Dr. Carter appears drunk; smokes something; extinguishes and saves a joint for later
0:06 In the first psychotherapy session the patient tells Dr. Carter he is worried "about everything," later adds that in the past he "did a lot of blow" Dr. Carter seems distracted, asks, "do you know why?"
0:10 The first of many encounters between Dr. C. and his drug (pot) dealer
0:14 In session with an aging actor Dr. C. seems more engaged; The patient talks about sex addiction, but Dr. C. reassures him and redirects him to focus on his alcohol problem.
0:18 Dr. C seems taken aback as he enters a room full of friends/family. They say, "we care... you have a drug problem... let us help... you are "self medicating". He asks, "is this an intervention?" It is. He tells the spokesperson, "you're my wife's doctor... I'm not an addict... I'm a doctor... my wife died..." Dr. C's father is there. Someone says they have arranged a bed for him at a rehab facility. Dr. C. announces that his wife killed herself, which is apparently new information for most of those present.
0:21 Jemma, a black teen, leaves class, obviously disturbed, hits a mirror, breaking it and her wrist
0:22 Dr. C. asks the drug dealer whether he has a drug problem. H says it's "grief"
0:23 Dr. C. in session with a couple: The wife says her husband has become a narcissist. When Dr. C. guesses she feels numb we see that he has identified with her.
0:25 Jemma's school principle or counselor tells her she needs to "talk to" someone
0:27 Worrier's friend at party: "on ecstasy all day"
0:29 Dr. C. relates a dream to his father who also appears to be a pscyhotherapist. Dr. C. suggests he suffers from "compasion fatigue syndrome." Is the dream a metaphor for his predicament? Dr. C. tries to avoid his father's encouragement that he take on the case of Jemma
0:30 Jemma rides in car with Dr. C. Is this a boundary violation?
0:32 Dr. C. tries to offer help to Jemma, now in his office, tells her his services are pro bono (Is this another boundary problem?), she does not participate. He reads her file, appears shocked, says something about her mother. Jemma leaves.
0:34 Dr. C's writer-relative asks for psychotherapy. Dr. C refuses. He can stick to boundaries after all.
0:35 Dr. C drinking with writer-relative, recalling the deceased wife? The writer-relative quotes Dr. C about happiness. We see for the first time Dr. C is a PhD from the cover of his book.
0:40 Dr. C discusses a case while smoking with his dealer.
0:44 Second session with Jemma: she asks about his famous clients; he says he can't discuss them; she begins to open up.
0:48 In a store Dr. C encounters wife of couple he treats, their second chance meeting outside of his office. They eat ice cream together. Boundary problems.
0:50 The worrier snorting, presumably cocaine, acting worried
0:55 Director snorting, presumably cocaine.
0:59 Dr. C drives Jemma to her MD's office for attention to her broken wrist; Dr. C smokes in the restroom; Jemma confronts him: "Getting high at a pediatrician's office could be seen as a cry for help."
1:00 Dr. C in a movie theater with Jemma
1:03 Dr. C, apparently about his wife's suicide "its my fault... I should have seen it coming."
1:11 Interviewer introduces Dr. C on a talk show as "shrink of the stars." The topic, suicide: "why do they do it?" triggers Dr. C who proclaims that his wife did it, and that he himself is a fraud.1:13 The director passes out, from drugs? In his hospital bed the visitor reads the list of drugs: cocaine, SOMA, amphetamine, Klonopin, alcohol, ketamine
1:18 Jemma enters Dr. C's office, finds him on the sofa. He says it's to be her "last session... it's me" She asks him to read a letter and tell her if it says why. He reads it to himself, says it does not say why, hugs Jemma, tears. What about boundaries here?
1:22 Dr. C buys drug from dealer
1:23 Jemma confronts Dr. C
1:25 Dr. C lights a joint, finds his dog dead, buries the dog, passes out. In hospital bed with oxygen prongs: dealer is in the next bed, apologizes because the drug that got them there was "laced in embalming fluid." Does this mean phencyclidine? Sherms?
1:29 Dr. C flushes drugs
1:34 Jemma finds Dr. C in back of his office, not smoking for the first time. He asks her, "It's never going away, is it?"1:34 Worrier driving director to rehab.
1:36 Dr. C sees female patient at her house, says he wants to end her treatment so he can have a, presumably romantic, relationship with her. Boundaries again. But the film ends with him getting in bed alone.
bereavement | boundaries | drugs | drug abuse | intervention | cannabis | psychologist | psychotherapy | psychotherapist | self-medication | suicide
Moral: Despite rampant drug use and boundary violations associated with variably competent psychotherapy a bunch of people who like movies (or making movies) can survive the suicides of their loved ones, in Hollywood at least. Reminds me of The Son's Room.
"Shrink" here, we finally discover, refers to a psychotherapist with a PhD, presumably a psychologist. In the wake of his wife's suicide, and the suicide of the mother of a patient, several of his patients' lives become intertwined with his and each others', and with lots of drugs. It seems that film makers think we professionals exaggerate the harm that comes from boundary violations. They may be right, but we still need the boundaries and maybe some flexibility.
0:01 Dr. Carter looks bereft when he looks at the empty sofa in his home. He has difficulty recording a lecture about happiness: "Feelings are full of shit"
0:05 Dr. Carter appears drunk; smokes something; extinguishes and saves a joint for later
0:06 In the first psychotherapy session the patient tells Dr. Carter he is worried "about everything," later adds that in the past he "did a lot of blow" Dr. Carter seems distracted, asks, "do you know why?"
0:10 The first of many encounters between Dr. C. and his drug (pot) dealer
0:14 In session with an aging actor Dr. C. seems more engaged; The patient talks about sex addiction, but Dr. C. reassures him and redirects him to focus on his alcohol problem.
0:18 Dr. C seems taken aback as he enters a room full of friends/family. They say, "we care... you have a drug problem... let us help... you are "self medicating". He asks, "is this an intervention?" It is. He tells the spokesperson, "you're my wife's doctor... I'm not an addict... I'm a doctor... my wife died..." Dr. C's father is there. Someone says they have arranged a bed for him at a rehab facility. Dr. C. announces that his wife killed herself, which is apparently new information for most of those present.
0:21 Jemma, a black teen, leaves class, obviously disturbed, hits a mirror, breaking it and her wrist
0:22 Dr. C. asks the drug dealer whether he has a drug problem. H says it's "grief"
0:23 Dr. C. in session with a couple: The wife says her husband has become a narcissist. When Dr. C. guesses she feels numb we see that he has identified with her.
0:25 Jemma's school principle or counselor tells her she needs to "talk to" someone
0:27 Worrier's friend at party: "on ecstasy all day"
0:29 Dr. C. relates a dream to his father who also appears to be a pscyhotherapist. Dr. C. suggests he suffers from "compasion fatigue syndrome." Is the dream a metaphor for his predicament? Dr. C. tries to avoid his father's encouragement that he take on the case of Jemma
0:30 Jemma rides in car with Dr. C. Is this a boundary violation?
0:32 Dr. C. tries to offer help to Jemma, now in his office, tells her his services are pro bono (Is this another boundary problem?), she does not participate. He reads her file, appears shocked, says something about her mother. Jemma leaves.
0:34 Dr. C's writer-relative asks for psychotherapy. Dr. C refuses. He can stick to boundaries after all.
0:35 Dr. C drinking with writer-relative, recalling the deceased wife? The writer-relative quotes Dr. C about happiness. We see for the first time Dr. C is a PhD from the cover of his book.
0:40 Dr. C discusses a case while smoking with his dealer.
0:44 Second session with Jemma: she asks about his famous clients; he says he can't discuss them; she begins to open up.
0:48 In a store Dr. C encounters wife of couple he treats, their second chance meeting outside of his office. They eat ice cream together. Boundary problems.
0:50 The worrier snorting, presumably cocaine, acting worried
0:55 Director snorting, presumably cocaine.
0:59 Dr. C drives Jemma to her MD's office for attention to her broken wrist; Dr. C smokes in the restroom; Jemma confronts him: "Getting high at a pediatrician's office could be seen as a cry for help."
1:00 Dr. C in a movie theater with Jemma
1:03 Dr. C, apparently about his wife's suicide "its my fault... I should have seen it coming."
1:11 Interviewer introduces Dr. C on a talk show as "shrink of the stars." The topic, suicide: "why do they do it?" triggers Dr. C who proclaims that his wife did it, and that he himself is a fraud.1:13 The director passes out, from drugs? In his hospital bed the visitor reads the list of drugs: cocaine, SOMA, amphetamine, Klonopin, alcohol, ketamine
1:18 Jemma enters Dr. C's office, finds him on the sofa. He says it's to be her "last session... it's me" She asks him to read a letter and tell her if it says why. He reads it to himself, says it does not say why, hugs Jemma, tears. What about boundaries here?
1:22 Dr. C buys drug from dealer
1:23 Jemma confronts Dr. C
1:25 Dr. C lights a joint, finds his dog dead, buries the dog, passes out. In hospital bed with oxygen prongs: dealer is in the next bed, apologizes because the drug that got them there was "laced in embalming fluid." Does this mean phencyclidine? Sherms?
1:29 Dr. C flushes drugs
1:34 Jemma finds Dr. C in back of his office, not smoking for the first time. He asks her, "It's never going away, is it?"1:34 Worrier driving director to rehab.
1:36 Dr. C sees female patient at her house, says he wants to end her treatment so he can have a, presumably romantic, relationship with her. Boundaries again. But the film ends with him getting in bed alone.
bereavement | boundaries | drugs | drug abuse | intervention | cannabis | psychologist | psychotherapy | psychotherapist | self-medication | suicide
Honey, I shrunk the Kids
Friday, October 16, 2009
Two for the Money
Warning: Reading this could spoil the film.
0:17 Toni says "anonymous meetings" hold Walter together.
0:32 Walter takes Brandon, his protege, to what appears to be a Gamblers Anonymous meeting where he talks about how everyone there, including him, is defective and gets high from losing rather than winning. Then he appears to invite the attendees to gamble through his sports gambling business.
1:13 We see something of the strength of recovery: Toni identifies herself as a junkie and talks about wondering every day whether she will relapse.
Walter talks about the experience of a high he experiences before he knows whether he will win.
Does Walter relapse with gambling or just pretend? or does he gamble with something new as Toni suggests?
Look for the intensity in Brandon's connection to Walter and to sports as growing out of his desire to please his alcoholic father as a child.
high | meeting | Pathological Gambling
0:17 Toni says "anonymous meetings" hold Walter together.
0:32 Walter takes Brandon, his protege, to what appears to be a Gamblers Anonymous meeting where he talks about how everyone there, including him, is defective and gets high from losing rather than winning. Then he appears to invite the attendees to gamble through his sports gambling business.
1:13 We see something of the strength of recovery: Toni identifies herself as a junkie and talks about wondering every day whether she will relapse.
Walter talks about the experience of a high he experiences before he knows whether he will win.
Does Walter relapse with gambling or just pretend? or does he gamble with something new as Toni suggests?
Look for the intensity in Brandon's connection to Walter and to sports as growing out of his desire to please his alcoholic father as a child.
high | meeting | Pathological Gambling
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Matter of Heart
I didn't know that much about Jung, but enjoyed Man and His Symbols years ago and had some group supervision during residency with Edward Whitmont of the NY Jung institute. The film consists of interviews of analysts who knew him, mostly older people except two of his grandsons. Some of them may have been his analysands. There is also footage of Jung himself.
This film was sad for me. Looking back it seems that Jung's approach heals souls rather than minds. I see little evidence today of his work advancing the treatment of mental illness. The film also brings to light his apparent boundary violations, such as his analysis of his wife and an affair with a former analysand, and includes discussion of some of the Jungian concepts noted below.
anima | animus | archetype | boundaries | Carl Jung | collective unconscious | Jungian analysis | mandala | numinosum | projection | psychoanalyst | shadow | transference | unconscious
This film was sad for me. Looking back it seems that Jung's approach heals souls rather than minds. I see little evidence today of his work advancing the treatment of mental illness. The film also brings to light his apparent boundary violations, such as his analysis of his wife and an affair with a former analysand, and includes discussion of some of the Jungian concepts noted below.
anima | animus | archetype | boundaries | Carl Jung | collective unconscious | Jungian analysis | mandala | numinosum | projection | psychoanalyst | shadow | transference | unconscious
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
The Story of O
All with sexual overtones: Multiple scenes depict men or women beating women. In one scene a woman brands another woman. In the final scene "O" burns her initial into her lover's hand with his cigar.
Several scenes in which a character refuses to do what another character asks, with sadistic overtones.
In one scene a character says, "I'll do what you want or I'll kill myself."
masochism | sadomasochism | sexual sadism | sexual masochism | suicide
Several scenes in which a character refuses to do what another character asks, with sadistic overtones.
In one scene a character says, "I'll do what you want or I'll kill myself."
masochism | sadomasochism | sexual sadism | sexual masochism | suicide
Thursday, October 8, 2009
The Inheritance
Christoffer finds his father waiting for him on the steps leading to his apartment. After a brief visit he leaves. There is no appearance of depression.
0:13 After answering the phone Christoffer tells his wife that he has learned his father has hanged himself. We learn later that financial problems in his business may have influenced his choice to die.
Later scenes include viewing of the father's body at a funeral home, then the family meeting at the funeral service.
Christoffer does a lot of heavy drinking. Do you think this was at the root of his problems?
suicide
0:13 After answering the phone Christoffer tells his wife that he has learned his father has hanged himself. We learn later that financial problems in his business may have influenced his choice to die.
Later scenes include viewing of the father's body at a funeral home, then the family meeting at the funeral service.
Christoffer does a lot of heavy drinking. Do you think this was at the root of his problems?
suicide
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Shopgirl
Very brief scenes of what appears to be a psychotherapy session with camera looking over the shoulder of the psychotherapist who seems to be asking questions directed at assuring that the patient has been forthright about his intentions in a relationship.
Around 0:59 she says she stopped her antidepressant, appears dizzy or otherwise physically ill, vaguely suggesting discontinuation syndrome, then she isolates herself, seems depressed. After a visit to the doctor she seems to recover.
discontinuation syndrome | antidepressant | depression | psychotherapy
Around 0:59 she says she stopped her antidepressant, appears dizzy or otherwise physically ill, vaguely suggesting discontinuation syndrome, then she isolates herself, seems depressed. After a visit to the doctor she seems to recover.
discontinuation syndrome | antidepressant | depression | psychotherapy
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Penny Serenade
Warning: Reading this could spoil the film.
Loss of an adopted child leads to emotional divorce and what might look like a Major Depressive Episode in the husband, except that both problems resol instantly without treatment when the agency offers a replacement child.
bereavement | emotional divorce
Loss of an adopted child leads to emotional divorce and what might look like a Major Depressive Episode in the husband, except that both problems resol instantly without treatment when the agency offers a replacement child.
bereavement | emotional divorce
Monday, October 5, 2009
Sweet Bird of Youth
Scenes of a man and a woman taking pills later identified as Benzedrine, but with little or no obvious effect, and of heavy drinking with expected effect. They also smoke joints made from a substance identified as hashish. The user tells her friend the story of her introduction to the drug. She said a physician injected her while on a cruise ship. Could the writers might have confused injected opiate or sedative drugs with a cannabis preparation, assuming that all "narcotics" are the same as many thought them to be when this movie was made?
The relationship triangle between father, daughter, and daughter's suitor is very well developed.
amphetamine | cannabis | hashish | heavy drinking | joint | triangulation
The relationship triangle between father, daughter, and daughter's suitor is very well developed.
amphetamine | cannabis | hashish | heavy drinking | joint | triangulation
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Jesus of Montreal
An actor hangs himself in the opening scene after talking about the misery of being suicidal. Pontius Pilate, in a passion play, touts the freedom to kill oneself during hardship as the greatest gift.
Does the court order forensic psychological examination to determine whether the actor is competent to plead guilty?
After serious head injury EEG shows no brain activity.
Bereavement is portrayed after death of Jesus in the play and after the death of the actor.
bereavement | competence | EEG | forensic psychologist | suicide
Does the court order forensic psychological examination to determine whether the actor is competent to plead guilty?
After serious head injury EEG shows no brain activity.
Bereavement is portrayed after death of Jesus in the play and after the death of the actor.
bereavement | competence | EEG | forensic psychologist | suicide
Friday, October 2, 2009
Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi
A mentally gifted teen, Shlomi (I am told this is short for the Hebrew version of the name Solomon.), struggles with a very dysfunctional family while discovering girls. Look for triangulation.
Shlomi's brother-in-law threatens suicide -- "Tell her I'm going to kill myself." -- by setting himself on fire if his wife doesn't return.
savant | suicide | triangulation
Shlomi's brother-in-law threatens suicide -- "Tell her I'm going to kill myself." -- by setting himself on fire if his wife doesn't return.
savant | suicide | triangulation
The Upside of Anger
A wife seems to hate herself so much that she assumes her husband has left her for another woman, even in the absence of any evidence. She responds to her daughter's (the symptom bearer?) defiant behavior with a subtle suicide threat:
"... when I pull my head out of the oven."
Teen boy and girl smoke marijuana with a glass pipe.
How would you describe the family emotional process?
bereavement | marijuana | suicide
"... when I pull my head out of the oven."
Teen boy and girl smoke marijuana with a glass pipe.
How would you describe the family emotional process?
bereavement | marijuana | suicide
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Clean
Perhaps what is missing from this film strikes me most. There is little explanation for Emily's sudden need to involve herself in her son's life. Her apparent abstinence from drugs and efforts to get her life on track happen with no treatment, no NA. Maybe she hits bottom. Maybe repeated confrontation by friends does the trick.
Emily purchases and hides plastic bags of a white powder amidst allusions to heroin addiction. She leaves her partner in their motel room. In their car we see her alone with a rubber tourniquet in her mouth. She drops the tourniquet as the drug appears to take effect, then we see her drop the syringe.
Emily returns to find her husband dead of apparent overdose, not necessarily intentional. Police arrest her for possession and suspicion of contributing to her partner's death.
Six months later, Emily, released from prison, tells an associate she takes methadone. They compare experiences of adverse effects.
Emily and friends find the body of another acquaintance apparently dead from inadvertent overdose.
We see Emily swallow unidentified pills, throw pills out the window of a train, buy pills at a pharmacy, desperately search for pills in a medicine cabinet.
Emily discusses drugs briefly with her son.
abstinence | addiction | bereavement | heroin | methadone | overdose
Emily purchases and hides plastic bags of a white powder amidst allusions to heroin addiction. She leaves her partner in their motel room. In their car we see her alone with a rubber tourniquet in her mouth. She drops the tourniquet as the drug appears to take effect, then we see her drop the syringe.
Emily returns to find her husband dead of apparent overdose, not necessarily intentional. Police arrest her for possession and suspicion of contributing to her partner's death.
Six months later, Emily, released from prison, tells an associate she takes methadone. They compare experiences of adverse effects.
Emily and friends find the body of another acquaintance apparently dead from inadvertent overdose.
We see Emily swallow unidentified pills, throw pills out the window of a train, buy pills at a pharmacy, desperately search for pills in a medicine cabinet.
Emily discusses drugs briefly with her son.
abstinence | addiction | bereavement | heroin | methadone | overdose
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