Silver Linings Playbook Movie Analysis

Pat Solitano, played by Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook has bipolar I disorder with mild anxious distress. Bipolar I disorder is diagnosed when a full manic episode, which emerges during antidepressant treatment (medication, therapy, etc.), persists at a fully syndromal level beyond the physiological effect (DSM-V, 124). A manic episode is a distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, or irritable mood and persistently increased goal-directed activity, lasting at least one week (DSM-V, 124). Pats specific diagnosis of mild anxious distress derives from his difficulty to concentrate because of worrying, and his unusual restlessness (DSM-V, 149). This criteria, in addition to his necessary hospitalization caused by severe mood disturbance, is necessary to

Whereas individuals experiencing a manic episode will forcefully resist treatment and deny that they are mentally ill, Pat does not resist treatment. He goes to therapy at the request of his parents and admits to his therapist that a particular song triggers his aggressive outbursts. He also attributes his more disciplined and focused self to dancing with Tiffany. Whereas an essential feature of a manic episode is to be persistently in an irritable mood, Pat is not. For example, when a group of men mocked Pat by calling him “coocoo bird,” his mood, unrealistically, was unchanged. Normally, this mocking gesture would instigate an aggressive outburst. Lastly, it is misleading for the movie to portray this character with bipolar I disorder as someone who can alleviate his negative urges solely because he befriended someone who is capable of distracting him from his harmful temptations. This disorder is more complex than the movie suggests at times. In reality, the large time frames when Pat would act normally would most likely be due to his medication, which they eventually stopped showing him