Bipolar Disorders In Silver Linings Playbook

In the film Silver Linings Playbook, Bradley Cooper plays Pat Solitano, a man diagnosed with bipolar disorder who moves back into his parents’ home after spending eight months in treatment at a psychiatric hospital. Pat’s main goal is to repair his relationship with his estranged wife Nikki, who has filed a restraining order against him after he had come home one day and found her in the shower with another man whom she had known through work, and brutally attacked him. Pat’s therapist tries to persuade him to continue taking his medication since there is a significant chance that another violent outburst would send him right back into the clinic, but Pat tries to reassure his therapist that he is fine because he now has a new outlook on life, …show more content…
Their emotions are very inconsistent as they switch back and forth between extreme moods. Comer (2004) claims that many sufferers actually become suicidal with their thoughts and actions. These moods also have a dramatic impact on the sufferers’ family and friends as well. However, there are two types of bipolar disorders – Bipolar I and Bipolar II. The American Psychiatric Association (2013) states that in order to diagnose Bipolar I, a patient must have experienced at least one manic episode and must often alternate between a manic episode, period of wellness and episode of depression. Some diagnosed with this disorder experience a mixed episode in which they alternate between mania and depression in the same episode. In addition, the American Psychiatric Association (2013) says that in order to diagnose Bipolar II, a patient must experience at least one hypomanic episode and at least one major depressive episode. In this case, the patient has never experienced a manic episode; he/she just alternates between episodes of hypomania and …show more content…
The concept of mania does not just entail extreme happiness - it could also mean that the patient is very edgy or irritable. Pat’s first known manic episode was when he was hospitalized for the attack on his wife’s lover. According to Comer (2004), a full manic episode lasts at least a week, and these episodes may be accompanied by hallucinations or delusions. Pat is portrayed experiencing these delusions leading up to his incident with his wife when he was fantasizing about her and the history teacher intentionally plotting against him. He is also portrayed experiencing a second manic episode when he is searching for his wedding video and accidentally harms his mother in the process. This incident motivated him to start taking his medication again, all though he did not like the way that the medication made him