Black Swan The movie, Black Swan, directed by Darren Aronofsky, is a perfect representation of someone who suffers with schizophrenia. A passionate ballerina, Nina, consumes her life around dance. She comes off as this frigid young woman who strives to be perfect with her every move. When an exciting opportunity to become the new Swan Queen and star in the new performance comes about, Nina is determined to get the part. She begins to experience symptoms of schizophrenia, personality disorder, and anorexia/bulimia as she obsesses over the production. When a new face comes along, Lily, Nina immediately feels threatened by her and is afraid that she will be chosen for the part. In order to qualify for the part, the ballerina must be able to dance
…show more content…
This could be compared to a child not getting their way. Freud’s Phallic stage describes the development of sexual awareness with genitalia. Nina’s teacher encourages her to “touch herself” and she winds up getting into a habit of masturbating to try and find herself by relaxing and letting go. Throughout the movie, Nina is at war with herself over tiny issues that she believes will effect and maybe destroy her life.
Ego Defense Mechanisms Nina demonstrates many of Freud’s ego defense mechanisms: a) Compensation is when one overachieves in one area to offset real or perceived deficiencies in another area (Videbeck, 2014). Nina’s excellence in dancing the White Swan is not enough for her to win the part of Swan Queen, so she must work extra hard to practice how to master the Black Swan. B) Conversion is the expression of an emotional conflict through the development of a physical symptom (Videbeck, 2014). Nina’s stress and frustration leads her to unknowingly scratch herself on her back, but she does not seem to care about it as much as her desire to be a perfect dancer. C) Denial is the failure to acknowledge the reality of a situation (Videbeck, 2014). Nina fails to acknowledge that she has a problem with her hallucinations. D) …show more content…
I learned how easy it can be to let yourself slip away and fall into the ideation of being perfect when in reality, there is no such thing. You only have to believe in yourself and know that you have given it your best whatever it may be. Nothing in this world is worth the cost of your life. Mental illness can have genetic factors as well as environmental factors that come about through life experiences. I also got a glimpse of how internal factors stimulated by external, such as stress, can wreak havoc over someone’s life and disturb their mental functioning leading them into thinking things that are not
This could be compared to a child not getting their way. Freud’s Phallic stage describes the development of sexual awareness with genitalia. Nina’s teacher encourages her to “touch herself” and she winds up getting into a habit of masturbating to try and find herself by relaxing and letting go. Throughout the movie, Nina is at war with herself over tiny issues that she believes will effect and maybe destroy her life.
Ego Defense Mechanisms Nina demonstrates many of Freud’s ego defense mechanisms: a) Compensation is when one overachieves in one area to offset real or perceived deficiencies in another area (Videbeck, 2014). Nina’s excellence in dancing the White Swan is not enough for her to win the part of Swan Queen, so she must work extra hard to practice how to master the Black Swan. B) Conversion is the expression of an emotional conflict through the development of a physical symptom (Videbeck, 2014). Nina’s stress and frustration leads her to unknowingly scratch herself on her back, but she does not seem to care about it as much as her desire to be a perfect dancer. C) Denial is the failure to acknowledge the reality of a situation (Videbeck, 2014). Nina fails to acknowledge that she has a problem with her hallucinations. D) …show more content…
I learned how easy it can be to let yourself slip away and fall into the ideation of being perfect when in reality, there is no such thing. You only have to believe in yourself and know that you have given it your best whatever it may be. Nothing in this world is worth the cost of your life. Mental illness can have genetic factors as well as environmental factors that come about through life experiences. I also got a glimpse of how internal factors stimulated by external, such as stress, can wreak havoc over someone’s life and disturb their mental functioning leading them into thinking things that are not