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Silver Linings Playbook: An Analysis of the Portrayal of Pat and Tiffany's Mental Disorders

Swetha Alachi


The film industry has had a habit of portraying people with mental illness in ways that create and reinforce stereotypes about them. Silver Linings Playbook seems to be a refreshing change from this trend. Silver Linings Playbook is a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama about Pat Solintano Jr., a man with bipolar disorder who, after ending up in a mental health facility, ends up living with his parents again. During his attempt to get his life back on track and win back his wife, he bonds with Tiffany, a young widow with issues of her own. This movie received a lot of public attention for its portrayal of several mental illness, from Pat Jr’s bipolar disorder, to Tiffany’s undisclosed diagnosis. This paper will look into how these disorders have been portrayed in the film and how they compare with how the symptoms are seen in real life.

In the film, Pat shows symptoms of bipolar disorder in several scenes. Pat is seen nearly beating a man, who he had caught having an affair with his wife, to death in front of his wife.While this may not seem as a criterion for a manic episode, as anyone who experiences that kind of trauma may react in the same violent manner out of anger, it is the character’s inability to recognise that what he did was harmful that is the problem. He is unable to understand why his wife was scared of him and filed for a restraining order against him. His lack of insight of his effect on others, as well as his hypersomnia, impulsive behaviour, increased physical activity, his obsession with avoiding negativity and winning back his wife and delusions show what could be symptoms of a hypomanic phase. Overall, Bradley Cooper’s character Pat Solintano seems to be an accurate portrayal of Bipolar disorder, more specifically Bipolar I, due to the presence of a manic episode.

According to the American Psychiatrist Association (2013), borderline personality disorder (BPD) is defined as “a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts.” One of the criteria for BPD is the fear of abandonment, where the individual is terrified of being forgotten and left alone. It can further lead to behaviours like jealousy, begging and clinging to a loved one. It can also cause them to make impulsive decisions and self-destructive. This means they may involve in harmful and attention seeking behaviours, such as excessive promiscuity and substance abuse. (American Psychiatrist Association, 2013, p.664). Borderline personality disorder can also engender extreme emotional swings. Furthermore, the subject could have a feeling of emptiness. Likewise, the patient could experience explosive anger. ( American Psychiatrist Association, 2013, p.664). 

Although in the film Tiffany’s condition remains undisclosed, several of her symptoms correspond with those seen in borderline personality disorder. In a scene, her character explains how she got fired from her job for sleeping with most of the men at her workplace. She also approaches Pat the first time they meet and asks him if he’d like to have sex, despite only knowing him for a few hours. Throughout the movie she is referred to as “crazy,” “unstable,” and “a sex addict”. As the story continuous it is made clear that Tiffany has a history of substance abuse, chronic feelings of emptiness (portrayed in a dialogue, “I do all this stuff for other people. And then I wake up and I'm empty. I have nothing.”), irrational emotional reactions, unstable interpersonal relationships, compulsive and impulsive sexual activity, difficulty controlling anger, and self-harm. Tiffany is also seen splitting, a defence mechanism by which people with BPD can view people, events, or even themselves in all or nothing terms (Fertuck, Fischer & Beeney, 2018). Throughout the film she has very rash and sudden changes in views about Pat, from finding him charming and understanding one second, to exploding with anger and being disgusted by him in the next second. Although it cannot be concluded that Tiffany has BPD, her symptoms suggest the presence of the same.

Just as most movies that portray mental illnesses, the characters and their symptoms had been slightly exaggerated. However,  the movie does a fair job of depicting the symptoms of bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder in the main characters. Through the portrayal of these characters the film seeks to shed light on the broad spectrum of symptoms of these mental illnesses and their varying degrees of functioning, maybe in hopes that viewers with these disorders can relate and connect with the characters on a deeper level.


References
Russell, David O, Niro R. De, Chris Tucker, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and M Quick. Silver Linings Playbook. United States: Eone Entertainment, 2013
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). American Psychiatric Association. (2013).
Fertuck EA, Fischer S, Beeney J. Social Cognition and Borderline Personality Disorder: Splitting and Trust Impairment Findings. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2018;41(4):613-632 doi:10.1016/j.psc.2018.07.003

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