Sonali Pahuja
Sonali Pahuja
‘The Shining’
is one of the most famous psychological thrillers that also falls into the
category of the paranormal. The movie directed by Stanley Kubrick is
based on a novel written with the same name by Stephen King. The story
portrays the character of Jack Torrance, a writer who develops alarming
symptoms which point to schizophrenia such as horrid and vivid nightmares
and mood swings that intensify into vivid hallucinations and violence
culminating in an attempted murder of his own wife and child. These
symptoms start to appear after Jack takes up a job at an isolated hotel as
a caretaker for the winter months.
Schizophrenia
is a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks,
feels, and behaves. People with schizophrenia may seem like they have lost
touch with reality. Although schizophrenia is not as common as other mental
disorders, the symptoms can be very disabling. (NIMH, US)
Various
stereotypes exist when it comes to the portrayal of mental disorders in the
media. Since the media is one of the most significant sources of information
for the general public, these depictions tend to have huge impacts on how
people perceive certain mental disorders. Violence, volatility and brutality
are often linked to mental disorders like schizophrenia. The gravity of a
disorder like schizophrenia sometimes gets replaced by cinematographic
stereotypes.
Schizophrenia
manifests itself in various ways in the movie, one of them being as disorganised
thinking shown by Jacks’ character. Jack displays disorganization on
various occasions, especially when talking to Wendy (his wife) and Danny
(his son). He says things that do not make sense in context. This behaviour is
also evident in his work when he repeats a line that says ‘All work and no
play makes Jack a dull boy’ nonsensically throughout all the pages he
had written. Another major symptom of schizophrenia is social and occupational
dysfunction. People with schizophrenia have difficulties forming meaningful
relationships and interacting with others. Jack also exhibits antisocial
behaviour throughout the movie, his lack of communication with his son and
obviously affectionate wife are symptomatic of schizophrenic antisocial
dysfunction. He is also largely unsuccessful in his professional life and his
writing pursuits that were a major cause for him to take the job of being a
caretaker at the hotel also are failing considerably.
A variety of
other factors also lend credence to the believability of schizophrenia as a
diagnosis. Isolation can contribute to the onset of the disease, explaining the
cabin fever to which the psychotic behaviours of Jack and his predecessor were
attributed. Heredity also plays a huge role in the development of schizophrenic
symptoms, as we know nothing of Jacks parents’ we can still affirm the fact
that Danny also shows visible signs of catatonia and schizophrenia throughout
the movie.
The question
arises about whether The Shining’’ is an actual representation of schizophrenia
or not, many of Jack’s behaviours accurately reflect the symptoms of
schizophrenia in real life, his social dysfunction and delusional thinking are
typical of many schizophrenic patients. His hallucinations and disorganised
behaviour, however, was most likely exaggerated for cinematic effect. Majority
of schizophrenic patients generally, do not
experience hallucinations of such magnitude and do not commonly have
such dramatic episodes of disorganised thinking, although the depictions can be
thought of as accurate to an extent.
For schizophrenia
antipsychotic medications are the most common method of treatment and are used
to eliminate many of the obvious symptoms of schizophrenia. Apart from
medication Psychosocial and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is also important in
the treatment of schizophrenia.
Such
representations of mental disorders in the entertainment industry are extremely
common but it is rare to see movie makers that actually keep in mind the
negative impact that such movies can have on the minds of the general public. False
stereotypes can be severely damaging and the negative perceptions that arise
due to them can prevent people from seeking help. In the case of Jack as well,
his lack of awareness and will to seek help resulted in a violent ending.
References -
“Schizophrenia.” National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml.
Gupta,
Richa. “How Certain Horror Movies Propagate Mental Health Stigma.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 21Mar.2017,https://www.huffpost.com/entry/horror-movies-and-the-mental-health-stigma_b_58ccbe8ae4b07112b6472dc9.
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