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The Shining : An Actual Representation of Schizophrenia?

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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