Posted by Maria Mangicaro
Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, professor and chair of psychiatry at Columbia University and the president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association, gave this review of the movie Silver Linings Playbook:
“It has been a long time since a Hollywood movie actually seemed like it could help people suffering from mental illness, their families, and those who treat them,” according to APA President-elect Jeffrey Lieberman, M.D. Writing online yesterday in “CNN Health,” Lieberman praised the film “Silver Linings Playbook” for its “natural and poignant” depiction of people struggling with mental illness as they find ways to deal with their families and community. Nominated for eight Academy Awards, the film is an “antidote” to the stereotyped and stigmatizing portrayals of mental illness and its treatment that have long been staples of Hollywood films such as “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” (click here to read full article on CNN.com)
We would love to hear your thoughts and comments on this movie and Dr. Lieberman’s article.
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Thanks, Maria. Sorry to sound short and dismissive, but I wonder if this movie is worth the time, effort and money needed to see it, even if only to critique it.
Red flags for me are that the APA boss likes it, his repeated and typical references to ‘mental illness’ without ever acknowledging it is a controversial concept in itself, and his bizarre attack on ‘ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST’, which Dr. Lieberman describes as ‘…the single most stigmatizing film in history…’ in the full CNN article. Dr. Lieberman also refers several times to ‘violent behavior’ supposedly associated with ‘mental illness’ and the Connecticut school massacre in particular.
‘ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST’ was very far indeed from being a ‘…stereotyped and stigmatizing portrayal of mental illness and its treatments…’ It was an all too accurate portrayal of ‘mental illness treatments’ based on a book by Ken Kesey, who knew what he was writing about. No wonder Dr. Lieberman hates it!
JOHN T. SHEA
“ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST’ was very far indeed from being a ‘…stereotyped and stigmatizing portrayal of mental illness and its treatments It was an all too accurate portrayal of ‘mental illness treatments’ based on a book by Ken Kesey, who knew what he was writing about. No wonder Dr. Lieberman hates it!”
GOOD LORD! I KNOW IT, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST IS AN ACCURATE PORTRAYAL OF MENTAL ILLNESS TREATMENTS BASED ON WHAT I HAVE WITNESSED AND EXPERIENCED IN MY LIFETIME.
Pretty much the only difference you would see in this scene and a psych ward today is they control smoking with smoke breaks. At up to $800/day you are lucky if you can find a full deck of cards to play with. The ones they provide are probably as old as this movie.
And there was I thinking ‘Not playing with a full deck’ was just a metaphor!
$800 a day would probably pay for a suite at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, and an armed guard, if needs be. Wow! I’ve just invented a new therapy. Hotel Therapy! To correct the biochemical hotel deficiency many people must be suffering. You heard it here first!
John
John,
Great minds think alike.
I’ve already been advocating for Hotel Therapy for the past 15 years.
It’s a lot more complicated than you think, and not something just anyone can rush right into.
Number one, most people will not want these kind of hotels in their backyard, especially after the shooting incident at the Alaska Soteria House last year.
There are 3 things to remember 1. Location, 2. Location, 3. Location
These hotels must be in a remote area and use the princples of Hippocrates – “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”
According to Robert Whitaker the US has an epidemic of “mental illness”, so the US is in critical need of your Hotel Therapy, ASAP
A simple solution would be for the US to
1. rename the island of Maui, “Recover Island”
2. give free reign to mental health advocates with proven abilities of common sense, creativity and passion to help others to brainstorm on effective recovery strategies
3. send me there first
See how easy that is? I would be happy to include you on the invite list.
Maria
Thanks, Maria. Everybody is welcome to my backyard. Mind you, it’s a bit smaller than Maui. Is that the Hawaiian island where they make all those jungle movies like ‘JURASSIC PARK’? If so I’ll go. But there have to be dinosaurs there who eat only psychiatrists.
John
LOL
John, psychiatrist Dr. Phil Sinaikin is a member of ISEPP who lives about 45 minutes away from me here in Florida.
A few years ago I contacted him about his book Psychiatryland and he was surprised that I lived so close, stating that he was right in my backyard. I emailed him a picture of an alligator that was right at our backdoor and told him that I felt safer having alligators in my backyard than psychiatrists.
He mailed me a copy of his book and signed it “from the toothless alligator”
He’s really a good guy (as are many other psychiatrists I’ve met who I would protect from being eaten by a dinosaur)
There are 3 psychiatrists in my hometown of Syracuse who are licensed acupuncturists and I know of a psychiatrist who became an instructor for The Art of Living Foundation (a yoga-based nonprofit)
You might be interested in Phil’s book Psychiatryland, here is a link to his website:
http://www.psychiatryland.com/
Also since no one has started a new discussion group, I am thinking of initiating one myself and just have it stand as a self-moderated group for open discussion among all mental health advocates.
Have a great day! Maria
Boy, great minds do think alike. I just found an email from a discussion group member who is going to start up a group based on Solution-focused therapy and would like some help getting it started up. I will post it when I get the information.