Monday, October 29, 2012

Psychopathology Film Analysis: Little Miss Sunshine


Little Miss Sunshine                                           

Plot Summary:

            This film is about Hoover’s family, which includes the dad Richard who always refuse to lose, the son Dwayne who refuses to talk, the grandpa Edwin who is addicted to heroin, the uncle Frank who fails suicidal attempt, the mom Sheryl who tries to keep the family unites together, and their road trip to California in hope of having their daughter Olive wins the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. Here, major depressive disorder is portrayed in Frank, however, he become better as the movie progressed.

Disorder:

Major depressive disorder is a severe mood disorder with people who have major depressive episode that occurs every day for 2 weeks with at least five of the following symptoms: fatigue, insomnia/hypersomnia, decrease/increase in appetite, significant weight loss/gain, psychomotor retardation, self-denunciation, recurrent thoughts of death or suicide (Student Notes).

In the film, Frank suffers from MDD. By trying to escape from failures in relationship and career, he attempted suicide by severely cutting off his wrist. Doctors and Sheryl, from then, needed to ensure that Frank is always around people and that he stays away from any sharp objects because he would likely attempt suicide again. On the day being discharged from the hospital, sitting on the wheelchair, Frank was in severe depressed mood. He seemed miserable, sad, and helpless. Decreased appetite and lack of sleeping could be the reasons why he seemed so dull, no energy, not at all active. Through his slow movement and silence, he showed clear physical, mental weakness and diminished interested in talking. Evidence is shown when Sheryl asked him to talk but he refused with a single response, “No”. On the scene where they make a pit stop, Frank ran into the student he fell in love with when he was a professor, from his expression, heartache, disappointment, and humiliation hit him hard once again. However, I believed he represses a great deal of his emotions for the family’s sake even though he is plagued with MDD. As the movie progressed, there is no more clear indication of him acting abnormally. Having a very warm, caring, and supportive sister who always wants to help him recover from his mental breakdown, being able to talk with family about his life struggles, deepest suffering, being able to connect with Dwayne who suffered similar depression, being preoccupied with Olive’s quest all seemed to really help improve his mental state, showing that depression can be treated with family support and time.

Causes:

Psychosocial – His stressful life events—intense romantic failure, getting fired, career disappointment, and homosexual stigma were the most probable causes.
Biological – Frank could inherit genetic disposition which made him more susceptible to depression. Brain circuit and low activity level of norepinephrine and serotonin could also be linked to major depression.
Psychodynamic – According to Freud, Frank has focused and unable to accept his loss. He regressed to the oral stage of development and cannot distinguish himself from others. Then, his introjections and incorporation comes (Student Notes).
Behavioral – Frank’s MDD results from the significant reduction in positive reinforcement.
Cognitive – According to Beck’s theory, Frank had certain early experiences that lead to formation of dysfunction beliefs, making him vulnerable to depression when the critical stressors mentioned above serve to activate those assumptions that trigger thoughts and in turn produce depressive symptoms (Student Notes).

Treatment:

Biological – Biological treatment is not really necessary in this case since he is getting better without one. But if not then he should start with antidepressant drugs, for example, the SSRIs. If it does not response then continue taking meds with electroconvulsive therapy, or ETC.
Psychodynamic – Encourage Frank to associate freely during therapy, share his associations, dreams, and displays of resistance and transference could definitely help (Comer, 2010).
Behavioral – Therapist could use various strategies to increase Frank’s positive behavior, for example, engaging him with activities that he consider pleasurable could lead him to better mood, then, reward him correctly to his behaviors. Ignore and do not entertain his depressive behaviors, instead, reward his constructive behaviors and social skills (Comer, 2010)
Cognitive - Behavioral Therapy – It is the use of systematic way to teach him to evaluate his beliefs/thoughts (Student Notes) First, use behavioral technique by increasing his activities to improve his mood. Second, teach him to recognize and share his automatic negative thoughts, challenge those thoughts, and conclude the ground less reality behind them. Third, teach him to change his style of interpretation, recognizing the negative bias in all his interpretations of events. Last, help change his maladaptive attitudes (Comer, 2010).
Family-Social Treatments – Interpersonal Therapy

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