MHA's Blog: Chiming In

After hearing about it since last summer, I finally got a chance to see Silver Linings Playbook. The movie has been on a tear since its release, winning The American Film institute Best Picture of the Year, The Toronto Film Festival People Choice Award, and the Independent Spirit Award Best Picture of the Year. In addition, it was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, the Golden Globes and the Producer’s Guild. Stars Jennifer Laurence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro and Jackie Weaver all racked up numerous nominations for their work. But was it actually any good? Was the mental health piece of the movie an honest portrayal of people with bipolar disorder?

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Mental Health America will host a briefing by policy experts on critical mental health issues and their relationship to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on Thursday, March 7, at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, from 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News will moderate a distinguished panel, which includes representatives of Mental Health America’s Regional Policy Council (RPC), a network of affiliate leaders who monitor and advocate for ACA implementation efforts in the states.

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It’s Kind of a Funny Story is a sweet little movie that manages to do something almost unheard of in movies about mental health, especially those in mental hospitals. It treats all of its characters, the patients, the doctors and the love interests, as real people. Heck, it’s even better at character creation than most movies not about people with mental illnesses.

The movie is about a teenager named Craig Gilner. Stressed out from the pressures of school, an application for a prestigious summer program and his friends, he dreams about committing suicide. Concerned, he checks himself into the psychiatric ward of the local hospital, where he is housed with the adults. He meets Bobby, an older man with depression, and the two become friends. He learns about himself through his week on the ward, and about all of the other patients. He even begins to date another teenaged patient named Noelle. By the end of the week, Craig has learned about himself and leaves the ward with a more positive outlook on life.

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Today marks the 104th anniversary of the founding of Mental Health America. Mental Health America was established by Clifford W. Beers. During his stays in public and private institutions, Beers witnessed and was subjected to horrible abuse. From these experiences, Beers set into motion a reform movement that took shape as Mental Health America. To those who suggested that he found his movement anonymously, Beers responded: "I must fight in the open." View this video about our history: http://bit.ly/10ofaMV.

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Suicide, and its image in pop culture, has a long and confusing history. Anyone you ask about suicide will tell you that it’s a horrible thing, especially the suicides of young people but ask anyone about Romeo and Juliet, and it’s the most romantic story in the world. The deaths of the two lovers becomes the final point in their love, not a mistake egged on by adults who want to use the teens for their gains.  One of suicide’s connotations is now the tragic end of teenaged love.

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