Characters in a number of motion pictures can be used to understand the exhibition and management of assorted psychological disorders. In some instances, film makers have wrongfully portrayed specific psychological disorders. Even so, the accurate or wrongful portrayal or use of a disorder as a backdrop theme is normally conceptualized with regard to the message that the film maker intended to pass across. This assertion underscores the fact that movies are predominantly used for entertainment hence are not bound to any accurate portrayal of a disorder. At the same time, it is notable how a number of films have helped in the conceptualization of certain disorders. This paper seeks to identify the psychological disorder shown in the film Shutter Island. The paper proceeds to discuss how the identified disorder is portrayed in the film before proceeding to assess whether any ameliorative strategy is displayed in the film.
Shutter Island (2010) is a thrilling movie based on Dennis Lehane’s novel that is also called Shutter Island. In the film, Teddy’s three children are drowned by his schizophrenic wife who is later murdered by one of the inmates the shutter island called Andrew Laeddis. As it later emerges, Teddy’s actual name is Andrew Laeddis. Combined with his traumatic experiences during the WW II, Teddy is expected to develop Post-Traumatic Stress but develops Delusional Disorder instead. Desilet (2014) asserts that people suffering from Delusional Disorder have a tendency of functioning normally cognitively, socially and emotionally while in their delusional state. Ideally, delusional disorder patients tend to think that they are unusually important and that they are constantly being watched by other people. Teddy appears not to be having any mental hiccups even though he cannot help feeling that the doctors are conspiring against him even as he is about to make a great discovery; it is on this ground that it can be argued that the movie accurately depicts the manifestation of delusional disorder.
In the movie, the doctors at the Ashecliffe Hospital located in the Shutter Island advocate for lobotomy in treating delusional disorder. After an unsuccessful attempt to treat Laeddis’ delusional disorder using psychotherapy, the doctors decide to take him through lobotomy to curtail his tendency to engage in violence (Desilet, 2014). Lobotomy is a surgical method that seeks to calm down an emotional and violent patient. The procedure involves making detaching on the nerves connecting the emotion-controlling centers from the frontal lobes of the brain (Desilet, 2014). While lobotomy succeeds in treating delusional disorder in some instances, the treatment method is not effective in the management of delusional disorder and is always faulted for turning patients into zombies (Desilet, 2014).
Concisely, the major psychological disorder depicted in the movie Shutter Island is delusional disorder. The main character is presented as exhibiting symptoms such as the feeling of importance and having thoughts about people conspiring against him which are some of the major symptoms of delusional disorder. Notably, the main character (Teddy Daniels later identified as Andrew Laeddis) is a WWII soldier whose three children are drowned by his wife who happens to be suffering from schizophrenia. After all attempts by the doctors at Ashecliffe Hospital to treat him of his condition, the doctors decide to take him through lobotomy; a surgical treatment method for delusional disorder that is widely faulted for its effect of turning patients into zombies.
Reference
Desilet, G. E. (2014). Screens of Blood: A Critical Approach to Film and Television Violence. Jefferson: McFarland & Company Publishers.
