Let me start this review by saying mental illnesses have always been an interest of mine. I guess that's part of the reason I went into special education. I think my uncle peeked my interest in this subject too. My Uncle Steve had schizophrenia and I always wondered how his minded worked because most of what he did and said did seem to follow a normal pattern, meaning I could not predict what he would say or do next but he was always nice to me. So back to the movie. Silver Linings Playbook was wonderful in it's portrayal of a man with a bipolar disorder and it was amazing to see what happens when he takes his medication and when he doesn't. I don't want to give away to much, so I'll just say I loved it.
I couldn't help but compare it to A Beautiful Mind, where Russell Crowe portrays a man with schizophrenia. I had a sudden awareness that a person with a bipolar disorder can lead a normal life under the right circumstance but a person with schizophrenia cannot.
Having boys I worry that they may develop a mental illness since members of my family have mental illnesses and it is more prevalent in males. So I did ask the geneticist if the chromosome 16 has been associated with schizophrenia and the short answer is that it is not. Schizophrenia is likely to develop in people that are already fragile in some way. So if my boys follow a normal path in life they should not develop schizophrenia, but due to me having an anxiety disorder and depression they are likely to have to struggle with these mental illnesses. But after seeing Silver Linings Playbook I feel like these are easily managed. I mean after all I'm managing my anxiety.
Oh yeah, right there with you! Though it's the women in my family that tend to get the craziest, I feel that I have a better advantage. I already KNOW what to look for, I know what to do, how to get help. If we know the signs, we can help them early.
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