Psychological Matters

We have just wrapped up a brief exploration of Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and now are going to shift gears slightly and address another psychological condition, Borderline Personality Disorder. In 1987, there was a popular movie, Fatal Attraction , which drew the public’s attention to Borderline Personality Disorder. The main character, Alex Forrest (Glenn Close), portrayed an individual suffering with a serious form of this disorder. To quickly recap the plot of Fatal Attraction , Alex meets Dan Gallagher (played by Michael Douglas), a married business man, and has a weekend affair. Dan sees their relationship as a brief fling and attempts to break it off. Alex, however, views their relationship much differently. She becomes obsessed with Dan and is threatened by his desire to discontinue their relationship. She makes increasingly bizarre efforts, such as stalking Dan and killing his daughter’s pet rabbit, to keep him connected to her. When all these attempts fail, Alex’

I thought I would take a brief break from exploring the serious side of psychopathology and review movies which best portray mental illness, with a special emphasis on personality disorders. Here is a brief list– Narcissistic Personality Disorder *Black Swan  (2010) - Erica Sayers, mother *Morning Glory (2010) - Mike Pomeroy and Becky Fuller, to a lesser degree *Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps  (2010) - Gordon Gekko * Fireflies in the Garden (2008) - Charles Taylor *Wall Street  (1987) - Gordon Gekko *Gaslight (1944) - Gregory Anton, husband Borderline Personality Disorder Monster  (2003) - Aileen The Hours  (2002) - Virginia Woolf *Single White Female  (1992) - Hedy Carlson *Girl, Interrupted  (1999) - Lisa Rowe and Susanna Kaysen, to a lesser degree *Fatal Attraction (1987) - Alex Forrest Mommie Dearest  (1981) - Joan Crawford  *A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) - Blanche, see also Histrionic Personality Disorder Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder