Donnie Darko: The Case of Schizophrenia - Essay Example

Donnie Darko: The Case of Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is still a mystery; nobody knows its exact causes and there is no single way to treat it effectively. This mental illness is frequently met in cinematography because of its bizarre symptoms and thrilling cases. The film Donnie Darko has a good example of the disease in its unique development. This paper will research whether Donnies diagnosis fully corresponds to DSM V diagnostic criteria of schizophrenia and what is the best way to help such a patient. Donnie Darko is a high school student who does not show great desire to study. He does not have many friends and he displays some elements of anti-social behavior. He regularly attends psychotherapist and uses antidepressants to control his mood. One day he starts experiencing hallucinations; a big man dressed in bunny rabbit suit called Frank follows Donnie and tells him what to do. Donnie has bad relationships with his parents and tells about his new experiences to psychotherapists. She diagnoses him with schizophrenia and prescribes him to take more pills that turn out to be placebo. Hallucinations become gradually stronger; Donnie has gaps in his memory that coincide with strange local events like someone floods the school or burns the house of local TV pastor.  Donnie becomes obsessed with the idea that people can travel in time and space.  His public behavior gets worse as he argues with his teachers and violates rules. Overall, his condition is unstable and he cannot maintain normal lifestyle without medications.  Schizophrenia is a chronic and often recurrent mental disorder which requires timely and appropriate treatment. 1% of all population in the USA suffers from different forms of schizophrenia («Schizophrenia»). This condition is characterized by 3 phases: the beginning of the disease or prodromal phase, active phase where all symptoms of schizophrenia are obvious and residual phase which is characterized by negative symptoms of the disease (Bentall). When the film begins, Donnie is really anxious. He takes pills and behaves inappropriately with his parents and at school. His depression is visible through the symptoms of bad mood, loss of motivation, anti-social behavior and substance abuse. His performance at school gets worse and he cannot get along with his parents. The only place where he talks openly is the office of his psychotherapist; however, Donnie attends the doctor only because he is forced by his parents. According to DSM V diagnostic criteria, schizophrenia is diagnosed if 2 out of 5 are simultaneously present during at least a month. Out of these 2 symptoms, one should be either hallucinations or delusions or disorganized speech («Schizophrenia»). Donnie experiences hallucinations where he communicates with his imaginary friend in rabbit suit with a scary face. He expresses his experiences in his art drawing rabbits face or other visions he has. According to NIMH, the onset of hallucinations and/or delusions is the most frequents in the age groups of teenagers and young adults («Schizophrenia»). There are few cases when children suffer from schizophrenia. NIMH states that it is really difficult to diagnose schizophrenia in teens because the first signs of the disease include the change of a lifestyle, new friends, drop of grades and mood swings («Schizophrenia»).  Donnies behavior becomes critical; the mood swings rapidly and seems to be totally out of control. Donnie also experience severe headaches that trouble him during hallucinations. According to Messinger et al., negative symptoms of schizophrenia are critical for the right diagnosis. Deficit of emotional expression, avolition and asociality are core negative symptoms one has consider when it comes to diagnosing the patient (Messinger et al. 162). In Donnies case, emotional expressions are really limited. Indifference is the main attitude the boy expresses during the film. Indifferent attitude to people and things is presented by Donnies ignorance, lack of respect to others and asocial behavior. Donnies argument with one of his teachers at school is a good example of deficit in higher feeling; the boy refuses to believe in the theory of «Love and Fear» introduced in the classroom and uses offensive words to express his opinion to talk about it. According to Messinger et al., «“indifference,” “lack of interest,” and deficits in “higher [logical, moral, artistic and religious] feelings”» have been treated as negative symptoms of schizophrenia since the beginning of 20th century when the disease was discovered (163). In 1980, lack of friends, social isolation, carelessness and lack of interest were added to the list. These symptoms are also visible in Donnies case. He does not have many friends; his social interactions are limited to sharing a couple of words with his peers. Lack of social interactions should not always be treated as a negative symptom of schizophrenia but it this particular context it is a warning sign. According to Bentall, etiology of schizophrenia has not been identified yet. It is believe that the combination of genetics and environmental causes reason the onset of the disease. Family history of schizophrenia, prenatal traumas, old age of parents or autoimmune diseases are listed as natural risk factors of schizophrenia (Bentall). If several natural factors exist simultaneously, the risk of developing schizophrenia becomes really high. On the other hand, stress and substance abuse are environmental risk factors which increase the possibility of developing schizophrenia. Unfortunately, nothing is known about family history or prenatal traumas of Donnie Darko. However, the boy consumes alcohol and marijuana from time to time and experiences stress related to poor communication at school and in family. In this way, Donnies condition is a developed one. Many people who have natural predisposition to schizophrenia do not suffer from this illness in their adulthood, but Donnie is diagnosed with schizophrenia even though he does not seem to have a natural predisposition to this disorder. Treatment of schizophrenia is always complex. Usually, patients are prescribed to use medications to control their active phase of the disorder and negative symptoms during residual phase. According to NIMH, «Chlorpromazine, Haloperidol, Perphenazine and Fluphenazine» are four most common medications used to treat patients in their active phase of the illness. Residual phase is longer than active phase of the disease and people need to take additional medications to control negative symptoms of schizophrenia. The article by Wang et al. states that the quality of life is directly associated with treatment success. Supportive attitude of other people and desire to get better help patients to cope with their disorder. According to Bentall, psychotherapy has numerous interventions applied to treat schizophrenia. Their choice depends on the severity of the disease and the type of schizophrenia in each case. Overall, complex approach to treatment is the most effective one. Even though schizophrenia is a chronic disease, there are many cases when people fully recover from it or experience long periods of remissions. In summary, Donnies case is really complicated to treat. First of all, Donnie is a teenager and he is not willing to take medicines or attend his doctor. His hallucinations progress really quickly and they are supported by numerous negative symptoms which seriously disturb his daily life. The case of Donnie shows that it is difficult to diagnose schizophrenia because patients are not willing to share what they really think, feel or experience. Donnies imaginary friend Frank forces him to break the law; moreover, Donnie is unconscious when he commits the arson or floods the school. This mental illness has serious consequences if it is not treated effectively. The case of Donnie is really dramatic as the boy dies in the end of the film. Perhaps, complex treatment of schizophrenia could cope with his conditions and let him live a normal life again. Works Cited Bentall, Richard P., ed. Reconstructing schizophrenia. Routledge, 2013. Donnie Darko. Dir. Richard Kelly. Perf. Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, and Noah Wyle. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, 2002. DVD. Messinger, Julie W., et al. "Avolition and expressive deficits capture negative symptom phenomenology: implications for DSM-5 and schizophrenia research."Clinical psychology review 31.1 (2011): 161-168. «Schizophrenia». National Institute of Mental Health. 2014. Web. October 13, 2014. < http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/index.shtml> Wang, Tzu-Ting, et al. "Explore the Effects of Social Interactions and Anxiety Symptoms on Quality of Life in Schizophrenia Patients." Sigma Theta Tau Internationals 24th International Nursing Research Congress. STTI, 2013. Read More