The Psycological Theory Behind The Black Swan free essay sample

Everyone has their own interpretation and theories behind books, movies, etc. In Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 movie â€Å"Black Swan† I believe there are many different theories that could explain what is behind the bazaar psychological thriller. Some people’s theories are behind the mother-daughter relationship which would in Psychological terms deal with attachment. There are also theories behind eating disorders and stress which could cause mental disorders and personality disorders. Are mental illnesses and personality disorders the same?Watching the movie with different theories in mind, I believe that we can roll all the theories into one and come up with one Psychological illness or diagnoses. First let’s start with a quick plot of â€Å"Black Swan. † Nina is a talented ballet dancer and frontrunner for the lead role as the Black and White swan (Swan Queen) in the production of Swan Lake. Nina’s life revolves around making the lead role in the production which seems to stress her out and looks like she might have an eating disorder as well. Throughout the movie between the auditions and practicing for the grand performance of the new and improved Swan Lake we get a glimpse of Nina’s private life at home as well as her relationships and social interactions with others. There is the relationship between Nina and her mother which sparks some theory behind Nina’s odd behavior. The relationship between the two seems as though the mother is a bit controlling and treats Nina as a child and also tries to live her life through Nina’s dancing because she failed as a dancer. Next, there is the relationship between Nina and Thomas her ballet director. Thomas knows Nina has what it takes to take the lead in the show but tries to get her to embody the black swan role by trying to get her to loosen up. She is as Thomas describes throughout the movie a frigid little girl. However he does this through seduction, or is that all in her head? And last but not least is the relationship between Nina and Lilly the new and free spirited and wild girl who becomes Nina’s understudy. Lily is the complete opposite of Nina in which Nina feels threatened throughout the whole movie by her.There is a lot more throughout the movie which I will not give away too much but through the whole movie it shows how the stress of the lead part and relationships around her make her paranoid and she has vivid and bizarre hallucinations which lead to Nina’s tragic death. Now let’s diagnose Nina’s illness which is the reasoning behind the strange and confusing m ovie. Narrowing down the symptoms of the character Nina, I would say the main ones that are noticeable are the hallucinations and paranoia Nina has.Throughout the movie Nina thinks Lily is out to get her lead role and set her up for failure. There are many scenes in the movie where Nina sees and hears things that are not there. A lot of Nina’s hallucinations make it seem as though Nina has a split personality she is struggling with. There is even a part in the movie where Nina tells her mom that her sweet girl isn’t there anymore. Nina also seems to isolate herself socially from the people around her. It seems the only real relationship is that of her and her strange mother which is odd to begin with. With all this being said I come to the conclusion that it could be a Dissociative identity disorder which is a personality disorder or Schizophrenia a complex mental disorder. Dissociative Identity disorder is a massive dissociation of self from ordinary consciousness in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities. It is a fairly common effect of severe trauma during early childhood, usually extreme, repetitive physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse. Some theories of the movie are that Lily and Nina’s mother are two of Nina’s multiple personalities.The movie does not mention anything of Nina’s child hood or any trauma she had in her life so I think there is little to prove it could be Dissociative Identity Disorder. Schizophrenia is a brain disorder in which people interpret reality abnormally. Schizophrenia may result in some combination of hallucinations, delusions, and disordered thinking and behavior. Because Schizophrenia means â€Å"split mind† many people think this means split personality, but it refers to a split from reality that shows itself in disorganized thinking, disturbed perceptions, and inappropriate emotions and actions. Myers, 2010) in the Psychology Ninth edition Myers show a table of Subtypes of Schizophrenia: Paranoid, Disorganized, Catatonic, Undifferentiated, and Residual. There are plenty of reasons and facts throughout the movie that prove Nina to be delusional, having hallucinations and being paranoid. Throughout the movie Nina sees people as other people and as herself. She sees people and pictures and her own reflection laughing at her. And she even harms herself only to see minutes later there was no harm done, again she was seeing things.Also it seems her mother could also have signs as a schizophrenic with the paranoia she has for her daughter and not to mention all the pictures she paints of her daughter. Now that is just weird, unless it’s all in Nina’s imagination. I think there is much evidence to prove Nina is a Paranoid Schizophrenic and which was brought on by the extreme pressure and stress and desire to be perfect from her mother and the confused sexual feelings of Thomas and Lily and could possibly be genetic. Schizophrenia is one of the most heavily researched and yet it is still questioned to what causes it.Research studies link Schizophrenia to brain abnormalities and genetic predisposition. (Myers, 2010) As my psychology book says, â€Å"schizophrenia is a disease of the brain exhibited in symptoms of the mind. †(pg. 624) Scientist still wonder what causes this brain abnormalities and some suspect mishap during prenatal development or delivery or a mid-pregnancy viral infection. Also studies confirm that there is a genetic link. It seems as though there is still a lot of studying going on to see what is the real cause of schizophrenia, or are there many?So are personality disorders and mental illnesses the same? No, they are not but they have similar symptoms and are both psychological illnesses. I believe a personality disorder is caused by trauma and is a coping mechanism as to where a mental illness more or less is due to a brain abnormality or is genetic. There are several different types of personality and mental disorders some illness which to me seem can be both a personality and mental illness. What are your thoughts on the movie black swan?