UNBREAKABLE MINDS COCUMNETARY ASSIGNMENT 1

Unbreakable Minds Documentary Assignment

Floyd Davis

PSYC321: Abnormal Psychology

4.22.2022
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All the three cases envisioned in this movie is at the at the prodromal stage. There are three

stages of schizophrenia observed in the movie including prodromal, active and residual stage

(Barlow & Durand, 2018). Prodromal stage is usually not noticed until after the illness has

progressed. Active or the acute schizophrenia is usually the most visible. At this stage, people

will show the telltale symptoms of psychosis, such as hallucinations, suspiciousness, and

delusions (Stępnicki, et al., 2018). Residual, although is not a recognized diagnosis in the DSM-

V, implies a time when individuals with schizophrenia have fewer obvious symptoms. However

at this point, some symptoms are still present (Barlow & Durand, 2018). Randy works as a

supermarket bagger and has a girlfriend. This means that Brad has almost normal life, pursuing

his profession and maintaining his social life with his girlfriend. It is inescapable that Brad

wants a normal emotional life. He tells his mother that he no longer experiences difficulty and

that he misses crying. These are the effects of medication and reasons he would like to be off

it. At one incident in the film, at fast-food restaurant, Brad tells his grandmother that he used to

cry frequently like a toddler, burying his head in his pillow not to be heard, and crying and

smiling at the same time. The grandmother is surprised and visibly disturbed by this revelation.

This implies that Brad is at residual stage (Barlow & Durand, 2018).

At the time Rand realized that her mother was suffering from Alzheimer and his brother

eventually died of HIV/AIDS that was the point he presumably entered prodromal stage

schizophrenia. Moving on, at the time Brad argued with his father, Henry, he was at the acute

stage of schizophrenia.

Positive symptoms refer to those symptoms that affect one’s thoughts or behaviors. They

include: delusions, hallucinations, or thought disorder. Disorganized schizophrenia is

characterized by disorganized behavior and speech and includes disturbance in emotional

expression. However, hallucinations and delusions are not pronounced (Barlow & Durand,

2018). The negative symptom symptoms of schizophrenia include flat affect, alogia, avolition

asociality, and anhedonia (Stępnicki et al., 2018). When Brad he says that he experienced people

going through his soul, through his eyes, eyes broke. He also claims he felt John Lennon’s face

go through him. This is delusion. This depicts positive symptoms. Moreover, it can therefore be

deduced that Randy experiences negative symptoms of schizophrenia, while Rob experiences

disorganized symptoms of schizophrenia.

From the documentary, it is inescapable that there are many options for schizophrenia.

While there a readily available option of therapy for mental illness, most mental health care

givers opt for medical treatment options (Keepers et al., 2020). However, research indicates that

the use of therapy has proven effective in the treatment of mental diseases. Moreover, most

research evidences agree that drugs should be used as the last resort only if the mental illness

symptoms escalate (Stępnicki et al., 2018). However, some evidences point to the use of

combination of therapy and drugs as one of the most effective.

There are many obstacles to the treatment of mental illness. One of the obstacles

envisioned in the movie is the lack of support from family members and friends. For instance, in

the film patients seem to lack psychological support and financial aid to purchase drugs. Besides,

some patients are put on wrong treatment drugs which could not be effective. Some patients are

disposed to already stressful environments that could magnify the extent of mental illness

(Lysaker, et al., 2018). For example in the movie Rob says that he has to move because his

relatives are selling his mother’s house, where he has lived for about thirty years, to pay for her

medical bills. This may escalate his mental illness. Lastly, most of the patients get addicted to

drugs and cannot live or do without them (Stępnicki et al., 2018). For instance, Randy is unable to

function for long without Haldol medication.

Social support is a vital contributing factor to the success of patients recovering from

mental illness such as schizophrenia. The social support system includes; family members,

friends, coworkers, and social institutions (Barlow & Durand, 2018). From the film, the parents

played different roles in the management of the schizophrenia for the three patients. However,

lack of social support hinders effective recovery from mental illness. The social support could be

in form of advice, financial support, and encouragement (Stępnicki et al., 2018). The social

support is the extensive part of therapy, and therefore complements it (Barlow & Durand, 2018).

From the film, all the patients did not receive adequate social support while others had

significant to it. For instance, Rob’s mother because she has Alzheimer’s, is not able to care for

him in any practical way. Moreover although Brette, Brad’s mother, bears the bulk of the burden

of her son’s mental illness and does her best to understand her son’s mind, Henry, Brad’s father

seem to not to care about Brad’s mental state. Henry’s obstinacy toward Brad only adds another

difficulty to an already difficult situation. Moreover, Randy does not receive adequate social

support from his father, Allen. For instance, when Randy’s aggression is getting out of hand,

Allen says that he cannot tolerate any more battling with his son over medication and that it must

stop or Randy should leave. Therefore this seems to escalate the mental state of the victim.

It is inescapable that mental health illnesses have adverse impacts on the families and the

people around them. Family members who are the caregivers of the patients have to incur cost

for drugs and the fracas associated with mental illness such as violence (Barlow & Durand,

2018). Mental health also leaves the family members hopeless. In some cases the patients could

be wished away by the family members (Stępnicki et al., 2018). A good example in the film is,

when Randy’s aggression is getting out of hand, Allen says that he cannot tolerate any more
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battling with his son over medication and that it must stop or Randy should leave. Therefore this

seems to escalate the mental state of the victim.

One thing that surprised me in the film is how patients with mental illness are treated by

their family members who ought to fully offer support and sincerely understand the desperate

situations of the patients. I was surprised to see a father wishing away their own son due to

mental illness. Allen lacks empathy to Randy.

The film has had significant impact on my wellbeing. From the film, we can conclude

various perspective on schizophrenia and mental illness as large. Specifically, this film has

taught me to uphold constant care for the victims of mental illnesses. Besides, form the film, I

realized the option for medical treatment of mental illnesses is not always the best and could turn

ineffective and lead into addiction so much that patients cannot do without it. Therefore, from

the film, therapy is the best management of mental illnesses.

References

Barlow, D. H., & Durand, M. V. (2018). Abnormal psychology: An integrative approach (8th

ed.). United States: Wadsworth Publishing Co.

Keepers, G. A., Fochtmann, L. J., Anzia, J. M., Benjamin, S., Lyness, J. M., Mojtabai, R., ... &

(Systematic Review). (2020). The American Psychiatric Association practice guideline

for the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 177(9),

868-872.

Lysaker, P. H., Pattison, M. L., Leonhardt, B. L., Phelps, S., & Vohs, J. L. (2018). Insight in

schizophrenia spectrum disorders: relationship with behavior, mood and perceived

quality of life, underlying causes and emerging treatments. World Psychiatry, 17(1), 12-

23.

Stępnicki, P., Kondej, M., & Kaczor, A. A. (2018). Current concepts and treatments of

schizophrenia. Molecules, 23(8), 2087.