Case Analysis on the film “Gone Girl”
Case History:
You will be reporting on the character’s personal history, focusing on significant experiences related to their mental disorder. Include:
Any biological factors, neurological issues, pertinent family history.
Psychological factors such as personality, unconscious conflicts, cognitive styles, defense mechanisms, learning experiences, psychological trauma
Social factors, such as family history, social relations, socioeconomic issues, access to healthcare, conflicts in the home, etc..
Cultural perspective: Any particular cultural issues at play? Expand.
Signs and Symptoms of a Mental Disorder:
Report all the signs and symptoms of a mental health disorder that the character exhibits.
Expand on the signs/symptoms noted. Describe, making your case for why that behavior meets the criteria for the diagnosis. Use examples from the film.
If the character exhibits other significant symptoms NOT listed in your planned diagnosis, discuss.
Come up with a possible alternate diagnosis (we call this a differential diagnosis). What other mental health disorder(s) might this character meet criteria
for? Discuss this potential secondary diagnosis.
Diagnosis:
primary DSM-5 diagnosis should be given for the character. Be specific (for example, don’t just write “depression”; it might be “major depressive disorder,
moderate, recurrent, without psychotic features” and so on.
Include a brief explanation as to why you chose that particular diagnosis over your differential diagnosis.
In many of the films there are diagnoses mentioned etc. It’s up to you to decide if you want to go with what the film says, or something else
Case Conceptualization:
Choose which model of abnormality (from Part I), psychoanalytic, cognitive-behavioral, humanistic-existential and sociocultural, you believe fits/explains
the character/diagnosis the most.
Why are you choosing that particular model over the other three? Make your case for your choice, how it explains that character, their mental illness etc..
Treatment:
Briefly discuss what type of treatment you think would best help this particular character/diagnosis. Include the prognosis (the likely outcome) of treatment,
and any barriers to treatment this particular person might encounter (Think: Access to transportation? Healthcare? Financial issues? Motivation to change?
Etc.)
In many of the films some type of treatment is portrayed; I am not looking for you to describe what treatment the character received – for this imagine if you
were the therapist/clinician and discuss what YOU think will be most effective, in terms of treatment options
Messages:
Finally, reflect on the positive and negative messages that the film/characters portray regarding the particular disorder or psychological dynamics.
