Research into depression
500 days of summer
500 days of summer is an offbeat comedy directed by Mark Webb and stars Joseph Gordon Levitt and Zoey Deschanel. The story is about a woman (Summer) who doesn't believe true love exists and about the young man (Tom) who falls in love with her. This film is not a typical love story, it tries to remove and scramble up the typical romantic comedy cliche's. The way this film deals with depression from a romantic perspective is very interesting, the film starts off with our main character tom showing massive signs of depression because of his breakup with summer. The journey we go on through the film reveals the earlier days of the relationship revealing its early honeymoon faze to its dark conclusion. 500 days of summer has a special message about depression compared to other films because I feel, that many modern media outlets glamorises depression and suicide because they use it as a way to romanticise characters, films like this tend to show love as a way of fixing peoples depression when that is not usually the case, 500 days of summer creates the opposite message trying to reflect on the fact that love does not fix peoples mental health, mental health is something which needs to be fixed from self love not from the love of others. Our main character tom is represented as the depressed character in this film and his portrayal as being depressed is rather accurate, this change of character in his depression happens after the breakup. He shows signs of self loathing, he has no hope and he has no motivation. there are certain scenes in the film that also reveal toms depression through set design and use of mise-en-scene. For example in this scene we see tom is struggling with the break up, his room is messy, he's sitting in his room by himself bouncing a tennis ball on the ground whilst laying on his bed very sluggishly, he has pieces of unfinished work lying around. These are signs of depression which are being explored through the scenery, this in ways is much more effective than using dialogue because it's easier to reveal to the audience in that way but visually it helps the audience see someone's sadness without revealing too much.
Medical perspective of mental health
Mental health medically is treated the same sense the fractures and breaks, there is a physical cause, this is called 'the medical model of mental health' people who believe in this model consider the symptoms of depression to be caused by inner psychical disorders and that if all major symptoms are grouped together, depression can be referred to as a type of 'Syndrome' the solution to how these disorders can be fixed by helping the patients psychically. Depression can be caused by many biological issues which are; Genetic (studies have shown that depression has been known to be caused from inheriting it from DNA) Biochemistry (low levels of mono amines predominantly noradrenaline and serotonin) Neuroanatomy (damage to amine pathways) Neuroendocrine (hormonal issues). Depression has also medication which can be used to treat it, these drugs are known as anti-depressants they are made to boost serotonin levels in the body to make the users have an artificial sense of happiness. Medically depression has been excused with artfical uses to make patients feel more happy rather than going down the psychological route. After reading into this I have a greater understanding of how doctors medically treat depression and it gives me a better outlook into how people deal with mental health issues and how that can be better represented on screen.
Psychological perspective of mental health
There is no clear psychological causes of depression but a mix of psychological issues and breaks in the mind of a patient. The main causes of depression psychologically are mainly; Environment (where you were brought up, what type of environment you have adopted) Trauma (Loosing loved ones, past experiences) Chemical imbalances (Lack of serotonin) anything which can force the human mind to struggle to cope with its natural existence can trigger depressive episodes or states of depression. Psychiatrists and psychotherapists use various forms of therapy techniques that help relieve patients from their episodes or states of depression for example;
500 days of summer is an offbeat comedy directed by Mark Webb and stars Joseph Gordon Levitt and Zoey Deschanel. The story is about a woman (Summer) who doesn't believe true love exists and about the young man (Tom) who falls in love with her. This film is not a typical love story, it tries to remove and scramble up the typical romantic comedy cliche's. The way this film deals with depression from a romantic perspective is very interesting, the film starts off with our main character tom showing massive signs of depression because of his breakup with summer. The journey we go on through the film reveals the earlier days of the relationship revealing its early honeymoon faze to its dark conclusion. 500 days of summer has a special message about depression compared to other films because I feel, that many modern media outlets glamorises depression and suicide because they use it as a way to romanticise characters, films like this tend to show love as a way of fixing peoples depression when that is not usually the case, 500 days of summer creates the opposite message trying to reflect on the fact that love does not fix peoples mental health, mental health is something which needs to be fixed from self love not from the love of others. Our main character tom is represented as the depressed character in this film and his portrayal as being depressed is rather accurate, this change of character in his depression happens after the breakup. He shows signs of self loathing, he has no hope and he has no motivation. there are certain scenes in the film that also reveal toms depression through set design and use of mise-en-scene. For example in this scene we see tom is struggling with the break up, his room is messy, he's sitting in his room by himself bouncing a tennis ball on the ground whilst laying on his bed very sluggishly, he has pieces of unfinished work lying around. These are signs of depression which are being explored through the scenery, this in ways is much more effective than using dialogue because it's easier to reveal to the audience in that way but visually it helps the audience see someone's sadness without revealing too much.
Medical perspective of mental health
Mental health medically is treated the same sense the fractures and breaks, there is a physical cause, this is called 'the medical model of mental health' people who believe in this model consider the symptoms of depression to be caused by inner psychical disorders and that if all major symptoms are grouped together, depression can be referred to as a type of 'Syndrome' the solution to how these disorders can be fixed by helping the patients psychically. Depression can be caused by many biological issues which are; Genetic (studies have shown that depression has been known to be caused from inheriting it from DNA) Biochemistry (low levels of mono amines predominantly noradrenaline and serotonin) Neuroanatomy (damage to amine pathways) Neuroendocrine (hormonal issues). Depression has also medication which can be used to treat it, these drugs are known as anti-depressants they are made to boost serotonin levels in the body to make the users have an artificial sense of happiness. Medically depression has been excused with artfical uses to make patients feel more happy rather than going down the psychological route. After reading into this I have a greater understanding of how doctors medically treat depression and it gives me a better outlook into how people deal with mental health issues and how that can be better represented on screen.
Psychological perspective of mental health
There is no clear psychological causes of depression but a mix of psychological issues and breaks in the mind of a patient. The main causes of depression psychologically are mainly; Environment (where you were brought up, what type of environment you have adopted) Trauma (Loosing loved ones, past experiences) Chemical imbalances (Lack of serotonin) anything which can force the human mind to struggle to cope with its natural existence can trigger depressive episodes or states of depression. Psychiatrists and psychotherapists use various forms of therapy techniques that help relieve patients from their episodes or states of depression for example;
- Psychoanalysis - a psychological therapy which treats mental disorders by analysing the interaction of conscious and unconscious elements in the mind and trying to solve repressed fears and issues in the conscious mind by using methods such as dream interpretation and free association.
- Behavioural - This form of therapy was created to find and help change potentially self-destructive or unhealthy behaviours. It works on the basis that all behaviours are learned and that unhealthy behaviours can be changed. The focus of treatment is often on current problems and how they can be changed.
- Cognitive therapy - Cognitive behavioural therapy is a talking therapy that can help patients manage their problems by changing the way they think and behave.It's most commonly used to treat anxiety and depression, but can be useful for other mental and physical health problems. CBT is based on the on idea that patients thoughts, feelings, physical feelings and actions are interconnected, and that negative thoughts and feelings can trap you in a depressive states or episodes.
After researching into these forms of therapy and how depression can be caused or triggered has allowed me to understand izzy's writing in a much more understanding way because her writing comes from past experiences and inspirations which are usually related very much to mental health.
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