Psychology Paper "Reign over Me"
Reign Over Me
“Reign Over Me” by Mike Binder shows the life of a man who loses everything on the day of September 11, 2001. Charlie Fineman played by Adam Sandler suffers the loss of his wife and three daughters in the tragic plane accident. Despite five years passing Charlie has not yet been able to deal with his loss and as a result creates his own world of vinyl records and video games. By doing so he isolates himself from anything and everything that reminds him of what he once had; leaving his once blissful apartment full of bare walls.
Flashbacks are a key characteristic of a person who suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder. However, in the movie the audience does not witness Charlie having any flashbacks, although he does mention at one point that he continuously has flashbacks of his wife and children. Despite this missing element in the movie, “Reign Over Me” does a remarkable job portraying the life of a person suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. Charlie Fineman lives in his own world as he constantly exudes an excessive amount of effort in order to avoid reminders of the trauma (Z. I. Kekelidze, A.A. Portnova, 2009) of losing his wife and children. The DSM-IV states that the following symptoms must be present for a person to be classified as having PTSD; purposefully avoiding of thoughts, conversations and experiences associated with the traumatic event and avoiding people that prompt recollections of the traumatic event (Z. I. Kekelidze et. el, 2009) and Charlie does just that, even the mention of the word “wife” causes him to become aggravated and distraught. His unwillingness to see his parents-in-law demonstrates that he in fact does try to avoid anything to do with his past. In addition to symptoms of avoidance commonly found in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder, Charlie also displays chronic signs of physical hyperarousal (Z. I. Kekelidze et. el, 2009). His inability to sleep, anger, lack of ability to focus are also
“Reign Over Me” by Mike Binder shows the life of a man who loses everything on the day of September 11, 2001. Charlie Fineman played by Adam Sandler suffers the loss of his wife and three daughters in the tragic plane accident. Despite five years passing Charlie has not yet been able to deal with his loss and as a result creates his own world of vinyl records and video games. By doing so he isolates himself from anything and everything that reminds him of what he once had; leaving his once blissful apartment full of bare walls.
Flashbacks are a key characteristic of a person who suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder. However, in the movie the audience does not witness Charlie having any flashbacks, although he does mention at one point that he continuously has flashbacks of his wife and children. Despite this missing element in the movie, “Reign Over Me” does a remarkable job portraying the life of a person suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. Charlie Fineman lives in his own world as he constantly exudes an excessive amount of effort in order to avoid reminders of the trauma (Z. I. Kekelidze, A.A. Portnova, 2009) of losing his wife and children. The DSM-IV states that the following symptoms must be present for a person to be classified as having PTSD; purposefully avoiding of thoughts, conversations and experiences associated with the traumatic event and avoiding people that prompt recollections of the traumatic event (Z. I. Kekelidze et. el, 2009) and Charlie does just that, even the mention of the word “wife” causes him to become aggravated and distraught. His unwillingness to see his parents-in-law demonstrates that he in fact does try to avoid anything to do with his past. In addition to symptoms of avoidance commonly found in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder, Charlie also displays chronic signs of physical hyperarousal (Z. I. Kekelidze et. el, 2009). His inability to sleep, anger, lack of ability to focus are also
References: Lilienfeld, S. O., Lynn, S. J., Namy, L. L., Woolf, N. J., Cramer, K. M., & Schmaltz, R. (2011). Psychology: From inquiry to understanding (Canadian ed.). Toronto, Canada: Pearson Canada Inc Z. I. Kekelidze, A. Portnova (2009) Diagnostic Criteria of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders. Neuroscience and Behavioural Physiology. 41. 157-160