TV - Movies
12 Movies About
Mental Health To
Add To Your
Must-Watch List
By CYNTHIA VINNEY
"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" offers a touching depiction of how important and transformative friendships can be during adolescence. The acceptance and support of Charlie’s friends help him cope with depression and memories of abuse, while also making it clear that they see him as a complete person — beyond his mental illness.
Perks
"A Beautiful Mind" follows the story of mathematician John Nash and his struggles with schizophrenia and by structuring the story from his perspective the audience experiences the hallucinations along with him. The film is able to paint a human portrait of a person’s struggles with mental illness while also awakening a sense of empathy and hope in the viewers.
A Beautiful Mind
"Girl, Interrupted" depicts how Susanna and Lisa help and hinder each other’s recovery during their stay at a psychiatric hospital in the 1960s, and does a good job of humanizing adolescent girls with mental illness. The film also shows that psychiatric hospitals can be a valuable source of life-changing care as opposed to their popular depiction as institutions of pain and horror.
Girl, Interrupted
"Ordinary People" is a moving meditation on loss, grief, and the struggle to achieve mental health after trauma. The film especially does an excellent job at depicting PTSD and survivor’s guilt in Conrad, while also highlighting the damage that can be caused by denial of grief through the struggles of Beth, his mother.
Ordinary People
"Silver Linings Playbook" is an uplifting film about Pat and Tiffany, and how they find common ground and desperately needed camaraderie in spite of their mental health issues. The movie takes their problems seriously but shows that healing is possible, while also highlighting how Pat’s difficulties impact his parents, whose love is a source of strength for him.
Silver Linings Playbook