Maughan 1

The Fisher King Alex Maughan PSY 2300: Abnormal Psychology 23 Nov. 2013

Maughan 2 Jack Lucas (played by Jeff Bridges) is New Yorks #1 shock-deejay: he says what he wants about whoever he wants; consequently, hes quite famous. One night, Jack gets a call from a daily listener who gets shunted by something Jack says. This causes (or so the man said) him to enter a bar with a shotgun, killing seven people including himself. Three years later, Jack is depressed, drunk, and jobless. He nearly commits suicide by drowning. Just as hes about to jump, two thugs exit a vehicle, beat Jack, then pour gasoline over him to light him on fire. Miraculously, and, strangely, in comes Parry. Played by Robin Williams (the reason I chose this movie), Parry saves Jacks life who then is taken in by Parry after Jack passes out. Jack leaves the next morning with no intent to return, that is, until he discovers Parrys fianc died by the hands of the radio caller. Jack feels responsible for her death and his schizophrenic situation; in an attempt to ease his guilt, Jack helps hook Parry up with a girl he loves named Lydia (played by Amanda Plummer). In Jacks words, I feel indebted to the guy . . . if I could help him in some way, get him this girl that he loves, [then] maybe, you know, things would change for me. Jack and his girlfriend Anne (played by Mercedes Ruehl) set Parry up with her; Parry walks her home and kisses her: two things then happen simultaneously. This brings to Parrys mind the events of the death of his fianc, and triggers memories a schizophrenic phase in the form of The Red Knight. Parry runs from his hallucination until he runs into the wrong crowd, the same crowd who beat Jack up; Parrys hospitalized and in a coma. Parts of Parrys delusions include believing hes a knight on a special quest to steal the Holy Grail. Jack knows this, so he breaks in to the billionaires house where Parry believes the Grail is held (whose house awesomely happens to look like a castle). Jack succeeds and gives the Grail to Parry who

Maughan 3 comes out of his coma. Lydia walks in to the hospital as Parrys conducting an in-patient choir, which she must find attractive, because they decide to stay with each other. The two characters Ill diagnose are Jack and Parry, beginning with the former. Jack Lucas was once New Yorks #1 shock deejay, but since he lost his job, he drinks heavily; he maintains a job at his girlfriends video rental store, but doesnt work, not really. Hes usually drunk during the day, and one night, Jack steps out of his apartment while intoxicated; and nearly commits suicide. Diagnosis: 303.00 Alcohol Intoxication. Etiology: Job loss, but more importantly, the reason why he lost his job: he feels responsible for the deaths that occurred at the hands of a radio caller. Diagnostic Criteria: Recent ingestion of alcohol; significant problematic behavior (aggressive behavior, impaired judgment (walking down the middle of a busy street)); one or more of the following: slurred speech, incoordination, unsteady gait, impairment in attention or memory, stupor or coma. I was also thinking he might have Major Depressive Disorder, however, once he stops drinking, Jack goes back to work, stops thinking about (and attempting) suicide, and even gets married. This leads me to believe that his depressed mood was a result of his drinking habits. Medical Conditions: None reported. V-Codes: None. As far as the portrayal of Alcohol Intoxication, the film portrays it too well: It doesnt just show that he runs in to garbage cans or can barely walk; theres a part in the film where you

Maughan 4 see through his eyes and people look fuzzy, noise levels are enhanced, theres sensitivity to bright light (its not pretty). We also learn about his thoughts in his drunken state as he gives a good (but sad) speech. This was what led me to consider MDD: There are two kinds of people in this world: People who are destined for greatness like Walt Disney and . . . Hitler. Then theres the rest of us . . . the bumbled and the botched. We get teased, we sometimes get close to greatness but . . . we never get there. Were the expendable masses [takes another drink]: We get pushed in front of trains, take poison aspirin, get gunned down in Dairy Queens. [To the puppet] You wanna hear the new title of my biuhgraphy, my little Italian friend? It Was No Fuckin Picnic: The Jack Lucas Story. . . You ever get the feeling sometimes, youre being punished for your sins? Parry . . . what to say about Parry? Lets start with this opening scene that shows his Positive Symptoms, a combination of delusions and hallucinations: Jack: Where am I? Parry: Hmm? Jack: Where? Parry: What? Jack: What?

Maughan 5 Parry: [To imaginary fat fairies] Shh! Shh! What is it? We got company. What? I knew it. I knew it last night. I did too! I did. Dont look at me, dont[turns back to Jack, laughs, turns away]. Hes The One. [Back to Jack] Can you keep a secret? Jack: No. Parry: Good. You know what the little people told me? Jack: Little People? Parry: They said, Youre The One. Jack: The One what? Parry: Shutup! Get away from him! [Picks up a bottle of spray, sprays around Jack]. Ah. There we are. They said youre not ready to know yet. Jack: Im not. Parry: He is too! Get out of here! [More spraying]. Parry then tells Jack what the fairies deemed Jack not ready to know [see Figure 1]. Bizarre delusions, disheveled appearance (including brown teeth), and delusions. Diagnosis: 295.90 Schizophrenia, Severe, Multiple Episodes, Currently in Acute Episode.
Figure 1: Parry reveals to Jack he's a knight on a quest to obtain the Holy Grail, the symbol of God's grace.

Maughan 6 I chose not to diagnose him with Catatonic Schizophrenia because although he meets the criteria for the times when hes in a coma, Catatonic behaviors important to the diagnosis are not present while hes awake such as catatonic stupor (complete unawareness) or catatonic negativism (resistance to being moved). These occur later and are the result of being severely beaten and hospitalized. Etiology: I was reminded of the lecture we had in class about the etiology of mental illness portrayed in movies, the myth that a single traumatic instance causes mental disorders. Parry witnesses the death of his fianc (her brain matter explodes on his face), but Im not sure this would cause such a dramatic change. Experts are uncertain as to what causes schizophrenia, and there mayve been other factors present in Henrys life not mentioned in the film before he became Parry. What Im saying is, that incident could have caused schizophrenia, but I am not sure. It could have just as easily caused Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Diagnostic Criteria: A. Two or more of the following present for a significant portion of time during a 1-month period. At least one of these must be (1), (2), or (3). (1) Delusions. (2) Hallucinations. (3) Disorganized speech. (4) Negative Symptoms

Maughan 7 B. For a significant portion of time, Parrys level of functioning in one or more major areas, such as work, interpersonal relations, [and] self-care, are markedly below the level achieved prior to onset. C. Continuous signs of the disturbance persist for at least 6 months. D. Schizoaffective disorder and depressive or bipolar disorder with psychotic features have been ruled out because no major depressive or manic episodes have occurred concurrently with the active-phase symptoms. E. The disturbance is not attributable to the physiological effects of a substance or another medical condition. F. There is no history of autism spectrum disorder or a communication disorder. Medical Conditions: None reported. V-Codes: V60.0 Homelessness. V60.2 Extreme poverty. V60.2 Lack of adequate food or safe drinking water. V62.4 Social exclusion or rejection. V62.89 Victim of crime.

Back to the positive symptoms, an aspect of schizophrenia I didnt know was an aspect of schizophrenia (until I heard about it in class) was how schizophrenics make unwanted sexual

Maughan 8 advances. For example, Parrys eating dinner at Annes apartment and compliments her on the meal. Suddenly, he starts talking about how beautiful her child-bearing body is and how its a shame to let it go to waste. Im surprised some guy doesnt just snatch you up all for his own. She looks at Jack like shes saying Did you hear that? and seems flattered. That is, until Parry clears the table, stands on it, and says, Lets do it! Right here! When Anne declines, Parry smiles and says, You just let me know. Another positive symptom Parry experiences is a persecutory delusion and visual and auditory hallucination, the bane of Parrys schizophrenic existence: The Red Knight. For me, the portrayal of The Red Knight was what surprised me mostand what I appreciated most. My perspective changed during the film. When I started watching, I didnt see Parry as anything more than a crazy delusional man. When I saw what Parry saw through his hallucinations, my . . . skepticism, for lack of a better word, melted into sympathy; seeing how horrified he was by the Red Knight, well, I felt sorry for him. I didnt realize how intense and real hallucinations were until I saw what he saw. Robin Williams portrayed fear better than I can describe; he portrayed the reaction so believably that I wanted to cry. I just never knew. Something you said in class was exactly what I thought at the end of the film: What I had read in the DSM was just information, but after seeing it, even if it was slightly exaggerated in the film, well, that taught me more about hallucinations than anything I previously memorized. Negative Symptoms He shows negative symptoms of schizophrenia such as an identity that belongs to Parry but is missing. According to a man who cares for Parry by giving him a place to stay (a boiler

Maughan 9 room), He used to be Henry Sagen. After his fianc died, he didnt speak for a year, only now hes this Parry guy. He doesnt show other negative symptoms discussed in class such as flat affect or alogia, however, he does show anhedonia and avolition. Hes lost interest in working as a college professor, somewhat in dating (I say somewhat because he follows Lydia around but never asks for a date), and lots of things he used to do; he doesnt have the ability to engage in goal-directed behavior, even the most important one driven by his delusions: Stealing the Holy Grail from a billionaires castle-mansion. One thing I was happy about but that didnt seem realistic was Parrys recovery. Im not speaking of the slow recovery shown throughout the film (especially as Lydia becomes involved in his life), but at the end when Parry recovers from a second coma when Jack brings him the trophy (Grail) he stole. In closing, the film accurately portrays the struggles of homelessness combined with mental illness. It shows that the homeless and mentally ill are people too, just with a different set of problems. Its interesting that what Jack sets out to do in the beginning becomes a reality by the end, that by helping Parry heal, hes healing himself.