Core concepts free essay sample

The first time I heard the phrase â€Å"mommy dearest† was when I was in Junior high school. My classmates were joking around about how their mother’s yelled and lecture them and telling stories. Jokingly, one of my classmates suddenly yelled out â€Å"mommy dearest† and they started to laugh. I vividly remember thinking at that time, what’s mommy dearest? And what does that mean, am I missing out on something that everyone already knew of. I asked them what they were referring to and they told me it comes from the movie â€Å"Mommy Dearest†. At that time I didn’t pay much attention to it and forgot about it. I didn’t know of the severity of what the movie was based on and that yes, my classmates were making fun of it, but it in actuality it is no laughing matter. When I entered high school, we were shown the movie â€Å"Mommy Dearest† in my psychology class. We will write a custom essay sample on Core concepts or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Thinking of an observation that narrates to the theme of abnormal psychology, this movie comes to mind. In the movie, â€Å"Mommy Dearest,† this is based on a memoir of Joan Crawford, a famous actress during the time of the 1930’s and 1940’s. It was written by her adoptive daughter Cristina Crawford. Joan Crawford was described to have had an abnormal relationship with daughter. The film shows that Joan Crawford is a hard working actress, yet she is an alcoholic and is suffering from disorders that involve being obsessed with being clean and likes to be controlling of others. She wants everyone that she is surrounded by to follow what she says. These symptoms all fall under and are related to Borderline Personality disorder. The movie portrays, Joan Crawford as being overly controlling and abusive towards her adoptive children. She also seems to be shown as being self-centered. She may have been hard working and an ambitious actress but when it came to her children, she showed signs of being compulsive in all matters of life and being obsessed with cleanliness. Joan Crawford’s personality also showed that she likes to control everyone around her. If things didn’t go her way, she becomes angry, fails to lose her temper and expresses resentment. In the movie, her daughter and son suffer from their mother’s wrath. Also, in the movie, there is a scene where she sees her daughter applying making up and impersonating her, she cut’s her hair off. In another seen, she sees a broken hanger hung in her daughter’s closest and grows to become furious and beats her with it. Joan Crawford seems to have tantrums that show abnormality. She subjects to her children by putting them thru unusual punishments and humiliation which is traumatic for any child during their childhood and up bring and may cause them to not lead normal lives or go thru therapy to cope. In the end, it shows that Joan Crawford portrays symptoms of intense anger, being compulsive in being clean, which in terms is also related to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. As the daughter is all grown up and has moved away from the mother, even enduring all that abuse from her mother throughout her childhood, she still takes care of her ill mother until she passes away. But her mother does not leave her with any estate or money because of the way she is regarding her personality and this is due to her personality disorder. My observation is that her daughter wrote a memoir based on her mother, which later becomes a movie, as a way to cope and express to others of what she went thru and that this does exist. It is intriguing to learn about how personality disorders can be portrayed and what the effects and reasons are of these types of disorders. Borderline Personality Disorder is referred to as one not being stable in terms of emotions and personality. Its symptoms include instability, having a fear of abandonment and having a bad temper that many are taken on those who are close and also may lead to being indifferent with any kind of personal relationships. Borderline personality disorder may also cause erratic behavior such as drinking, which may lead to alcoholism. The symptoms of the disorder also show signs of being avoidant, extra dependent on those around you and obsessive in all matters. (Wadswoth, 2013). The cure for this disorder is diagnosed by having a clinical, psychological evaluation by a health expert, psychotherapist, medications, etc. and can also be done by different types of psychotherapy to give to the different personality disorders. This includes, Cognitive behavioral therapy which is therapy to help express negative thoughts and values and to change them to a positive mindset. Moreover, there is Psychodynamic therapy, which help to increase thoughts of helping to motivate and to help conflicts that need to be resolved to live a positive life. (Mayo Clinic, 2010). If the disorders are not treated at an earlier stage when the symptoms arise, then the disorder can get worse. The causes for this disorder may be because of brain abnormalities or can be genetic and in the family. (Frankenburg. 1997). Thus, having to observe and analyze the movie â€Å"Mommy Dearest† that I watched while I was in high school, this movie will always come to mind when the topic of personality disorders in abnormal psychology is discussed. It can easily be related thru to the concept of the course of what I have learned thus far in our abnormal psychology class sessions. By having to watch, analyze and to relate this topic to one of our topics, has ultimately given me more knowledge. It gives me a more of a logical point of view of what I am learning. References: Wadsworth, S. R. (2013). Life on the Borderline-Growing Up with a Personality Disordered Parent. Retrieved from hubpages: http://www. srae. hubpages. com/hub/Life-On-The-Borderline-Growing-Up-with-a-Borderline-Personality-Borderlined.