Anxiety Disorders Viewed On- Screen
Hailey Odegard
Chapman University
Abstract
This paper examines the portrayal of Anxiety disorders in the film Batman Begins as compared to what the widely-accepted, academic literature describes. The film Batman Begins portrays Bruce Wayne as a person affected by two types of anxiety disorders: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and specific phobias. This essay inspects the accuracy of the film's depiction of these disorders by examining the character's manifestation of symptoms, method of diagnosis, and the emotional effects the character experiences as a result of his condition as compared to what is contained in available academic literature. The analysis leads to the conclusion that viewed from a psychological perspective, the film's portrayal of these disorders was accurate.
Anxiety Disorders Viewed On- Screen
In the film Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne Through comes across objects, events, and experiences that terrify him. Some people are able to overcome a fear, while others are not. Going through a traumatic experience can affect a person for the rest of their life. Having a phobia and having constant stress that leads to a state of panic, which in the end, takes over your whole body is not ideal. In the movie Batman Begins, the main character Bruce Wayne, who is also known as Batman, has Specific Phobia and PTSD that affect him from the beginning of his childhood and on through adulthood.
As a little boy, Bruce Wayne is traumatized when he falls into a cave and is swarmed by bats. Later in the film, Wayne is also traumatized by the knowledge that the darkness of Gotham City can spit out cretins who will rob people of their closest companions in the world. He faces ordinary events while growing up that serve as reminders of the trauma he faces. He has flashbacks and intrusive images that cannot leave his head. Wayne...