Shutter Island is a brilliant piece directed by Martin Scorsese which features Andrew Laeddis as the protagonist and other characters such as Dolores, their children as well as doctors within a psychiatry facility. Andrew Laeddis is featured as a US marshal married to Dolores whom they have three children. However, as the film progresses, Dolores gets insane, and Andrew becomes hesitant to help his partner get medical attention and overcome maniac depressive symptoms, suicidal thoughts as well as insanity. As her condition worsens, Dolores contemplates on killing her children and later drowns them. After learning the death of his three children, Andrew kills his wife. He is unable to face what he has done and this makes him completely insane and he is later admitted to a psychiatry facility. While Andrew is in the psychiatry facility the trauma is intense such that he creates an imaginary character within himself and identifies as Teddy Daniels. By creating an imaginary character, Andrew seeks to escape from the realities of murdering his wife thus demonstrating how unresolved trauma and guilt can have adverse implications on mental health and wellbeing as well as on cognitive processes.
The Elements in the Movie that Relate to Psychology
The Shutter Island can be explained as a film that can be used in understanding different concepts in psychology such as reactions to traumatic events using a psychoanalytic view, the impacts of guilt and how anxiety is a common natural response to a dangerous situation in the human mind. Following a distressing event, it is normal for a person to react. Some of the most common reactions include being upset, shock, feeling numb, anxious or being overprotective of others, and this can apply to close family members like spouse or children and in some cases this can apply to the case of close friends. However, for the case of Andrew Laeddis, he reacted to the trauma of losing his three children by engaging in risky behaviors and activities such as indulging in alcohol as well as killing his wife. Further, substance abuse as depicted in the film by Andrew Laeddis can be explained as a coping mechanism where the protagonist uses alcohol as a substance that will temporarily numb pain or psychological concerns that emerged from the murder of his wife and his three children. This is a self-medicating strategy and can be dangerous since it does not address the root causes of a mental health disorder. The acts of drinking to avert thoughts that led to trauma in this film illustrate how people engage in drug abuse as a coping mechanism rather than addressing real issues that expose them to mental health vulnerabilities.
In addition, it is worth noting that Andrew’s actions can be understood from a psychoanalytic lens where the actions of creating and assuming an imaginary character could be as a result of repression and adverse experiences. Andrew suffers from repression and trauma. The repressed thoughts and characters are trying to resurface from his unconscious thoughts through imagination. Andrew tries to create an imaginary character as a strategy of escaping from the realities of murdering his wife thus pushing him into delusion. Therefore, one can argue that through a psychoanalytic lens, viewers can understand and justify Andrew’s actions on creating imaginary characters within himself.
Personal Thought on the Film
After watching the film and conducting a critical analysis of the primary themes, I am strongly convinced that this is a highly educative piece that can be used by students pursuing psychology and other behavioral studies. I can relate with the thoughts and behaviors of the protagonist, especially on guilt and his reaction to traumatic events and experiences. When people experience traumatic events in their lives, they are likely to undergo different phases of trauma such as denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The denial phase is manifested in the protagonist’ life when he expresses disbelief about his children’s murder. Further, anger is manifested when Andrew kills his wife as a retaliatory action for the drowning of his children. Failure to manage anger and disbelief exposes an individual to complex mental health conditions such as depression like it was in the case of Andrew. I strongly agree with all major themes explained in the film and that failure to manage guilt and pain can expose an individual to complex mental health conditions. The film also challenges viewers on the importance of seeking help and early interventions for mental health disorders. If Andrew acted earlier after recognizing some of the early symptoms manifested by his wife by reaching out to a counselor, some of the events leading to trauma could have been avoided. I would recommend the film to all high school students intending to pursue psychology in advanced studies.
Works Cited
Shutter Island. Directed by Martin Scorsese, 2010. 2010.
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