This paper explores the psychological disorders and how the characters of Before I Wake(2016) handle the disorder. Throughout, the paper it will discuss the movie, and the problems the characters face. It explains the disorders that each of the main characters has and shows examples from different scenes of the movie. It relates to what real people go through when they lose a loved one. In the paper it has multiple articles that are compared to the the concept of the film, and the specific disorder each character has. The paper explains situational depression, grief, and how to cope with it. It shows that different characters identify with disorders and show how severe their case is. It examines the articles suggests that while going through death you have symptoms or characteristics of a certain depression or grief. Also shows how individuals let death impact in several ways and how different outlets can help people through their time of grief.
Before I Wake: Movie Review Study shows that 6.9 percent of the population has depression after losing a loved one. According to the world health organization(WHO) 350 million people worldwide suffer from depression. The film Before I Wake (2016) directed by Mike Flanagan. This psychological thriller merges the supernatural and the elements of magic to tell a story about a newfound family discovers the abilities the foster-child son have.The two primary characters which are, Cody (Jacob Tremblay) and Jessie (Kate Bosworth) both identify with depression and grieving because they both share the characteristics of the disorders. Jessie and Mark (Thomas Jane) lost their child in a household accident which triggered depression in Jessie.
Years after the accident they decide to bring a foster-child into their home which was 8 years old Cody that lost his mother to cancer at a adolescent age. Cody has been in the foster care system since he was three and went through several families. When he was presented to the Bosworths. He was promoted as a child that needed love and the Bosworths was the ideal family for it. The social worker didn’t let the family now of the child ability which was the reason Cody went family to family. Cody does not like to go to sleep because when he does his dreams and nightmares become a reality. In this paper it will explain the type of depression, how they coped with it and how they grieved.
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In the article journal Depression written by the editors of Encyclopedia Britannica (2018) depression means a mood or emotional state that is marked by feelings of self-worth or guilt and a reduce ability to enjoy life. Jess went through depression and grief because she felt like she could have save her child from drowning in the bathtub. For example when they are preparing for Cody’s arrival, they put rails on the bathtub, Jessie had a flashback of her son drowning. Another example is when she went to save Cody from the canker man. She saw another image of demonic look alike of her son drowning in a bathtub of muggy water. Jessie identifies with situational depression. According to an article on situational deprepression written by Eric Cirino (2017) it writes about the symptoms and the characteristics of this type of depression. It describe as a adjustment order that make it hard to adjust to everyday life.
The symptoms of this type of depression are sadness, hopelessness, lack of enjoyment of normal activities, regular crying, constant worrying, sleeping difficulties, and feeling overwhelmed (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018). After the death of their son Jessie always seemed sad and felt guilt of her son death daily. She would worry over Cody which was sometimes overbearing. What she thought was helping Cody was actually hurting him. Many things went wrong because her anxiety due to situational depression. In the US 8 million people suffered through death of someone in their immediate family last year, 800,000 new widows and widowers; 400,000 people under 25 suffered from the death of a loved one (National Mental Health Association). In this film it really focuses on the different perspectives on grief.
The three main characters handle their grief in different ways. For example Cody isolated himself, but really couldn’t comprehend the death of his mother because of his young age. He went through anticipatory grief and according to the article Navigate Grief:A Guidebook for Grief Awareness and Understanding by Heather Bass, LCPC(2018) it begins prior to the actual loss. This is most commonly found when a person is dying from a long-term illness, and the bereaved begin their grief loss sinks in. The foster parents had complicated grief which is a disorder people go through when they lose a family member. It show more in people that loses a spouse or a child, which is this case Jessie loses both. In the beginning of the film, she loses her son and at the end her husband is killed by a monster that is in Cody nightmare.
In the film the main characters go through grief and depression and cope with it in their own way. For example the husband coped with the child death by removing all the pictures of the dead child. The wife went to support groups and use Cody ability to project her dead son through Cody dreams by showing him pictures and videos. She thought that was a way to get over the death of her son, which only made her depression worst because that wasn’t really her son, but only a figure of Cody imagination. Cody had multiple ways he copes with his mother death. He drew butterflies and the canker man as an outlet to express his memories of his mother. Since his mother died when he was young he couldn’t fully understand his mother was dying and won’t be coming back. Children younger than 6 years old are very literal, so they require a balance of comfort and simple, direct answers (Heather Bass, 2017).
When his mother explained she was dying Cody didn’t comprehend so he created his own story of how his mom died. As years went by he created Canker Man through his nightmare which his thought ate his mother, but she died because of cancer. He also cope by focusing his attention on butterflies, which was a past memory if his mother. The American Psychological Association (APA) suggests everyone reacts differently to death and employs personal coping mechanisms.
In order to fully understand if Jessie and Cody got over the death of their love ones it would have to be a sequel to Before I Wake (2016). This includes, but not limited to, them going to support groups. Seeing psychological help, chat rooms, or taking medication. The effects of seeking help may differ on the individual. As they get help and it is more prevalent in their life they will improve and help them get over the death of a loved one.
