Case Anaylsis on the Movie "The Beaver"

874 Words4 Pages
Brief Movie Summary: In the movie “The Beaver” the main character, played by Mel Gibson, is a depressed middle aged man named Walter Black. Walter is a husband, father, and a CEO of a toy manufacturing corporation. Walter is suffering from severe depression which causes him to be an absentee father, absentee husband, and a unmotivated, nonfunctioning executive who spends most of his time sleeping. Once his wife decides to leave him he finds himself feeling suicidal. In this particular scene in the movie he is in a hotel room drinking heavily. He gets very drunk and has his stuffed animal puppet (beaver) on his his hand. As he is about to take his own life by jumping off a 10 story balcony, “the puppet” saves him. After this night Walter starts communicating through the puppet. When speaking through the puppet he has a different accent and different personality. The puppet or the beaver’s personality is the opposite of Walter’s. The beaver allows Walter to come out of his depression. As the movie goes on you see that the beaver begins to take over and Walter’s personality fades into the background. 1. In the movie “The Beaver” Walter Black is the main character who portrays a person with a specific mental disorder. My diagnosis for Walter on Axis 1 would be Major Depressive Disorder, recurrent with Psychotic symptoms. He demonstrates a number of symptoms to justify this diagnosis including having a markedly depressed mood, diminished interest or pleasure in all activities, severe hypersomnia , fatigue, lack of energy, feelings of worthlessness, excessive guilt, inability to concentrate, indecisiveness, and a suicide attempt. In addition, he has a delusional belief that the beaver puppet is real. This is where he crosses the line into psychotic thinking. 2. Walter Black walks slowly and has a slumped over and and lifeless posture. When he
Open Document