The film, “28 Days,” is centered on the life of the main character, Gwen Cummings, who is suffering from alcohol addiction. On the day her sister was supposed to have a wedding, Gwen gets drunk to the point of destroying the wedding cake made for the sister. She then embarks on a journey to have the cake replaced while riding in a limousine car. As she drives, she also talks on the phone and this distraction together with her stupor causes her to get involved in an accident. She is then arraigned in court and given only two options: be sent to jail or a rehabilitation center. Cummings chooses rehab though she is hesitant to participate in the treatment programs offered at the facility (Betty & Cecilia, 2000). However, after interacting with other drug addicts at the rehab center, she re-examines herself and realizes that she has an addiction problem. Certain elements of the plot and characterization of this film such as the place where Gwen damages the wedding case shows that she is not normal and having drunk alcohol, it could be inferred that she is suffering from substance abuse-related disorder, commonly known as alcohol addiction.
Diagnosis
Gwen Cummings, the main character in this movie, aptly fits the particular type of abnormal behavior classification. There can be a dual diagnosis for alcohol addiction where the patient is suffering from both mental health problems and alcohol dependence. However, as evident in the movie, Cummings’ condition could be described only as alcohol dependence; hence; this is the only diagnosis. Under the DSM-5, alcohol addiction is classified as a psychiatric disorder. At the rehabilitation center where Gwen was taken after the accident, the treatment used to try and help her stop her alcohol addiction was therapy. She was also made through counseling.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) classifies the type of disorder that Gwen suffers from as an “alcohol use disorder (AUD).” There are other sub-classifications including mild, moderate and severe AUD.
Based on the DMS-5 criteria, some of the associated and critical features of the alcohol addiction disorder include drinking more alcohol or for longer periods than one intends to, and wanting to reduce or stop drinking to no avail. Other features associated with this disorder according to the DSM-5 include causing troubles after drinking or falling sick after getting drunk, feeling anxious, depressed or experiencing blackouts, and withdrawal symptoms. An example of this from the movie is evident when Cummings seemed to be withdrawn and experiencing blackouts; hence, making her crash the car into a house. The disorder is also connected to features like increased chances of getting hurt when using machinery, swimming or driving. From the film, an example of this criterion is when Gwen got involved in an accident while drunk.
In the movie, the disorder is presented as one that affects the normal behavior of the patients. For instance, at the rehab center where Cummings was taken, the type of language that the addicts use towards each other and their general behavior shows some abnormality. There is a time when Cummings experienced withdrawal and loneliness; hence, leading her to jump off a tree. This is almost the same presentation of the disorder’s authenticity given by Durand and Barlow (2016) in their book. According to these authors, this kind of disorder makes people behave in strange ways and to experience moments of depression, anxiety, and withdrawal.
The diagnostic criteria for addiction or AUD, according to Durand and Barlow (2016), include risky use or behavior, impaired control, withdrawal and tolerance and social impairment. The elements of the disorder’s portrayal in the movie that do not match these diagnostic criteria include the ability to relate with family members, and being able to interact with others suffering from the same condition. From the movie, there is a time when Cunnings is portrayed as being in a good mood and even tries to connect with others including her mom back at home and other addicts at the rehab facility. This is inconsistent with the usual criteria for AUD.
Nevertheless, to a great extent, Cunning’s behavior lines up with the book by Durand and Barlow (2016) since her behavior matches the description of the symptoms of the disorder given by these authors.
One of the issues I encountered in an attempt to find a diagnosis for Gwen was the mismatch between the proposed counseling diagnosis and the character’s behavior and attitudes. While at the rehab center, Cummings seemed to be okay and only showed a propensity to smoke. The symptom wrongly brought out in the movie is that of suicidal behavior disorder. This is because, in most cases, Cummings would engage in risky adventures like jumping off a tree.
Causal Factors
According to Foster, Hicks, Iacono and McGue (2015), some of the leading risk factors for AUD include gender, deviant peer affiliation, and substance use by a romantic partner, socioeconomic status, attitudes and academic problems. Their study found out that this disorder is more common in women than men. The movie portrays the disorder’s development through flashback at the family history of the main character Gwen. The causal factors of AUD represented in the film include lack of parental control and a drinking family behavior. There is a time when her sister whose wedding Cummings ruined tells her that it was wrong for her to use the fact that their mother died when they were young as an excuse to lose self-control. This indicates a historical family factor that contributed to Gwen’s disorder.
The movie gives a multidimensional approach to the disease’s development. This is evident when we are taken through various episodes of Gwen’s life both present and the past and their connections.
The causal factors as portrayed in the movie, however, do not line up well with our everyday knowledge about the factors that contribute to the disorder. For instance, the AUD is usually caused by risk factors such as age, depression, sociocultural factors and mental health problems. Nonetheless, it also lines up with causal factors like family history regular drinking. Hence, some other factors as stated by Roberts et al. (2014) that should have been portrayed in the movie for proper plot development include gender, genetics, and socioeconomic status.
Conclusion
My thoughts and feelings about Gwen as the main character with the psychological disorder are that, though she resisted the treatment programs, her change of mind helped her to reform. The rehabilitation process enabled her to appreciate the harm of abusing alcohol. Coming to know about the disorders that the movie and the book portray, to some extent, changed the way I thought about these sources. Before I watched the movie, I had no idea the impacts that AUD can have on a person’s social life. The book helped me to relate the causal factors mentioned and to Gwen Cumming’s behavior.
References
Betty, T., & Celia, C. (2000). 28 Days [Motion Picture]. United States: Columbia Pictures & Tall Trees Production.
Durand, V.M., & Barlow, D.H. (2016). Essentials of abnormal psychology . Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Foster, K.T., Hicks, B.M., Iacono, W.G., & McGue, M. (2015). Gender differences in the structure of risk for alcohol use disorder in adolescence and young adulthood. Psychology Medical Journal, 45 (14), 3047-3058
Roberts, B., Murphy, A., Chikovani, I., Makhashvili, N., Patel, V., McKee, M. (2014). Individual and community risk factors for alcohol use disorder among conflict-affected persons in Georgia. PLOS ONE, 9 (5), 1-11.
