Movies
Some movies do a reasonable job portraying various psychopathologies.  The Association of Directors of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry has constructed a list of films referenced by diagnosis, which may be of interest during your study breaks.  Eventually, I plan to link many of these, but for now, you are on your own.
Below are some texts and articles that are of interest regarding the topic of psychiatry in the cinema:
Clara A. 
The image of the psychiatrist in motion pictures.
Acta Psychiatr Belg. 1995 95(1):7-15.
PMID: 7502676
Crawshaw R. 
The physician at the movies.
Pharos. 1987 50(3):37-44.
PMID: 3659130
Domino G. 
Impact of the film, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," on attitudes towards mental illness.
Psychol Rep. 1983 53(1):179-182.
PMID: 6635061
Fleming M and Manvell R.
Images of Madness:
The Portrayal of Insanity in the Feature Film.
Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press; 1985
ISBN: 0838631126
Fritz GK and Poe RO. 
The role of a cinema seminar in psychiatric education.
Am J Psychiatry. 1979 136(2):207-10.
PMID: 760551
Gabbard GO and Gabbard K. 
The female psychoanalyst in the movies.
J Am Psychoanal Assoc. 1989 37(4):1031-1049.
PMID: 2632622
Gabbard GO and Gabbard K.
Psychiatry and the Cinema.
Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press; 1999
ISBN: 0880489642
Herschkopf IS. 
Dr. know-it-all in movie psychiatry.
Am J Psychiatry. 1988 145(3):391.
PMID: 3344871
Hesley JW and Hesley JG.
Rent Two Films and Let's Talk in the Morning:
Using Popular Movies in Psychotherapy.
City, ST: John Wiley & Sons; 1998
ISBN: 0471170437
Hyler SE. 
DSM-III at the cinema: madness in the movies.
Compr Psychiatry. 1988 29(2):195-206.
PMID: 3370971
Hyler SE, Gabbard GO, and Schneider I.
Homicidal maniacs and narcissistic parasites: stigmatization of mentally ill persons in the movies.
Hosp Community Psychiatry. 1991 42(10):1044-1048. 
PMID: 1959896
Jackson WP. 
Mental illness in the movies.
Hosp Community Psychiatry. 1992 43(3):285.
PMID: 1555829
Jeffrey W. 
Audience as analyst: Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective.
Psychoanal Rev. 1997 84(3):437-452.
PMID: 9279935
Klobas LE.
Disability Drama in Television and Film.
Jefferson, NC: McFarland; 1988
ISBN: 0899503098
Rabkin LY.
The Celluloid Couch:
An Annotated International Filmography of the Mental Health Professional in the Movies and Television, from the Beginning to 1990.
City, ST: Scarecrow Pr; 1998
ISBN: 0810834626
Ries P. 
Popularise and/or be damned: psychoanalysis and film at the crossroads in 1925.
Int J Psychoanal. 1995 76(Pt 4):759-791.
PMID: 8543432
Rosen A, Walter G, Politis T, and Shortland M.
From shunned to shining: doctors, madness and psychiatry in Australian and New Zealand cinema.
The Medical Journal of Australia. 1997 167:640-644
electronic version of this article
PMID: 9418811
Schill T, Harsch J, and Ritter K. 
Countertransference in the movies: effects on beliefs about psychiatric treatment.
Psychol Rep. 1990 67(2):399-402.
PMID: 2263687
Schneider I. 
The theory and practice of movie psychiatry.
Am J Psychiatry. 1987 144(8):996-1002.
PMID: 3300380
Solomon G.
The Motion Picture Prescription:
Watch This Movie and Call Me in the Morning: 200 Movies to Help You Heal Life's Problems.
City, ST: Aslan Pub; 1995
ISBN: 0944031277
Wahl OF and Lefkowits JY. 
Impact of a television film on attitudes toward mental illness.
Am J Community Psychol. 1989 17(4):521-528.
PMID: 2610206
Walter G. 
The psychiatrist in American cartoons, 1941-1990.
Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1992 85(2):167-172.
PMID: 1543044
Wedding D and Boyd M.
Movies & Mental Illness:
Using Films to Understand Psychopathology.
City, ST: McGraw Hill College Div; 1998
ISBN: 0070689903
Wilson C, Nairn R, Coverdale J, and Panapa A. 
Mental illness depictions in prime-time drama: identifying the discursive resources.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 1999 33(2):232-239.
PMID: 10336221
Wilson W.
The Psychopath in Film.
City, ST: University Press of America; 1999
ISBN: 0761813179
Also, see the following psychiatry and general movie resources and articles:
Articles are linked to PubMed through their PMID.  Books are linked to Amazon.com through their ISBN.


Last Updated on 04/26/00
By Alan Sanders, M.D.
Email: asanders@yoda.bsd.uchicago.edu