Borderline Personality Disorder In Movie Tyler Perry's Acrinomy

While examining the movie “Tyler Perry’s Acrimony”, it opens up with the main character, Melinda Gayle, in a courtroom for the crime she has done based on the psychological problems she was dealing with. Melinda is a woman who is facing borderline personality disorder by how she has been throughout the whole movie. The symptoms she was having really prompted out once her now ex-husband left and had made millions of dollars after she has dealt with all of his actions before then. This is a character that stood out in a way that one would see on a daily basis, but no one hears much about situations like this. When listening to Melinda telling the story throughout the movie you can hear her side and its interesting listening from her perspective.

Introduction

The person who suffers from having issues managing their emotions and behaviors that affects the relationship with oneself and other personal relationship happens to be what Melissa goes through this whole time. This comes to show that one can have really bad anger problems that usually triggers her impulsiveness that lead to trouble. It also comes with serve mood swings towards others which is what she also suffered with and was predominantly shown as she was a young adult. It could be suspected that Melissa may have had some sort of damage to the brain which involves the regulation of emotion control having to underly impulsivity and aggression (Trupe 2018). This unfortunately was a key factor in the end of her relationship with her husband and others close to her. After there are certain situations that did not end up the way she wanted it turned for the worst the more it progressed.

The movie is portrayed by Melissa, the main character, narrating the movie from her perspective from beginning to end of what happened throughout her life once meeting Robert, her husband at the time. This is done in order for the watcher to be able to relate and have a better understanding of the character a little more in depth and be able to see her point of view. The way she slowly portrays out her disorder here and there in the beginning and then progressively increases towards the middle to really show you at the end is what got people hooked. This is targeted to present the signs and symptoms of what Melissa was going through and treatments she went to and others that should have work for this type of disorder. She knew from the beginning there were red flags and kept ignoring the signs and still seemed to be denial about having it.

Signs and Symptoms

When it comes to having borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a cluster two personality disorder (DSM-IV, DSM-V) characterized by emotional instability, impulsivity, disturbed cognition, and intense unstable relationships (Furnham 2015). When one is emotional unstable, it is when one can't seem to control their feelings or tend to go back in fourth between different moods in a matter of time. Also, with dealing with impulsiveness, it is when one would react to something without thinking twice about it in the moment because of their emotions. This is unhealthy when one is dealing with it with themselves. As shown in the first time Melissa meets Robert, he bumps into her accidentally and both of them had dropped their paper. Once the papers fell to the ground, she reacted aggressively by punching him and yelling at him without knowing him. Little did anyone know that was just the beginning to a horrible ending. This wasn't the first time in the movie she had reacted impulsively and has seen unstable.

Robert was the guy she met in college and fell in love very deeply with. Robert was inventing a battery that he thought would give him millions if reached. She was caught in a moment of weakness after her mother’s passing that stuck to her and lead her to be so in love that she would do anything for him. Melissa's mother left her with money in order to take care of herself and she ended up telling Robert. Since he knew she had money he had a way of not having to necessarily ask but suggest for the things he wanted, and she would follow through. After her buying him a car, two days had gone by without a word from him which had took a toll on her until she finally called, and he picked up. They talked on the phone which it seemed to be a simple conversation, but it did not sit well with her. She felt so unease, she ended up showing up to his RV. While in the car, she tried to talk herself out of that thought she was feeling of trust issues until she saw a woman inside and lost it. As soon as she sees her, she is filled with rage and immediately drives her car into his RV, making it fall to its side. She had so much adrenaline that she was unaware of what her body was going through and made her unconscious. She ended up having internal bleeding and a hysterectomy from the accident. The situation falls and she forgives him after and goes back to him then pays for his last two semesters of college and ended up getting married and using the rest of the money her mother had left her on everything for his battery. She is now filled with anger, resentful, and trapped built up in 18 years. Robert has finally gotten a breakthrough but with the help of the woman he cheated on Melissa with before their marriage. Melissa sisters ended up finding out in told Melissa and now suspects him of cheating and is filled with rage That she beats him up outside of their house is yelling telling him not to leave for the meeting. When he comes back, she tells him to leave the house and wants a divorce. When reflecting on their relationship after the divorce, she felt alone and humiliated. There would be time she would feel sympathy for him and immediately after would get mad after making her use all of her money and now her being broke.

Robert had finally made a hit with his battery and showed up to Melissa’s office with a check and her mother's house in a way of saying thank you. This should have brought happiness because money is what she wanted but only making the matters worse. This is when the bewail side of her has emerged. She went back to tell her sisters, who were the ones that told Melissa to leave him and confronted them by also targeting their personal problems. She went to go visit him after and had seen the woman there and thought she was “living her life”. Now her deranged side is shown. She had gone insane to the point that she could not eat, sleep, and all she thought about was them. The anger she had built up inside had made her profusely harass the woman causing them to have a restraining order against her and also ruining the woman's wedding dress. She was taken to court but was not taking it seriously and was sent to therapy by the judge to help her. The therapist ended up suggesting saying she had BDP and Melissa cut her off and denied it. Melissa's loved ones finally realize she was unstable and try to help but she ended up only lashing out on them. The final stage was inexorable for her. She shows up and tries to kill Robert and the woman after Roberts says no to leaving her and be with Melissa. At the end she ends up dying after attacking them.

Treatment

Borderline personality disorder is a challenge to treat not only because it is complicated and stigmatized but also because its symptoms reflect ingrained patterns like thinking and behavior. Talk therapy is usually the first choice of treatment with a therapist. In order for this to work the patient needs to be able to trust the therapist. Treatment can help learn skills to manage and cope with it (Finch 2019). There are different types a psychotherapy method to take in order to treat BDP. The two most common types that have successfully helped are Dialectical behavior therapy, and Schema-focused therapy. The psychotherapy that is most common for BDP is dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) which it includes groups or individual therapy designed specifically use skills to help teach how to manage one’s emotions to tolerate distress and improve relationships. Another type would be Schema-focused therapy, which involves it helping to identify unmet needs that have led to negative life patterns and try to meet them in a healthy manner to promote a better outcome.

In some other cases, medication can also be involved. Drugs may be moderately helpful at reducing particular symptoms, but they do not address core personality traits and behaviors. There are no specific medications that are approved by the Drug Administration to be treated for borderline personality disorder (MayoClinic 2019). However, they are medications that can help with the symptoms like impulsiveness, aggression, or anxiety. Those medicine can be anti-psychotics or mood stabilizing drugs. Treatment for this condition takes time in order to manage the emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. There is not a cure for this disorder only just some days would be better, and others would be worse, but treatment can improve your ability to function.

Conclusion

To overview, Melissa was a character who had shown signs of borderline personality disorder very well. The signs that included her unstable emotions, impulsiveness, and state. Therapy is a must need in order to help with this condition under control. This could either be passed down or something that is built up in a matter time. The way the movie portrayed this type of disorder was played out well from her perspetive.

Reference

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