Adolescent Development Through Film

Adolescent development through film

Name

Mrs.

HHG4M

June 4, 2021

Protagonist: theodore finch Finch is a lonely, unstable teen who is also unpredictable and considered a “freak” by his peers. He is very reckless, emotional, mysterious, and also has past trauma that he hasn’t dealt with. This all comes back onto him like a wave. He lashes out, loses his temper, and has extreme highs and lows. He also seems to mask this with humour and keeps himself busy focusing on Violet, the female lead. This movie also exhibits how his character handles this and what the effects are on both his life and the people around him, more specifically Violet and his sister.

Physical development Growth and the ability to use muscles and body parts for specific tasks are both parts of physical development. Motor skills are also important for physical development, and by a given age, most toddlers and teenagers have mastered this set of skills. In terms of physical development, Finch is a teen who has finished or is almost finished with puberty. He is in high school and his voice is deep, he’s grown in height, and his proportions are pretty developed too. Your brain is still developing at this age, which could be the source of Finch's rash and impulsive behaviour. Also, your ability to make independent decisions is established during this stage, although there appears to be a malfunction with Finch, as evidenced by his disappearances for days at a time without warning.

Physical development contd. At this stage of physical growth, there should be greater consideration of the future, which we don't see very often. Finch makes no long-term intentions, which come together and make sense when he dies by suicide. He didn't feel the need to make plans for the future because he knew he was going to do it someday. Another aspect of physical development is the development of a stronger sense of self, something that Finch appears to be lacking as he battles with self-actualization.The entire fulfilment of one's potential, as well as the full development of one's abilities and respect for life, is known as self-actualization. Because this notion is at the top of Maslow's hierarchy of requirements, it is not accessible to everyone, and clearly not Finch.

Cognitive development Cognitive development is the process where a person perceives, thinks about, and comprehends his or her environment. This is because of the interaction of both hereditary and learned elements. Information processing, intelligence, reasoning, language development, and memory are all components of cognitive development. Finch experienced some cognitive development where he would use sticky notes to organize his thoughts, feelings, nice words, song lyrics, quotes, and things that remind him of Violet. This falls under organization, so we see that he was trying to arrange his thoughts and feelings.

Cognitive development contd. The Formal Operational stage of cognitive development, as defined by Piaget, signifies a transition from being able to think and reason logically about obvious events to being able to think rationally about abstract concepts. Adolescents such as Finch consider what might be rather than what is. Finch had a mindset that his life was not going to get any better and he should just spend his time making Violet happy. He was only thinking what might be rather than what is. Your brain is not fully developed as a teen, and therefore it can be hard to make logical and mature decisions.

Cognitive development contd. Teens have many hormones and emotions racing through their body and they can’t use their mind to analyze their life the way an adult can with full frontal lobe development. A lot of teens make the decision to take their own life based on how they feel and what they go through at that moment. Some people have said they grew out of their suicidal feelings once they got older and fully developed their decision making skills. This could have not been the exact case with Finch, as his suicide was very vague. Still, I believe his behaviour and especially the recklessness was a cause of his brain not being fully developed, as well as his bipolar disorder.

Cog dev contd: The information - processing perspective Humans process information rather than simply responding to stimuli, according to the information-processing approach. We’re responsible for analyzing information based on the things around us, and until you reach that point, you are just reacting instead of processing. Finch seemed to be at a point in his life where he was just reacting, even though he felt as if he was processing. He had planned his suicide, and yet still kept trying to improve Violet’s life and help her get back into society. This shows he had instantly reacted to what was going on in his life such as is depression/bipolar disorder and set his mind instead of processing things and learning that just like Violet, his life could also change if he just let her and other people in.

Socioemotional development The ability to build pleasant and rewarding relationships with others, as well as the experience, expression, and management of emotions, are all part of socioemotional development. Finch was a loner boy who got made fun of and called a “freak” by random people at school. He did not open up to anyone but Violet and the teacher, and he had a lot of trauma inside him from the abuse his father put him through.(He had a huge scar on his stomach)

Socioemotional development contd. Since that was never dealt with and his mom was never around, Finch seems to have achieved autonomy (independence) faster than teens do in high school. His sister is like a parent to him, but he’s mostly on his own. Finch didn’t really experience parenting styles after being abused by his father. He did not have a mother figure around, and definitely not a father. His sister tried to be his caregiver as much as she could, but that was not her responsibility. Someone who is around negative parenting styles and then none at all can develop self esteem issues and feelings of guilt. Theoretically, this could’ve added to Finch’s suicidal thoughts and make him feel less worthy of love and a good life than other peers such as Violet.

Socioemotional development contd. Finch was insecure about his identity as if he was always lost, and he didn’t really fit in with people at school. He seemed to have been in a constant state of crisis through his adolescence. Physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development can all contribute to increased identity conflict. The kids at school called Finch a freak, and his only real and close friend was Violet. The environment at school was toxic because everyone thought he was weird, and he also didn’t like to get close or open up to anyone. By always feeling like he didn’t fit in, this had an impact on Finch’s self concept and self esteem.

Primary mental illness - bipolar disorder The primary mental illness that I’d associate Finch with the most would be bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is often known as manic depression. It’s a mental condition where extreme mood swings, changes in sleep, activity, thinking, and behaviour are experienced. People with bipolar disorder can experience periods of extreme happiness, as well as moments of extreme sadness and hopelessness. Finch literally disappears for days at a time and shows reckless behaviour such as ditching class and not informing anyone of his whereabouts when he would disappear. Violet would be asking his friends and blowing up his phone with no response until he got back, and she had no idea where he was.

Bipolar disorder contd. He would also purposely try to keep himself under water for a long period of time, which scared Violet one time. This was shown when he was in the bathtub fully submerged, trying to see how long he could stay. Trying to stay underwater and practicing “drowning” is a sign of suicidal tendencies which can be a part of bipolar disorder, specifically the depressive episodes.

Bipolar disorder contd. Finch is terrified of treatment because he believes that mental illness is a label that follows you around for the rest of your life. Finch shows this as he fails to communicate his problems to those who can help him, such as his guidance counsellor and elder sister. Instead, he is left on his own to deal with his problems. He calls them the "Awake" and the "Asleep" in private (which are referring to his manic and depressive episodes.)

Bipolar disorder contd. Finch would be very happy and energetic with Violet, taking her to different places and helping her feel better after her sister’s death as well as make memories. They fell in love and he was helping her in various positive ways. On the other hand, Finch got into a fight at school with Roamer and completely lost his temper. He also reassured his sister that he was perfectly fine right after, which shows the sudden switches he experiences. Then immediately after arriving home he finds Violet in his room and yells at her harshly to leave. These are clear examples of the highs and lows one experiences with bipolar disorder. He would be enjoying his time with Violet and making her smile and laugh while a little while later he’d be beating someone up or yelling at Violet who did nothing wrong. Finch not being able to control these emotions is what lead me to believe he struggled with bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder contd. Age of onset is between the ages of 15 and 19. The age group 20–24 years is the second most common. Some patients with recurrent major depression may have bipolar illness and experience their first manic episode when they reach the age of 50. Bipolar and associated disorders come in a variety of forms such as mania, hypomania, and depression are examples. Symptoms might include erratic mood and behaviour and depressive episodes causing severe anguish and problems in daily life. “In the previous year, an estimated 2.8 percent of adults in the United States suffered from bipolar illness. Males (2.9%) and females (2.9%) had similar rates of bipolar disorder in the previous year (2.8%)” (NIMH 2017)

Bipolar disorder contd. A combination of medication and psychotherapy is the most effective treatment for bipolar disorder. The majority of people take multiple medications, such as a mood stabiliser and an antipsychotic or antidepressant. It’s a chronic and incurable illness, symptoms may usually be controlled with antidepressants, mood stabilisers, and antipsychotic medications, as well as therapy or counselling.

Bipolar disorder contd. The prognosis for bipolar disorder varies depending on the form you have. Finch was not receiving any sort of professional help, and he was not on any medications either as shown in the film. The only help he had was from the guidance counsellor, who could not fully help him or provide the type of help a psychiatrist could. Finch did go to a support group but it seemed to have been just for show, so his sister and the guidance counselor wouldn’t worry about him too much. The correct type of therapy, medications, and help in general could have potentially saved Finch from himself and lead him to grow and live a better life.

References - apa Bipolar Disorder. (n.d.). CAMH. Retrieved June 2, 2021, from

https://www.camh.ca/en/health-info/mental-illness-and-addiction-index/bipolar-disorder

Miller, J. (2020, February 29). How Netflix’s All the Bright Places Tackled Teen Suicide in

the Wake of 13 Reasons Why. Vanity Fair.

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/02/all-the-bright-places-movie

NIMH » Bipolar Disorder. (2017, November 1). National Institute of Mental Health.

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/bipolar-disorder#:%7E:text=Prevalence%20of%

20Bipolar%20Disorder%20Among%20Adults,-Based%20on%20diagnostic&text=An%20estimated%202

.8%25%20of%20U.S.,%25

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