The Psychoanalytic Theory And Borderline Personality Disorder In "Good Will Hunting"

The Psychoanalytic theory applies to the life of Will Hunting. Therapy sessions with Sean Maguire led to the discovery that, Will pushing people away and not allowing people to get too close was a result of his childhood experiences. An example of this would be when Will pushed Skylar away, once things began to get more serious and he made excuses not to go to California with her, mainly out of fear of what could go wrong between them. Psychoanalysts believe that criminal behaviour is linked to early childhood experiences. According to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, the id is the part of the brain that is more childlike and seeks pleasure and satisfaction. (Bratovs, Psychoanalytic theory, February 7 2019). Will’s childhood experiences also played a role in Will’s criminal behaviour. Will’s childhood experiences played a role in his criminal behaviour and Will would act on the id, as shown in the film, when Will would tend to make poor decisions, which one might consider childlike at his age. Will’s criminal offences are examples of him acting on the id. Psychoanalysts also believe that if unconscious memories are treated the neuroses can be relieved (Bratovs, Psychoanalytic theory, February 7). Towards the end of the movie, Will’s unconscious memories were treated once Sean Maguire repeatedly said “it’s not your fault” and Will’s neuroses were relieved because in spite of the fact that he was more comfortable pushing people away and he was afraid of what could go wrong, if he got too close to people, he went after Skylar to reconcile with her, after pushing her away out of fear.

The 2 psychological issues Will and Sean faced were alienation and neglect. These 2 emotions are symptoms to a couple of different psychological disorders, such as depression, general anxiety, post traumatic stress disorder and reactive attachment disorder. For Will, alienation was evident, but more psychologically than socially. Will did have a friend group, but their level of intelligence and interests were different. They were also just the people he would laugh with and drink with. Will would not be vulnerable or open with his friends about personal things, even though they were his friends, so in a sense, he was emotionally withdrawn because he would push others, stop people from getting too close, isolating himself. Sean alienating himself, was socially as opposed to emotionally or psychologically. After losing his wife, which he struggled to recover from, he began to isolate himself from society. In the film, there was a scene when Sean was sitting in his home, the dishes were piled up in the sink, and he was drinking alcohol. This shows how he's been dealing with the loss of his wife. Other examples of him being socially isolated, was when in some scenes, he spoke about reunions with the professor and he never attended or planned on attending them. His office was also filled with papers and other things, which indicates that he spends a lot of his time in his office as well. Both Sean and Will were neglected in their childhood. Will was physically abused and Sean witnessed emotional abuse of his mother, by his father, who was an alcoholic. Will and Sean did not have the proper nurturing and love from caregivers throughout their childhood.

Will was physically abused during his childhood, which had caused multiple injuries and left scars(from Will being stabbed). As a result of Will being physically abused, he developed psychological issues. Throughout the film, Will showed signs of cockiness, low self esteem( when he made excuses to Skylar as to why he should not go to California with her), fear of being abandoned( pushing others away), sudden mood swings( his fight with Skylar and physical altercation with someone), difficulty forming relationships with others, as a result of neglect and physical abuse. There symptoms are associated with borderline personality disorder, mood disorder and reactive attachment disorder. These psychological issues not only affect Will, it also affects his relationships with other people, especially reactive attachment disorder. Reactive attachment disorder is a result of being neglected as a child and as the child grows up, they are unable to build healthy relationships(WebMD, 2019). As a result of Will being physically abused, not only had he been affected physically, but emotionally and psychologically as well. He had difficulty dealing with the harm that had been caused as a child, into his adulthood and struggled to bond with others, due to a number of factors. The main one is fear. He considered the worst case scenarios whenever he started relationships with other people, he did not trust people, he would not be vulnerable with people because he did not find it necessary and did not want pity, but trusting others and being open are important in building healthy relationships, which is what Will struggled with, as a result of his childhood experiences.

The Stanford prison experiment was conducted in 1971, by a psychology professor named Philip Zimbardo. This professor had decided to conduct an experiment to determine how institutions influence our behavior. This experiment was expected to last for 2 weeks. He created a fake prison in the basement of the psychology department and got 24 volunteers, who were deemed to be mature, emotionally and mentally stable.( McLeod,S.A, 2018, Sept 16). The students who were chosen to be apart of the experiment were also paid each day they were apart of it. (McLeod,S.A, 2018, Sept 16). The students were either assigned the role of a prison guard or a prisoner. (Psychologist World, 2019). They of course had to dress the part as well. The experiment started when the students were assigned the role of a prisoner had been “arrested” at their homes and taken to the “prison. Once they arrived, they immediately began to be treated as actual prisoners and dehumanized, beginning with being stripped naked and being referred to as numbers. (McLeod,S.A, 2018, Sept 16). After that, things were starting to get out of hand, as people began to take their roles too seriously. The prison guards were harassing prisoners, insulting them and punishing them through physical exercises. The prisoners also adapted to their roles and began to develop more rebellious and criminal-like behavior. When students were actually getting physically and emotionally hurt, the professor did nothing. He just watched and simply let it happen. He aaa accused of influencing the way the experiment went, making the results less accurate. (Psychologist World, 2019). He assisted the prison guards in dehumanizing the prisoners, giving them sunglasses, providing them with batons and women's clothing for the prisoners. (Psychologist World, 2019). In the film the reenacted this experiment, the professor was advised that he should stop certain things that were going on inside the prison and even the experiment altogether because of how bad it had gotten, but the professor ignored that idea for days and let it continue, until it came to a point where the safety of one of the prisoners was a concern, so the experiment ended, just 6 days into it. (Psychologist World, 2019). Even though the professor did end up stopping the experiment, it was highly unethical what he had done and did not do, when the experiment was taking place. He overlooked the fact that people were being physically and emotionally harmed and the prison he had created for an experiment, was becoming a real one.

Will was only a child when he had been physically abused. The caregivers who had abused them, had their own psychological or emotional problems, that were influencing their behavior. According to the psychoanalytic theory, the behavior of abusive parents or caregivers would be the result of their early childhood experiences as well. Their unconscious memories were not treated, so their neuroses were not alleviated. (Bratovs, psychoanalytic theory, 2019, Feb 7). As a result their unconscious memories continue to influence their behavior and their emotions. It is not Will's fault that his foster parents, were the way they were. His foster parents abusing him, had nothing to do with the fact that there was something wrong with him and he deserved it, it had everything to do with their personality and behavior and the past relationships and experiences they had, that were influencing the way they are, the way they react to situations and interact with others. Will did not have control over the psychological issues the foster parents may have dealt with or their early childhood experiences, so it is not his fault, what happened to him. There are other things to consider, aside from the fact that Will was physically abused in foster care. Will had a difficult childhood that affected the way he developed into adulthood and left emotional scars, making it easier for him to believe that everything bad that has happened in his life, is all his fault. For example being an orphan, his quick mood swings, resulting in fights, not being able to move forward with relationships, fear of being abandoned etc. These things that Will experience are not his fault, because they were a result of his childhood experiences, that affected his development and influenced his personality and behavior. Sean Maguire needed Will to let go of the blame he put on himself, for years and let go of the pain he had been holding onto for years, he repeatedly said “it's not your fault”. This helped Will accept that he did not have control over what happened to him growing up and it was not his fault. Then he was able to let go of the pain and heal.