Best Psychological Movies You Should Watch

abnormal psychology

By: Anna Agoncillo
Image Credits: ScypaxPictures via Flickr
Art and Psychology go hand in hand. In fact, the best cinematic art illustrates human condition, which is ultimately, the core of Psychological studies.

 Enjoy at least two of these beautifully made films especially if you are taking up Psychology as a subject. As a student of Psychology, you must analyze films that portray mental illnesses, suffering, existential meaning, resilience, strengths, and virtues. This will not only help you to understand the disorders but it will also help you empathize with the characters.

 Without further ado, here are some movies that are actually worth your time…

 12. A BEAUTIFUL MIND
Genre: Biography & Drama

 11. FATAL ATTRACTION

Genre: Drama & Thriller

ASK ANNA #2: Interpret My Weird Dream

advice

Visit Ask Anna Page to find out how to ask!
INTERPRET MY WEIRD DREAM
Image Credits: Hartwig HKD via Flickr
Princess Diana asks…

"I'm in a war zone and I'm going through the rubble of the houses, people have set up little tables serving food and my friend is telling me to stay away from the tattooed men at the tables as they are bad but they call me over. I have a sickening twist in my stomach (I feel something bad will happen) but still go over.

Meanwhile, my friend is just calling my name trying to get me to come back but I keep walking through the rubble and on my way the men start laughing and light cigarettes they have a small child and I have her doll, I desperately want to save her but then all these pythons jump in my way, the rubble becomes pythons. The men are gone suddenly and I'm left standing again in the rubble still hearing 'stay away from the tattooed men they are evil'. Then I woke up...what does this mean?"

PART II, Lucid Dreaming and Dream Control: A Peek into the depths of the Unconscious

cognitive psychology
By: Anna Agoncillo
Films like "Inception" and "Waking Life" tickled our curiosities to the possibility of being to able to control our dreams. Imagine being fully aware of what you’re dreaming, and being able to create objects, people, situations or even travel across multiple dimensions to the extent that it may seem real to you.

It sounds powerful, doesn’t it? The good news is that, with practice, even you can become a lucid dreamer. In addition, further application of lucid dreaming and various techniques can give you the ability to control your dreams.

 Lucid dreaming is a learned cognitive skill that enables the dreamer to know that they are dreaming while they are dreaming (Zadra et al., 1992; LeBerge & Levitan, 2007). It is highly vivid and immersive in which you’ll experience multi-sensory hallucinatory effect (Snoozon, n.d.). In a sense, it feels like you’re awake but in reality, you’re sound asleep.

 Lucid dreaming transcends physical limitations. It let’s you experience your wildest fantasies such as swimming with the dolphins, flying across the skies, having a pet dinosaur, being a mermaid, and so on. It let’s you explore your inner self and sometimes towards a deeper spiritual or existential level.

PART I, Dreams and Dream Analysis: A Peek into the depths of the Unconscious

author's opinion
By: Anna Agoncillo
Since dreams are fascinating, I divided this topic into two posts. May you find it as equally interesting as I do! :)

 PART I:  DREAMS AND DREAM ANALYSIS

PART II: LUCID DREAMING AND DREAM CONTROL

Why do we dream?

Personally, I adore analyzing dreams; I find it genuinely entertaining. I believe that sleeping is essential to our survival, and its by product is not meaningless. Dreams are small facets of you and your personality.  It is the gateway to your unconscious mind where your imagination runs wild. In here, your deepest and darkest desires, thoughts, wishes and memories resides. Here are some of well-known dream theories (don't worry, there is a TL;DR [too long; I didn't read =P] version at the end) :

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