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Good Will Hunting: Trauma-Related Disorders

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Good Will Hunting is an American classic written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The film, starring Robin Williams, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck; follows a 20-year-old South Boston laborer named Will Hunting. Although Will Hunting, an unrecognized genius, finds trouble after assaulting an officer the incident leads Hunting to a deferred prosecution. Hunting then becomes a client of a therapist (Robin Williams) and studies mathematics with a renowned professor (Stellan Skarsgard). By result of the therapy sessions, Will evaluates and revaluates the relationships with his best friend, girlfriend, and himself. Through this Will confronts his past and begins thinking about his future. In more detail, 20-year-old Will Hunting is a self-taught intellectual with a photographic and readily reproducible mind. Yet, Will Hunting simply works as …show more content…

In which according to today’s DSM 5 would be Will Hunting’s diagnosis. On the bases of Will Hunting’s child abuse it is more likely than not for Will to experience a trauma-related disorder as opposed to other abnormal disorders. With the trauma of the child abuse clearly affecting Will Hunting far into his adulthood, exceeds far beyond the three month period for eligibility to a PTSD diagnosis. All with a three month period, Will Hunting express distress through his behavior as well as a standstill in his personal and social life. Besides the symptom of reliving the experience, Will Hunting shows symptoms of hyperarousal. During the film Will demonstrates anger as well as irritability in a short tempered manner. In a particular scene, Will becomes overwhelmed with anger after encountering an old classmate who bullied him in preschool. Such anger and irritability caused Will’s mind to become blocked during the violent act in which Will also assaults an office. The incident ultimately leads Will unraveling the root of the

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