Reply to Chantal: to make a diagnosis of any of the conditions you mentioned, a minimum number of symptoms of that condition must be present for a specified amount of time. Most all of us display one or more behaviors characteristic of psychological diagnoses at one time or another...the difference is in the duration,intensity, and prevalence of those behaviors. I tend to disagree that Mabel did have a true mental illness. I think the doctor's failure to handle Mabel's problems in a more definitive and responsible way worked well in this fictional account since it does leave open the question of diagnosis. One could easily argue that she was simply reacting to a dysfunctional situation in a way that worked for her at the time. Yes, she was anxious, depressed, had trouble behaving appropriately and making good judgements at times, but who can blame her given the unpredictability of how her husband would treat her? She was an effective mother and almost compulsive housekeeper which show good functioning in spite of almost constant assaults of one kind or another and virtually no reliable support from anyone but her children. (Also interesting how much Nick seemed to need Mabel to be "sick.") This film was an excellent insight into experience of many women who do not have a mental illness.

Are you really that big of an idiot to even put them in the same sentence? O_o