21 Amazing Movies about Depression and Anxiety

There are millions of people suffering with social anxiety and depression these days and every person has their own story. Feeling lonely, attached or unmotivated are some of the most common symptoms experienced by those suffering with depression and it can be really hard to deal with. People oftentimes feel that no one except for themselves can understand what and how they are dealing with their life. And this is where, movies come into the picture. No matter if the characters are not real but we do get a sense of feeling like there is someone who knows the pain and suffering. In this article, we have listed 21 best movies about depression and anxiety. Read below to find more:

21 Best Movies about Depression and Anxiety

Ordinary people (1980)

The movie is about a middle-class family that grieves the death of one of the sons, who dies from a boating accident. It’s the younger son who falls into depression and eventually begins to have suicidal thoughts. The father tries to help his son in every possible way he can, whereas the mother can be seen as being in a complete state of denial.

It’s a wonderful life (1946)

This movie will let you know exactly what depression feels like. George Baily who is a successful business man has worked his entire life, when he comes to the realisation that his own life insurance policy would do so much better for the citizens of the town. However, it is an angel who makes Baily realise the importance of his life and the movie ends on a happy note.

Napoleon dynamite (2004)

It’s the protagonist’s friend, Deb who suffers with social anxiety. The movie very well showcases the symptoms of social anxiety. On one side, it is Napoleon who doesn’t care at all of what people think of him, while on other side, Deb acutely cares of other’s viewpoints. From the very beginning of the film, she can be seen as an uncomfortable one, who tries hard to sell her services from one door to another.

Numb (2007)

In this film about mental illness, Mathew Perry can be seen as someone who is suffering from a strange feeling of ‘numbness’ or going through troubling experiences on day to day events. Afterall, many of us feel like that at times. But Mathew knew that there was definitely something wrong with him and so he decides to seek professional help, which didn’t seem to be of much help. Although, he does try other treatments as well, but nothing really worked. His diagnosis was depersonalization disorder, which is actually a new diagnosed mental illness.

Cake (2014)

Dealing with a chronic pain from a past accident, Claire seemed to deal with it with the help of medications, constant complaining, physical therapy. Having lost her son in the past accident, Claire tries to come to terms with everything that has happened to her and that’s where depression sets in. She experiences what most of us dealing with depression do, that is losing one’s purpose in life.

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind (2004)

The movie is about a man who suffers with social anxiety and falls in love with a woman with no anxieties at all. While on one side, John is seen as someone who is so unfriendly when talking to others, Clementine can be seen as a free spirit. What are your views of this relationship? Will it work or lead to a happy life? Or will it make his life worse?

Sylvia (2003)

We all know about Sylvia Plath, who is famous for writing literature about her depression. The movie shows all those poetries in the form of snippets which seemed to be an exploration of her depression. The movie also brings to light her relationship with her husband Ted Hughes.

Anamolisa (2015)

Michael stone is an author of motivational books who is an expert on helping people live better and happy lives. But hardly did anyone know that Stone was clinically depressed and felt alienated from the rest of the world. It illustrates the difficult lives of people suffering with depression.

Garden state (2004)

The movie shows how negative thoughts can play a central role in leading to depression. The actor held himself responsible for an accident that ultimately caused his mother to become disabled and then, died. It was this guilt that had made him almost numb to various aspects of his life.

Little miss sunshine (2006)

Except for Olive, everyone in the Faris family struggled with some sort of depression. Their depression often caused them to lash out at one another, which only deteriorated their suffering. All these circumstances had led Olive form an idea of what depression feels like and how it eventually affects the lives of everyone in her family.

It’s a kind of a funny story (2010)

This movie brings into account of what is generally becoming very much common among the teenagers these days. The movie talks about the common suicidal feelings among the teenagers. It talks about a 16-year-old guy who seeks medical helps, after almost killing himself. He was no different than others, he has a normal social life, a normal home life but what made him stress out was, that whereby his friends were able to skate by, he always seemed to struggle in that. It was because of this that Kilner wanted to be free of the society’s pressure and just wanted to end up his life.

World’s greatest dad (2009)

This is the story of Lance Clayton who is a high school poetry teacher and a failed author. He had a son who died due to an aut0oerotic asphyxiation accident. He was also dating a woman who always denied of acknowledging their relationship publicly. Clayton then decides to write a suicide note claiming that his son killed himself because of depression, but which was also beautifully poetic. However, it is clayton and not his son who was suffering from depression and it was only because of this that he was able to write such a beautiful note.

The skeleton twins (2014)

The movie is about twins (Milo and Maggie) who decide to kill themselves at the same time, while they lived in separate locations. However, none of them succeeded in doing so. Maggie then decides to take her brother (milo) in to stay with her. They try to explore the reasons of their suicidal urge and as to why they had that feeling. But sadly, it only seemed to get worse.

Interiors (1978)

Depression is not only a burden on the one who is suffering from it but also on the person or people who are taking care of the depressed one. The movie shows a family that falls apart because the father decides to separate from the mother as he gets tired of caring for her who was chronically depressed and later responds to the same by attempting suicide. She was then taken care by her daughter Joey who can be seen taking out the resulting stress and anger on her mother.

Prozac Nation (2001)

After succeeding in her literary and journalism career, lizzie felt the pressure of the success that pushed her into depression and to cure the pain, she started to abuse drugs. Of course, this couldn’t have done any better to her and it only contributed to making the situation worse.

The hours (2002)

The film highlights two women who can be seen reading Virginia Woolf’s, “Mrs. Dalloway”. The novel is about a rich woman who led a depressed life after the first world war. The two women can be seen identifying themselves with various aspects of Woolf’s novel, although both of them had their own struggle.

Girl interrupted (1999)

The movie is about the author’s stay in a psychiatrist facility who is struggling with depression and a personality disorder. During her stay, she witnesses the suicide of one of her friends. Struggling through so much in her life, she gets to discover her own self by watching people working on their own illnesses.

Helen (2009)

Being rich or living a successful life does not mean that one can’t be depressed. Depression basically affects people with their ability to feel happiness and pleasure. In the movie, Helen experiences the same. Everyone around her seemed to be happy except for her and this made her feel even worse.

The virgin suicides (1999)

‘The virgin suicides’ is a movie about the lives of five sisters. After the death of the youngest sister, the rest of them are kept under surveillance like watch by the parents. It is their confinement that pushed the girls into the depressive state. The film not only talks about their lives but also the perspective of the society towards them.

Nerve (2011)

In the movie, Josh lives with a particularly bad anxiety for which he decides to engage in an anxiety therapy. Just like many others, John too suffers from the symptoms of panic attacks and other forms of discomforts at parties. Relatable?

Silver linings playbook (2012)

The movie talks about a man suffering with bipolar disorder, who has been recently discharged from a psychiatric hospital. He decides to get back to his parents and stay with them and also tries to get in contact with his estranged wife. Though, he also meets another woman on the process, who was suffering from clinical depression.

Conclusion

We have listed some of the best yet amazing movies that talks about the lives of those suffering from depression and anxiety. Moreover, most of these films are inspired by real life experiences and thus, you can relate to many of these characters as well as their stories. Also, if you have any more suggestions, do let us know in the comment section below.