Chasing Bliss
1
Chasing Bliss – Schizophrenia, Substance Use and Homelessness in the film “Bliss”
Crystal L. Watson
Angelo State University
PSY 6308 Applications of Psychopathology
Chasing Bliss
2
I recently came across a movie that struck me as very poignant to my career field, in that I
believe it has to do with a man struggling with a late onset break from reality, possibly
schizophrenia. The film is called “Bliss” and centers around two characters who together
navigate the world of drug abuse, mental illness, and homelessness.
The film begins with the main character, Greg, lost in his own world while at his thankless tech
support facility aptly named “Technical Difficulties’., This is perhaps a clever reference to the
mental difficulties we find the main character struggling with as the basis for the film. The
opening scene introduces Greg lost in a world of his own unable to concentrate on his work and
compulsively drawing an imaginary world in which he feels he has a real connection with, a
connection with the imaginary world stronger than his real world. Moskowitz (1950) mentioned
disorders of imaginary life in his pioneer descriptions of schizophrenia disorders as early as
1911. Schizophrenic autism is a complex symptom combining a detachment from reality with a
withdrawal into internal fantasy life. He adds that the autistic (fantastic) world and the real
(shared) world can merge in the “most illogical way.” This phenomenon was later described as
double bookkeeping (doppelte Buchführung)( Cermolacce 2018) and can be observed in the
movie as the characters merge in and out of their perceived realities.
We learn early on in the film that the main character Greg is lost in his imaginary world, is
recently divorced and displaced from his home, has two children that he loves, one who is
graduating from high school soon. A ceremony which he promises to attend. Greg has a history
of physical ailments and injuries that cause him to rely on a mysterious prescription which he is
out of and can not get a refill because he has used them all up. We are never given information as
Chasing Bliss
3
a viewer as to what the prescription is or what it is for so it is undetermined if on top of his
coming mental break he also may have a physical addiction to opioids. Greg needed his job, he
loves his kids, and he’s out of refills on his medication. These three elements are woven into
every choice of the film. At its core, Bliss is a story about mental illness and the way changes in
life can throw you into a tailspin.
It is difficult to determine when Greg has his split from reality but I believe it begins with him
imagining that he accidentally kills his boss after getting fired for not being mentally present.
Greg flees the scene and goes across the street to a bar, to cool off and think. This is where Greg
meets the character Isabel. Isabel identifies Greg as being “real” while everyone but a select few
are “fake” in this world in which she takes ownership in creating. Isabel changes Greg from a
