The movie Country Strong was released in 2010 and can be considered a pretty accurate portrayal of addiction, alcoholism and depression. The movie itself shows the main character battling through her mental illness and addiction and trying to come out on top with the support of people around her. There are an estimated 18 million people currently in the US who abuse alcohol or can be considered alcoholics (“Understanding Alcoholics”) and the film helps to show how addiction can be burdening on not only the person suffering from the disease but also the family and friends. The movie follows Kelly Cantor (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) who is a recovering alcoholic and very popular musician. Kelly has a history of alcohol abuse and it is later found out that because of her use of alcohol, she lost a baby which then sent her into a downward depressive spiral.…show more content… Throughout the film, Kelly’s husband is in denial that she has any real issues and pushes her hard to try and get things back to the way they were. In the beginning, he has her leave rehab early against medical advice and pushes her back into the spotlight before she is ready. The result of this was more public breakdowns from Kelly and a lot of highs and lows in her emotional state. Because she did not finish her course in rehab, she did not get to learn how to use different or positive coping mechanisms and instead immediately reverted back to alcohol and impulsive behaviors. Compounding the issue was the fact that Kelly hadn’t emotionally dealt with her public breakdown and loss of her child so being back in the spotlight and having pressure put back on her triggered flashbacks and regression in her progress she made in rehab. Fortunately, while Kelly’s husband was in denial over her issues, Kelly’s sponsor/boyfriend tried to help keep her on the right track and tried to keep her
