HAMLET is the story of a dysfunctional Danish family and their bipolar son's struggle to cope with issues surrounding the death of his father.

The first time we see Hamlet he is at a festive celebration where his mother and stepfather (who is also his uncle) try to draw him out of the depressive episode he is going through. Hamlet chooses to remain aloof and sarcastic, with a marked flatness of affect.

Hamlet is at times very conflicted over his father's death, which he later comes to believe was at the hands of his uncle.

He spends a lot of time entertaining violent morbid fantasies, suicidal ideation, 'beating himself up' and going into shame spirals.

Hamlet's main coping mechanism is dealing with these feelings by using a lot of self-talk.

Hamlet has also been obsessively fixating on a girl living there at the family's house, and his behavior concerning this infatuation becomes so bizarre that the girl's father, as well as his parents, decide to hold an intervention.

Hamlet acts out in a display which might be malingering. This assesment does not however go to discount the volatile nature of the emotions he's having trouble dealing with.

Hamlet also obviously has a great deal of Oedipal conflicts to deal with, and at one point he starts to hallucinate.

Hamlet's psychotic mood swings continue unabated and his acting out increases finally culminating in offender behavior when he murders the father of the girl he's become obsessed with.

After the homicide, Hamlet was evicted from his place of residence, and sent away from home for a 'time out'.

The dead father's daughter is distraught by her father's murder, and goes into a dissociative state eventually comitting suicide.

Her brother becomes assaultive especially when Hamlet arrives back home prematurely.

Everyone involved is in denial, and all comes to a head when a family massacre occurs.

Authorities are called but they arrive too late.

What a tragedy.

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