Groundhog Day : How did Phil not go insane?

He lives the same day over and over again for 27 years yet he still has his sanity and the will to get out of bed in the morning. What?!

That is an excellent question, will!





Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar and doesn't.

That is an excellent question, will!





Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar and doesn't.

How do you know it was 27 years? And as to your question: At first he tries to find ways to enjoy himself, knowing there are no consequences to his actions. But as time goes on, he realizes he runs out of that and figures if he kills himself, maybe it'll end. That doesn't work and then following Rita's advice, he tries to better himself among the people in the town. That was what helped him get out of the loop and on with his life.

Many fan theories say he must have lived for 10,000 days, which is about 27 years. thnx for the reply.

It's not just a fan theory. This is from the trivia:
"On the DVD, Harold Ramis states that the original idea was for him to live February 2nd for about 10,000 years. Later he says that Phil probably lived the same day for about 10 years."

The trivia also says that different sources claim he lived the same day for vastly varying lengths of time, but that we only see 38 days in the film.

In the movie, I THINK he was in the loop for 10 years. However originally it was supposed to have been 10,000 years, but they changed it to 10.

Phil returned to the same physical condition at 6 AM, so at most he had 24 hours to go insane. Insanity is both an emotional and physiological process. While Phil would retain his emotional state from the previous loop, everything else at least would reset every morning.

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Is very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Is very bad.

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That makes even more sense.

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Phil returned to the same physical condition at 6 AM, so at most he had 24 hours to go insane. Insanity is both an emotional and physiological process. While Phil would retain his emotional state from the previous loop, everything else at least would reset every morning.

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But would Phil's MENTAL STATE be reset? His MIND seemed to age normally during the experience, I mean he retained all his memories and experiences throughout the time-loop.

This makes me wonder, if Phil decided to stay up ALL NIGHT, would he feel exhausted the next day, or would he be reset to feel rested?

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But would Phil's MENTAL STATE be reset?

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Hmmm Good point.

Since time loops are impossible we can only speculate, but as I posted earlier, insanity is both psychological and physiological. Since he survived the suicide attempts and eating himself silly, we can safely assume that physically at least, he would be restored.

His emotional state would be carried over apparently as his memories and experiences did, just the same as if he stuck in PA for reasons other than the magical time loop. As the days went on early in the loop, he eventually entered a deep depression that carried over day to day. So while he could have been driven insane emotionally, at least he had the physical reset going on every morning at 6AM.

I guess the answer is that we don't know!!

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It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men ~ F Douglass

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Makes you wonder but I am sure it wasn't 27 years

Didn't Phil jump off cliffs and such? That's kind of crazy.

It's really not that bad. Just think once and if he broke out of the loop how smart he should be.

He does go insane. He tries to kill himself many many times.

That is also what I'm thinking. When you wake up, say Ah nuts!, then proceed directly to the bathtub with a toaster, you've reached that point. I say he simply had time enough to learn how to live with it, to overcome the madness. Fooling himself into thinking he's a god must have been one of the ways to deal with it.

He did. He tried to kill himself multiple times. He eventually got control, but he absolutely lost it

People on this board have said this already, but Phil did go slightly insane. He tries to kill himself several times, yet not one attempt worked. Sometimes he lost his temper during a few conversations, which made him incredibly cynical in his speech.

I getcha.

I'd bet there were SOME days that he didn't even get out of bed.

Also, if he DID go insanewould he stay insane or would his brain be reset the next day?

I never understood that, it seems like his mind aged by his brain didn't. Like he had all the memories of his experiences each day, but his brain physically didn't age.

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I never understood that, it seems like his mind aged by his brain didn't. Like he had all the memories of his experiences each day, but his brain physically didn't age.

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Makes sense, since the point (to the extent that something like this has a point, I guess) was to teach him a lesson and help him grow. Gotta give him the tools of success!