Girl, Interrupted by Borderline Personality Disorder
Girl, Interrupted, an autobiography, follows Sussanna Kaysen an eighteen year old girl who finds herself being escorted to a taxi and being sent to McLean Psychiatric Hospital in Massachusetts. Only after a brief twenty minute interview with a psychiatrist she had just met regarding her failing grades, depression, suicidal attempts as well as her inappropriate relationship with her high school english teacher, she was convinced that she is in need of “rest” and agrees to voluntarily commit herself. Kaysen believes only a few short weeks would be sufficient however soon two years pass. Her first hand account of her stay at the hospital is chaotic and non-chronological which is consistent with her diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder. During her stay at McLean, Kaysen grows fond of many of the young patients on her wing. She particularly finds Lisa, a sociopath, entertaining and clever for her various escape attempts and dramatic arguments with the staff. Polly on the other hand burns her own face and body and finally Georgina is Kaysen's roommate at the ward. Daisy is a new patient on the ward and is known in the facility for her rather odd obsession with roasted chicken and laxatives. Daisy is one of the first patients to leave the ward however commits suicide soon after.
Kaysen comes from an affluent family who can afford her expensive treatment on the ward. Kaysen doesn't get much visitors due to her volatile relationship with her parents which stems from their disappointment in her condition as well as her various suicide attempts. A family friend named James Watson visits Kaysen and offers to help her leave. Kaysen rejects and insists that she stays for...
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...as many as 8-10 percent of patients commit suicide (Butcher, Hooley, and Mineka 342-344).
Works Cited
"Borderline Personality Disorder." NIMH RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2014.
Butcher, James N., Jill M. Hooley, and Susan Mineka. "Chapter 10: Personality Disorders."
Abnormal Psychology. 16th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education, 2014. 342-44. Print.
Hopwood, Christopher J., and Mary C. Zanarini. "Borderline Personality Traits and Disorder:
Predicting Prospective Patient Functioning." Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Psychology 78.4 (2010): 585-89. Print.
"Interview with Susanna Kaysen." Interview by Catherine Elsworth. Goodreads. Goodreads,
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Kaysen, Susanna. Girl, Interupted. New York: Turtle Bay/Random House, 1993. Print.
Denise Gilmartin, a 26 year old female, exhibits behaviors which meet criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder. Denise exhibits unstable intense interpersonal relationships characterized by idealization and devaluation (Criterion 2). She has a history of brief tumultuous relationships and friendships. They start of with quick intense attachments and are described by Denise as “wonderful” and “incredibly special” (idealization); however, these feelings quickly devolve into “contempt” and “loathing” (devaluation). Additionally, Denise displays an unstable sense of self (Criterion 3). Her unsteady employment history is partially explained by dramatic shifts in interests. She switched from marketing to legal work to waitressing. It is also important to note that interpersonal issues underly most of her
After Antwone’s graduation from his Japanese courses, Dr. Davenport explains that he no longer can see him for psychiatric help, and that he cannot always depend on him being there. Antwone then feels a feeling of abandonment not only by his family, but also by Dr. Davenport who has been there for him through many tough times. He then decides to change his life around and move on headstrong.
Even with the multiple enlightening Internet sources, educational websites, and scholarly articles that attempt to explain Borderline Personality Disorder, the complexity of BPD still remains. It may be easier to understand the nature of Borderline Personality Disorder by viewing documentaries of individuals experiencing the illness first hand. When reviewing websites on a mental illness such as BPD, it is important to analyze the validity of the information rather than automatically believing the content is updated and reliable.
Although, Susanna was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. I would like to make the case that she was misdiagnosed as while she exhibits some symptoms of the disorder, she doesn’t actually meet the diagnostic criteria for borderline personality disorder. According to the DSM-5, borderline personality disorder is “a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts” (Diagnostic and Statistical). In order to have the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder an individual must meet five or more of the criteria as stated by DSM-5. Yet, Susanna only meets three of the diagnostic criteria for borderline
Borderline Personality Disorder in “Girl Interrupted” The movie, “Girl Interrupted,”is about a teenage girl named Susanna Kaysen who has been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. People with Borderline Personality Disorder “are often emotionally unstable, impulsive, unpredictable, irritable, and anxious. They are also prone to boredom. Their behavior is similar to that of individuals with schizotypal personality disorder, but they are not as consistently withdrawn and bizarre” (Santrock, 2003).
“Was I ever crazy? Maybe. Or maybe life is… Crazy isn’t being broken or swallowing a dark secret. It’s you or me amplified.” Determining sanity wasn't always prominent; the studies of mental health and psychology have improved greatly since the late 1960’s, but some could argue that there are still many disorders we do not understand. This movie envelopes the problems and treatment of patients during this era. Not only in a time of economic and racial disturbance, but the stereotypes and inequality for women are exemplified during this motion picture.
According to the DSM-5, Personality Disorders are characterized by “impairments in personality functioning and the presence of pathological personality traits”. Borderline Personality Disorder is one of ten personality disorders listed in the DSM-5. The DSM-5 lists several criteria that must be met in order for someone to be diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. They are quoted as follows:
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) has been a disability surrounded by stigma and confusion for a long time, and the time to bring awareness and public understanding to this disability is long overdue. The disability itself often gets misdiagnosed as an other disability since the symptoms overlap with many other disabilities (NIMH, n.d, para 16), or worse case scenario, a medical professional refuses to diagnose or treat the disability due to the belief that these people are untreatable because of a negative schema about the disability and clinical controversies on whether BPD is a legitimate diagnosis (Hoffman, 2007) . However, after nearly three decades of research, it has come to light that BPD does indeed exist, does have a good prognosis for remission with treatment (BPD Overview, n.d, para 3), and that there are many treatment options available such as three different types of psychotherapy (Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Schema-focused therapy), omega-3 fatty acid supplements, and/or medications (NIMH, n.d, para 29, 30, 31, and 39, 41). Even though the disability started as a psychoanalytic colloquialism for untreatable neurotics (Gunderson, 2009), BPD is very treatable and doesn’t deserve the stigma it currently carries throughout society.
Borderline Personality Disorder is diagnosed predominantly in females. There is approximately a 3:1 female to male gender ratio for this disorder.
...f the bad that is going on in her real life, so she would have a happy place to live. With the collapse of her happy place her defense was gone and she had no protection from her insanity anymore. This caused all of her blocked out thoughts to swarm her mind and turn her completely insane. When the doctor found her, he tried to go in and help her. When the doctor finally got in he fainted because he had made so many positive changes with her and was utterly distressed when he found out that it was all for naught. This woman had made a safety net within her mind so that she would not have to deal with the reality of being in an insane asylum, but in the end everything failed and it seems that what she had been protecting herself from finally conquered her. She was then forced to succumb to her breakdown and realize that she was in the insane asylum for the long run.
The history of BPD can be traced back to 1938 when Adolph Stern first described the symptoms of the disorder as neither being psychotic nor psychoneurotic; hence, the term ‘borderline’ was introduced (National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, 2009, p. 15). Then in 1960, Otto Kernberg coined the term ‘borderline personality organization’ to describe persistent patterns of behavior and functioning consisting of instability, and distressed psychological self-organization (National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, 2009, p. 15).
Susanna’s actions prove that she is continually working towards recovering. Jim Watson visits Susanna, asking her to run away with him, however, Susanna denies his proposal and stays at the institution: “For ten seconds I imagined this other life...the whole thing...was hazy. The vinyl chairs, the security screens, the buzzing of the nursing-station door: Those things were clear. ‘I’m here now, Jim,’ I said. ‘I think I’ve got to stay here’” (Kaysen 27). Susanna wants to stay at McLean until she is ready to leave; her choice supports what Buddha said, “There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting” (Buddha). Susanna finds reassurance from McClean as she undergoes her journey. Susanna sees the young nurses at the ward who remind her of the life she could be living: “They shared apartments and had boyfriends and talked about clothes. We wanted to protect them so that they could go on living these lives. They were our proxies” (Kaysen 91). Susanna chooses to take these reminders as a positive motivating force along her journey. However, Susanna is also surrounded by patients who have different, more severe psychoses. These girls do not hinder Susanna’s progression, but instead emphasize her
Girl, Interrupted (Mangold, 1999) is a movie which walks us through the conditions of various mental illnesses, their impacts on their victims and those around them, and effective treatment methods. The movie takes a more cognitive-behavioral perspective to explain various aspects and types of mental illnesses. Lisa Rowe is one of the characters in Girl, Interrupted, who is diagnosed with a particular type of mental condition. Lisa was diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder. According to DSM-IV, this condition is a pattern of the violation of the rights of other people and disregarding them. Individuals with this type of mental illness, otherwise known as sociopaths, do not conform to the social norms regarding practicing lawful behaviors (Derefinko & Widiger, 2016). They undertake activities which warrant their arrest, like harming other people or property.
The movie Girl, Interrupted, written by Susanna Kaysen, is a good text to use for a Psychoanalytic Criticism lens. A memoir turned into a movie about a young girl being admitted to a psych ward after trying to end her life and living with a mental illness and finding treatment is a great example to show what Psychoanalytic Criticism really is. “The forgetting or ignoring of unresolved conflicts, unadmitted desires, or traumatic past events, so that they are forced out of the conscious into the realm of the unconscious” (Barry, 97). In applying psychoanalytic criticism the definition of psychoanalysis itself must be understood. It is a form of therapy that is used to help cure mental disorders “By investigating the interaction of the conscious
In Medea, Medea shows copious traits of an unstable individual, which I believe to be characterized by borderline personality disorder. “Borderline personality disorder is a mental health disorder that impacts the way you think and feel about yourself and others, causing problems functioning in everyday life. It includes a pattern of unstable intense relationships, distorted self-image, extreme emotions and impulsiveness” (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2015, p. 1). Throughout the various actions and emotions displayed by Medea, sorceress and wife of Jason, you can see the relevancy of borderline personality disorder on herself.