More handpicked essays just for you.
Case study for borderline personality disorder
Literature view borderline personality disorder
Case study for borderline personality disorder
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The movie Girl, Interrupted follows the story of fictional Suzanna Kaysen who voluntarily institutionalizes herself to a mental hospital whereby she is diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). The central focus of this paper will explore the realities and the stereotypes as presented in the movie regarding Borderline Personality Disorder. Borderline Personality Disorder manifestation includes irrational moods and behaviors (What is Borderline Personality, n.d.). Generally, people who exhibit this type of disorder also suffer from impulsive and reckless behavior, problems with regulating emotion and thought, and unstable relationships with other people (What is Boderline Personality, n.d.). Spontaneous dangerous behavior is also a symptom of the mental illness and is seemingly displayed when Suzanna escapes from the mental hospital, steals her medical records, refuses to take her prescribed medication, and engages in various potentially harmful sexual behaviors (Mangold, 1999). Suzanna questions whether she should be labeled “promiscuous” for having sex with less than five men and wonders aloud if she would still be labeled that if she were a man (Mangold, 1999). Aside from her sexual exploits, Suzanna’s other “spontaneous dangerous behavior” is inspired by another long- term hospital patient, Lisa. Lisa is a diagnosed sociopath and revels in the attention that her disregard for rules and authority figures brings her from the other patients (Mangold, 1999). Her personality can switch from being astonishingly kind to extremely cruel very quickly and without warning. As highlighted in the movie, Lisa shows Suzanna how to pretend to take her medication, Lisa leads the raid into the office to find the girls’ medic... ... middle of paper ... ... little to show the severe, debilitating heartache of living with this disorder. The movie was more about Suzanna’s emotional unraveling of self and finding herself and her ability to mainstream into society as a productive participant in the real world rather than her miraculous recovery from the darkness of mental illness. Works Cited Geller, J. L. (2013, April 2).Borderline Personality Disorder. Retrieved from Psychiatry Online website: http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/article.as px?articleID=84386 Mangold, J. (Director). (1999). Girl, Interrupted. On Girl, Interrupted [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172493/ What is Borderline Personality Disorder? [Fact sheet]. (n.d.). Retrieved December 2, 2013, from National Institute of Mental Health website: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/borderline-personality-disorder/index.shtml
Although Susanna Kaysen’s rebellious and self-harming actions of coping with her psychosis are viewed by some critics as pushing the boundary of sanity, many people have a form of a “borderline personality” that they must accept and individually work towards understanding in order to release themselves from the confines of their disorder. Kaysen commits to a journey of self-discovery, which ultimately allows her to accept and understand herself and her psychosis.
People with Borderline Personality Disorder tend to view the world as simple as possible. People who view the world like this, confuse the actions of others. (Hoermann et al, 2005) Recurrent thoughts about their relationships with others, lead them to experience extreme emotional reactions, great agony which they have a hard time controlling, which would result in engaging in self-destructive behaviors. Diagnosing a patient with this disorder can be challenging which is why is it is labeled as one of the difficult ones to diagnose. (Hoermann et al, 2005)
Mental health is not the mere absence of illness but it is the sense of harmony and balance for the individual. Aspects associated with the individual include self-worth, sense of accomplishment, and a positive identity (Fontaine, 2009), where as mental illness is the disharmony someone is experiencing. This disharmony affects not only the individual but their friends and family as well as the surrounding community. This disharmony causes the person to be unable to function properly in many aspects of their life (Fontaine, 2009). Disco Di started to display signs of mental illness from the young age of 12. Her behaviours may have been triggered by a traumatic event and have been interfering with her life ever since. I agree with the diagnosis that Disco Di was given which was an Axis I diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Axis II diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). This paper is going to explain why I agree with these diagnoses as well as genetic and cultural factors and treatment method for them.
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).
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.
What symptoms of mental illness did you see in the movie? After considering typical symptoms and behaviors for this disorder, determine the extent to which you believe this was a realistic portrayal of this disorder. In seeing the different personalities throughout the movie at times it did appear realistic, however there obvious character in this movie that were very unrealistic. An example would be with one of the
For my final essay, I have chosen the movie “Fatal Attraction”, and I will focus on Alex Forrest and her mental disorder. Borderline Personality was displayed in the movie and Alex had almost every symptom of this disorder. Throughout this essay, I will be discussing Alex’s characteristics, intelligence, motivation, stress, social influences and/ or personality theories, treatment, and if the depiction of the disorder and treatment is consistent with what was discussed and read in the course.
Some symptoms of BPD can include fear of abandonment (1), unstable relationships (2), self-harm (3), and destructive behavior (4). In one scene in the middle of the movie, Rowe gets sent to a different ward for drugging a nurse. (1) Kaysen causes a huge scene and demands to know where Rowe is. Kaysen is so distraught because she claims that Rowe is “All she has left.” Kaysen seems to have a lot of people come and go throughout her life. (2) In one part Kaysen states “I just don’t want to end up like my mother.” This could mean that Kaysen and her mother don’t share the greatest bond. As seen throughout the movie, there is a bandage on the wrist of Kaysen (3) suggesting that she might have cut her wrists when she had a “headache.” Kaysen having destructive behaviors, as mentioned before is an indicator of BPD. (4) In the early movie, it shows how promiscuous she could be. She had a one-time affair with a married college professor who wanted more than she did. She also had an on and off relationship with a boy named Toby who was later drafted in the military, but decided to run away and take Kaysen with him. But, she declined because she didn’t want to leave
Destin Cretton’s film titled, Short Term 12 depicts the struggles of young woman named Grace with a tough exterior and how that exterior slowly disintegrates as she learns to deal with her troubled past. While the former troubled teen learns to come to terms with her past, she works as a supervisor and acts as a guide for troubled teens at an at-risk group home. Furthermore, in analyzing this film from a medical sociological perspective, I will focus on the characters and their experience of being a mental patient. Given there were many characters who were deemed as mentally ill, I will focus my character analyzation on Jayden. In discussing Jayden, I will also compare her experience and the experience of other characters to two of this week’s
It tells the story of a person, family and community in which individuals suffer from mental disorders much the same way as people do in the real world. Not only did I find this movie quite accurate concerning mental illness but I also established some important messages concerning mental illness in today’s society. The film takes into account that mental illness is a part of society and overall has a positive outlook on it. Their illnesses don 't define their identities nor are they even the main point of the story. In coming together, the characters find the mutual support that enables them to approach their struggles and redirect their lives in a more positive direction. To some degree, this film addresses stigma and the fact that persons with mental illness should be allowed to participate in society over being kept in a hospital, in other words, it gives
For example, she lacks remorse or any form of sympathy or regret for her actions and sees herself as being superior to other people. Secondly, Lisa saw herself as being invincible, and at one point, Lisa and her friend Susanna described having mental illness as a gift, which allowed them to see and understand the truth.
Diana Miller, 25 was diagnosed with major depressive disorder and borderline personality disorder after being rushed to the hospital following another suicide attempt . Her symptoms and background are outlined in her vignette and will be examined in detail throughout the paper. The purpose of this essay will be to explore the possible additional diagnoses for Diana’s behaviour as well as look deeper into the feasible explanations of how and why her behaviour turned abnormal. Therefore through analyzing the diagnostic features, influence of culture, gender, and environment, in addition to outlining paradigm explanations and possible treatment methods, one can better understand Diana Miller’s diagnoses.
This film challenged my previous thoughts of bipolar disorder and took me into personal accounts of people suffering from this horrible disorder. I learned that individuals that are diagnosed with bipolar disorder are not the same and have different experiences of how the disease affected their life. I was honestly shocked at the fact that a disease in the brain can make you go into a manic state of mind and then fall into a deep depression. One of the most eye opening parts in the film was when Cheri was going to a client’s house and had to look into the mirror before she went in and told herself to put on her game face and transform into a chipper, perky version of herself because she was feeling down. This made me realize that people around you can be suffering from depression or other mental diseases around you and you can be completely unaware because the symptoms can be
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).
For example; Lisa, the diagnosed sociopath, displays very little empathy for those around her. This is made clear when she sees Daisy’s post suicide body and is not saddened whatsoever. Another accurate portrayal is the patient with anorexia nervosa Janet. Janet refuses to eat, is in denial about her condition, is emotionally labile, and is always exercising. I also thought the film portrayed life in a psychiatric facility accurately. There were staff members performing frequent checks on the patients, nurses administering medications behind a window, and patients hanging out around the milieu when they aren’t in therapy.