The movie Girl, Interrupted was released in 1999 and focuses on the story of an 18 year old girl named Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder), who was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. The story is based around Susanna’s personal struggles with herself, family, friends, and the other women at the mental hospital. Throughout the movie she explains the reasons that made her take the decision to check herself into a mental institution, what it was like living there, and thoughts she had towards the world. Susanna was admitted into Claymoore Hospital and was diagnosed with BPD. A person that has BPD are described to have mood swings, impulsivity, anger, anxiety, and unstable relationships. In the movie there are many unhealthy behaviors There are treatments for this mental disorder. Like in the movie, if I were to treat Susanne I would use cognitive behavioral therapy. This method focuses on the patient’s views and beliefs about their own life, not on personality traits. Even in the movie it shows how they used this exact technique to cure Susanne’s BPD. It focused on the client and therapist’s relationship in the center of their treatment, just like Susanne had with her therapist. I know that this therapy would be good for her because she will develop a better relationship between her therapist, others, and more importantly, herself. The therapy helped Susanne replace everything wrong about her living that do not work well with ways of living that works. It gave her more control over her life. In my opinion Susanna’s behaviors in the movie Girl, Interrupted are consistent with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. The movie was raw and didn’t shadow code anything. There are two films that I watched that really portray people in a mentally unhealthy way and healthy way. The first film was Girl, Interrupted the second film
Susannah's family took her back and forth from the hospital several times following this first hospital trip, and returned home unsuccessful each time. The doctors could not find any evidence of a physical problem, and her family was beginning to lose hope. They knew that without evidence of a physical issue, the examinations would suggest that the issue was in her brain. Cahalan's family feared they would lose their Susannah to an unfulfilling life in a mental
“No wire hangers, ever!” Joan Crawford spoke to Christina Crawford in Mommie Dearest the movie. The scene where Joan says this is just one example of her having one or more psychological disorder. Psychological disorders are behavior patterns that cause a person to anguish. Also, they may cause a person to obstruct the capability to manage everyday activities (Rathus, 2010). Joan displays many psychological disorders, but the most visible are bipolar disorder, histrionic personality disorder, narcissistic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
Through John's interference he turned what was considered a minor case of a chemical imbalance into to full blown schizophrenia. During the turn of the century, which is when this story took place, what scientists knew of the human mind wouldn't fill the inside of a matchbook. This was for certain the case when it was a woman who was the patient. If there was any deviation in the accepted behavior of a woman as deemed by society, the woman was considered hysterical. When dealing with these patients, instead of seriously considering the consequences of their actions, they went along with obscenely stupid notions on how to deal with problems of the mind.
However, these thoughts are not always true all the time. Sometimes Hollywood makes films to show the audience the truth contained in the movie. In the movie “Girl, Interrupted,” the filmmakers have balanced the grim realism of the book with audience-pleasing elements of entertainment in order to make the film more comfortable. The graphic representation of mental illness makes audiences feel its realities, while the use of attractive actresses captures the attention of the audiences and makes it easier to relate to the story.
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)
In this century, mental health have become just as important as physical health. Abnormal psychology is the category of psychology that explains each mental illness that human suffer from. In the case of “Disco Di”, Diana Miller is about a young girl who is registered in a psychiatric hospital for treatment for exhibiting traits that are associated with a mental illness after a long period of challenges. She is diagnosed with major depressive disorder and borderline personality disorder. Is this the correct diagnosis?
One that was immediately noticed she may have is a dissociative disorder. When traumatic events are happening to her she dissociates to protect herself. She becomes a famous singer everyone loves and admires. Although it may not be dissociative identity disorder as she does not dissociate into more than one person when it happens. She becomes a famous star all the times she dissociates so this may rule out that disorder. Dissociative amnesia may be a possibility. I believe there would be enough evidence to show she has a dissociative disorder. Another mental disorder she may have is depression. It is very noticeable how unhappy she is due to the abuse and bullying of others. She believe’s them when they say awful things about them and thinks very negatively of herself. She wishes she was dead and always keeps to herself. All her traumatic life events including rape and abuse could most definitely bring on depression. I feel there is enough evidence to diagnose her with
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
There are two different kinds of disorders, personality disorders and psychological disorders. Psychological disorders are illnesses that an individual experiences as episodes. Personality disorders are enduring traits that are major components of the individual's personality (Rathus, 2010). No matter what kind of disorder a person may possess their lives are affected everyday by them, it takes over their body and consumes them as a person. Disorders are often misunderstood. You do not have the ability to make a split second decision and then continue life without that disorder, it will take lots of counseling. While we are not trained psychologist everyone can learn or identify disorders in popular movies or television shows. In the movie, Mommie Dearest, directed by Frank Perry, Joan Crawford possesses several of these disorders, including bipolar, borderline personality disorder, obsessive compulsive personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder.
An estimated 1.6%-5.9% of the adult population in the United States has BPD, with nearly 75% of the people who are diagnosed being women. Symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder include Frantic efforts to avoid being abandoned by friends and family, Unstable personal relationships that alternate between idealizations, Distorted and unstable self-image, Impulsive behaviors that can have dangerous outcomes, Suicidal and self-harming behavior, Periods of intense depressed mood, irritability or anxiety lasting a couple hours/days, Chronic feelings of boredom or emptiness, Inappropriate, intense or uncontrollable anger - often followed by shame and guilt, and Dissociative feelings. The three main factors that could cause this mental illness are Genetics, Environmental factors, and Brain function. This illness can only be diagnosed by a mental health professional after a series of interviews with the patient and family/friends of the patient. The patient must also have at least five of the nine symptoms of this illness in order to be diagnosed. The most common treatment for this illness is some form of psychotherapy. Some other treatment options are to prescribe medications and if needed a short-term
Joan Crawford, was one of the most popular and well known actresses in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s. Although her life was more extraordinary than mundane, she suffered from multiple personality disorders, as do many Americans. Personality disorders are patterns of inflexible traits that disrupt social life or work and may distress the affected individual (Rathus, 2016). The movie Mommie Dearest, captures moments in Crawford’s life that show her struggles with her personality disorders. Throughout the movie, you watch her personalities become more prominent and abusive. Her main disorders include borderline and paranoid personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, as well as histrionic and narcissistic personality disorder.
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.
she became obsessed with acting and pleasing all the adults in her life. While working on
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.