Girl, Interrupted By Susanna Kaysen

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Recommended: Case study of borderline personality disorder

The movie “Girl, Interrupted” was released in 1990 and is a true story based on the life story of eighteen-year-old Susanna Kaysen. It follows her experiences and thoughts with her stay at a mental hospital after being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder following a suicide attempt. In the beginning of the movie, she starts by saying, “Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60s. Or maybe I was just a girl... interrupted.” She proceeded by clarifying how it is extremely easy to slip into another universe, how it is completely unnoticeable, however, once you are there you …show more content…

Examples of this includes early separation from one or both parents, emotional, physical and sexual abuse from anyone within or outside of the family, and constantly shifting, unsupportive care. However, it is important to note that children who have not been exposed to these environments can still develop BPD for biological reasons (Friedel). The most common treatment used today is the dialectical behavior therapy method. It originally was developed to treat chronic suicidal people with BPD. Now, it is known and referred as the gold standard to treat this population. Current research shows that this method can considerably decrease symptoms and alleviate the suffering of people with BPD (The Linehan Institute). There are four components to BDT: skills training group, individual therapy, phone coaching, and therapist consultation team. It focuses on several concepts, including that of paying attention to the present, both emotions and self-image, called mindfulness. Likewise, it teaches how to tolerate pain, how to ask for what one wants while maintaining self-respect, and how to change the emotions you do not like and want to change (The Linehan

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