Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

Diagnosing an individual with a mental illness balances on a fine line between giving a life-long label and misdiagnosing. Mental illness is best viewed on a continuum allowing for a varying degree of severity. In the field, mental health professionals are faced with determining what signifies the appropriateness of diagnosing a mental illness. A professional’s judgment is impacted by their personal perceptions and observations, societies views and norms, and the patient’s history. The film, “How Mad Are You? A Search for Insanity” demonstrates the difficulties in distinguishing those who are mentally ill from those seen as healthy ( ). I will explore my reactions and thoughts regarding the participants’ experience as well as the mental health professionals. Additionally, I will share how this information is applicable to my future career in the field of social work.

Borderline personality disorder was used to diagnose clients who didn’t fit into commonly diagnosed disorders. “The term ‘borderline’

In the book Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen, Susanna Kaysen was only 18 years old when she agreed to enter a medium security psychiatric facility in Boston, McLean hospital in April 1967, after a failed suicide attempt. She insisted that her over dose on aspirin was not a suicide attempt, but after a 20 minute interview the doctor decided she needed to be admitted to a hospital. During her prolonged two-year stay at the hospital Kaysen describes the issues that most of the patients in her ward have to deal with and how they all differently deal with the amount of time they must stay in the hospital for. While in the hospital Kaysen experienced a case of depersonalization where she tried to pull the skin of her hands to see if there were bones underneath, after a failed escape attempt. Soon, after going to therapy and analysis she was labeled as having recovered from borderline personality disorder. After her release she realizes that McLean Hospital provided patients with more freedom than the outside world, by being free responsibility of parental pressure, free from school and job responsibilities, and being free from the “social norms” that society comes up with. Ultimately, being in captivity gave the patients more freedom then in society and created a safe environment in which patients wanted to stay in.

The study of mental health has always been a challenging topic. As a society, we are quick to judge individuals who don’t conform to social norms, especially when there is not a distinct line between insane and indifferent. The movie, Girl, Interrupted examines the challenges of a young woman who has been diagnosed as having a borderline personality disorder. The lead character, Susanna, has been faced with depression and attempts suicide upon graduating high school. The suicide attempt proves to be unsuccessful and her family seeks out the help of a family psychiatrist to persuade Susanna in seeking help at a mental health facility. At the beginning of the movie we see Suzanna reluctantly agree to self-admit herself to the facility, but protest

Borderline personality disorder is a serious mental illness that directly affects one’s behavior, moods, and relationships/socialization skills. Borderline personality disorder often is associated with co-occurring disorders like depression, suicidal behaviors, anxiety, abuse of drugs and alcohol, as well as eating disorders. The behavior of a person diagnosed with borderline is also described to erratic and impulsive. The cause of borderline personality disorder is still not entirely clear at this point, although trials and studies suggest that it can be passed down through genetic traits. It is also suggested that one’s environment/upbringing may play a huge factor in the diagnoses as well.

may not be viewed within the borderline personality disorder, but play a role on the behaviors that are

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a mental disorder that is caused by a childhood traumatic event which leads to mental and behavioral instability. Abigail’s trauma roots in her “[seeing] Indians smash [her] dear parents’ head on the pillows next to [hers]” (Miller 19). The loss of her parents was ultimately the turning point in Abigail’s life because this led to living with her uncle who could not provide her emotional support after the already violent and traumatic event. She was not able to have a stable home life as she was moved from place to place. Also, witnessing the murder from a young age lead her to accept and turn to violence. This violence tendency is not only toward others but toward

The movie, “Girl, Interrupted” by Susanna Kaysen, offers an individual perspective on what it is like to live in a mental institution. As a troubled teenager, Susanna was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, in which she disagreed with. Susanna parents and a family friend recommended her to admit herself into a mental hospital named Claymoore because she had overdosed on aspirin and vodka. Within, the 18 months that Susanna stayed in the mental hospital she came across many individuals that she had a connection with and considered them to be her friends, particularly a girl named Lisa. Lisa had a very negative personality and can be manipulative. Once, Susanna began to make friends in the ward, she started to get comfortable, and accustomed to the lifestyle of the institution. Throughout, the movie individuals will have an outlook on how social control of deviance, medicalization of deviance, the idea of total institutions and demedicalization come into play in mental institutions.

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) has only been viewed as a condition of its own in the last 20 years but there has been documentation of people with the characteristics of this disorder as far back as 3000 years ago. The American Psychological Association added BPD as a mental health disorder in the past 20 years, yet, it's often misunderstood by the public and often misdiagnosed for other mental conditions or overlooked entirely by the professionals. This condition consists of dysfunction behaviors such as splitting, parasuicide, impulsivity, disillusions, and low self esteem, however, there is no specific test to diagnosis this disorder but high risk factors include family history or genetics, experiencing childhood trauma, and other

Before Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) was clearly defined, it was called a “wastebasket” disorder. This meant a patient could be diagnosed with it if they didn’t fit clearly within another certain diagnosis. BPD was often confused with schizophrenia, non-schizophrenic psychoses, and anxiety and depressive disorders. This disorder was commonly said to respond poorly, if not at all, to treatment. Today mental health professionals have proved this remark false. Unfortunately though, BPD is still held under this stigma and is frequently thought to be “untreatable.” According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, BPD is a personality disorder, or Axis

People with borderline personality disorder show instability in their relationships, self-image, and mood and lack of control over impulses (Stanley & Siever, 2010). They tend to be uncertain of their values, goals, loyalties, careers, choices of friends, and sometimes even their sexual orientations (Roepke et al., 2010). Instability in self-image or identity may leave them with feelings of emptiness and boredom. Many cannot tolerate being alone and make desperate attempts to avoid feelings of abandonment. They may be clinging and demanding in social relationships, but clinging often pushes away the people on whom they depend. They alternate between extremes of adulation in their relationships (when their needs are met) and loathing (when they feel scorned). They tend to view other people as all good or all bad, shifting abruptly from one extreme to the other. As a result, they may flit from partner to partner in brief and stormy relationships. People they had idealized are treated with contempt when they fell the other person has failed them.

People with borderline personality disorder are also usually very impulsive, oftentimes demonstrating self-injurious behaviors. These individuals are very sensitive to environmental circumstances. The perception

“Border Line Personality Disorder affects individuals with who have a history of unstable interpersonal relationships. The individuals have a difficult time interpreting reality” (The Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Health).

Personality disorder, is a serious mental illness. It is now considered to be diverse but nonetheless a single disorder. Borderline personality disorder is a complex and highly prevalent psychiatric diagnosis that was first recognized officially in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (Crowell, & Kaufman, 2016). PD emerges during adolescence or young adults. Children are often shamed for experiencing negative effects. Children will learn overtime how to contradict in response to emotionality leading to high shame-proneness in adulthood. Object relations theory (Kernberg, 1984) describes shame-proneness as characteristic of BPD due to extremely negative, polarized representations of the self that are disconnected from positive self-representations. Individuals with BPD do report significantly higher levels of shame compared to individuals diagnosed with other affective disorders and exhibit more shame in response to negative affect (Peters, & Geiger, 2016).

Personality traits are stated in the work of Hsu (2004) to be such that reveal "characteristics and patterns of an individual's environmental observations, thinking processes, and coping strategies. They exert long-term effects on adaptation and personal identity. The author presents a case study of a patient with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) who suffered from suicidal ideation, intense mood swings, all-good/all-bad thinking patterns, and poor job performance." (Hsu, 2004, p.1)