Girl InterruptedA BRIEF LOOK INTO THE WORLD OF PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESSES

A True Story…

Girl Interrupted is the autobiographical story of Susanna Kaysen. In 1967, at the age of 18, she attempted suicide by trying to overdose on aspirin, and afterwards checked herself into Claymoore Mental Hospital. She spent 2 years there and was eventually diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Years after her experience she wrote a book, and that book was later made into a movie.

Susanna, Lisa, Polly, Daisy, and Georgina… The Girls

The main characters in this movie are these 5 girls. Throughout the movie they develop many types of relashionships, most of them becoming co-dependent on eachother. It almost seems as if they feed off of eachother’s illnesses.

The Many Illnesses…

I chose this piece of media because of the broad spectrum of psychological illnesses that are portrayed in it. It shows examples of borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, and sociopathy. It also brings up the many issues that are involved with mental illness and society’s views and opinions about it. Because it took place in the 1960’s, some may say that conformity was a big issue with people being diagnosed with mental illness.

The Many Other Issues…

One of the biggest psychological issues I saw in this film was dual- diagnosis. Each and every girl in Claymoore Mental Hospital showed symptoms of at least two or more psychologial conditions. Although, in the movie they did not portray it that way. Another one of the biggest themes I found in this film was the extreme overuse of psychopharmacology. The girls in the hospital were so overmedicated it seemed that maybe that was part of the problem.

The Moral of the Story…

After a 2 year stay at Claymoore Mental Hospitol, Susanna was released and continued to live a normal life. It was believed that her “illness” was due to the life circumstances at the time. She attempted to keep in touch with some of the girls she was hospitalized with, but it was unclear which ones. What was clear however, was that some of them also left the hospital and proceeded to live fairly normal lives.