GIRL INTERRUPTED:PERSONALITY DISORDERS & FRIENDS

PSYCHOLOGY BASIS

Abnormal Psychology

The study of abnormal mental processes and behavior.

A mental health professional must be able to define abnormal behavior and then determine when abnormal behavior constitutes a mental disorder.

There are almost 300 different mental disorders classified into sixteen categories including: Anxiety disorders, Eating disorders, Mood disorders, Personality disorders etc.

Anxiety disordersThese disorders share a symptom f an extreme fear or anxiety. Including: phobias, panic attacks with or without agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Eating disordersExcessive overeating, undereating, or purging as a result of a fear of gaining weight. Including: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

Mood disordersCharacterized by extreme changes in mood, including: major depression, cyclothymia, dysthymia, and bipolar disorder.

Personality disorders Results of maladaptive patterns that disrupt a person’s ability to function in everyday life and/or cause extreme distress. Including: Narcissistic personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, and paranoid personality disorder.

Examples of disorders used:

MEDIA

• In the movie Girl Interrupted, a young woman by the name of Susanna is sent to the mental institution know as Claymoore, by her parents because she is clinically depressed and cuts herself. Also suffers from borderline personality disorder. During her stay she encounters several different woman with very different stories.

• Susanna ends up becoming quite close with Lisa, the unit’s longest staying resident & sociopath (personality disorder.) Lisa is hypnotic and Susanna becomes intrigued and manipulated by Lisa’s ways. Lisa ends up strapped to a bed in the end because she read Susanna’s diary and was told that she was already dead on the inside.

• Daisy is a seemingly sweet young girl. It is implied in the movie that she has an incestuous relationship with her father but is never conclusive. She has an eating disorder (bulimia), obsessive compulsive disorder & cuts herself as well. She keeps the carcasses of the chicken’s her father brings to her. She is released but when Susanna and Lisa escape and run away to her home, Lisa is cruel and says nasty things to cause Daisy to break and commit suicide.

CONNECTION

Susanna Kaysen

A seemingly lost young woman, that does not know exactly what she wants out of life. Attempts suicide, than says she did not try to. Has affairs with married men. Cut herself. Easily manipulated and influenced. Has a sudden change of soul when Daisy commits suicide due to Lisa’s cruel and evilness. Is later released with a clean and healthy state of mind.

Lisa Rowe

Has been locked in the mental institution for 8 years and has made several attempts at escaping indefinitely but is always caught and brought back. Manipulative. Likes to hurt others feelings and make fun of people. Labeled and diagnosed as a sociopath (personality disorder.) Talks Susanna into running away. Assists in Daisy’s sad suicide by speaking to with hatred. Later is so depressed because Susanna says what she is thinking that she is strapped to a bed.

Daisy Randone

A sweet young lady who is spoiled by her fathers love. However, it is suggested that she is engaged in incest with her father. She suffers from bulimia, obsessive compulsive disorder and self harm. Lisa loves to taunt her and eventually after Daisy’s release and Susanna and lisa escape to her home, Lisa begins to taunt her and Daisy has had enough that she commits suicide the night of or the following morning. The girls find her and Lisa does not care, she steals her money and runs off as Susanna calls 911 and returns to the institution.

REFERENCES

• Notes used in class & psychology book notes.

• Google, typed in “Girl Interrupted.”

• Wikipedia results for “Girl Interrupted.”

• Google image results for psychology to use in my slides.