Overly Promiscuous Behavior

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 film Girl, Interrupted focused on an eighteen year old girl by the name Susanna that was admitted into a private mental hospital after being accused of a suicidal attempt. The movie follows Susanna on her journey in the institution as she encounters women with different admittance stories. The one who intrigues Susanna the most is Lisa. Lisa is thought to be a sociopath with the way she manipulates those around her to get her way. She is constantly in and out of the institution causing those around to fear, yet admire her. My main focus will be on Lisa and although it was not specified in the film just how old she is, she seemed to be around the same age group as Susanna. This means that, according to Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages, she is on stage five or six. Stage five happens during adolescence where ones primary task is their identity versus their own role in society whereas stage six happens in young adulthood and one faces intimacy versus isolation. The article incorporated gives more insight on how Erikson’s stages play hand in hand with one another and can potentially affect the mental state of someone if not successfully fulfilled. There is also a possibility that, with the ‘symptoms’ of a sociopath, Lisa could have had past problems during what Sigmund Freud considered the anal stage of her childhood.

After this episode a professor convinced her to go to the hospital and reluctantly she complied. This hospital did not take kindly to her psychosis and restrained her numerous times with straps. She had never been treated this way before and was confused and frightened. She later said for a hospital for the mentally ill it had been a brutal experience (157). She then was moved to a different hospital, memorial Unit 10 (MU10) where she was first diagnosed with “Schizophrenia with acute exacerbation” (167). Though she had finally gotten a diagnosis for her broken brain it seemed more like a death sentence than a diagnosis. She continued on with life in depression, psychosis, and denial.

Anna O was 21 year old patient of Breuer. Anna O had developed strange symptoms while taking care of her father who was ill. She developed a cough along with paralysis, hallucinations, hysteria, and loss of feeling in her arms and legs as well as muscle spasms. Breuer could not figure out why Anna was experiencing these types of symptoms so he deemed it hysterical neurosis (Heller, 2005). While under hypnosis Anna’s symptoms were not as severe and she could recall dramatic events that had taken place in her life prior to her symptoms. We now know that Freud used Anna’s case to help develop his clinical experience even though he never treated or worked with her. Freud implemented free association into clinical practice that allowed the patient to speak freely and express their opinions about

Susannah Cahalan, a 24 year old, healthy and successful journalist for the New York post, experienced an acute onset of psychosis. Symptoms ranged from paranoia to seizures, which eventually led to a catatonic state. The onset of the female’s symptoms occurred when she became paranoid of a bed bug infestation in her home, yet after having her home exterminated there was no indication of bedbugs. Concern arose from her nonexistent appetite and severe insomniac behaviors. She began noticing her own erratic behaviors and shortly after experienced her first seizure episode. In search of an answer to reoccurring seizures she went to a physician who put her on Keppra (an antiseizure medication) and warned her the symptoms were due to stress and heavy drinking. The increasing paranoia developed into hallucinations, people plotting against her or speaking poorly of her. EEG and MRI results exhibited normal results; further indicating stress and alcohol withdraw. After being admitted to the NYU medical school EEG monitoring floor, examination showed tangential, disorganized, and temperamental behaviors. Several escape attempts later, placed Susannah in the more difficult patients category. Doctors suggested conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and cancer. She exhibited abnormally high blood pressure pointing to extreme concern.

The patient, a thirty-three year old female singer, is having difficulty sleeping, simple activities like getting groceries tire the patient easy, complains of neck pain, and cannot concentrate. The patient experiences worry and anxiety. However, when asked about what specifically, many things were brought up but none were more important than the other.

A displayed feelings of apprehension and became less co-operative during the initial clinical interview. She additionally displayed thoughts of inadequacy . She moved back to her parent’s house when she began getting panic attacks and was housebound through fear of inducing a panic attack. As a result of this, she became overly reliant and attached to her parents, who provided emotional, financial, and decision making support.

Pt presented at NNBHC with his mother with psychosis, and ritualistic behaviors that have increased. Pt states that he has been having audio and visual hallucinations at night where he hears whispers. Pt states of also seeing “clowns, demons, spirits and bigfoot”. Pt states when he has AV hallucinations that he counts to 2 or 4 and becomes fidgety which helps decrease the hallucinations. Pt also states that everything have to be on the left side due to him being left handed and nothing can be on the right side which makes him upset. Pt states that he has been having spells of confusion where he seems to lose time, or is often confused when communicating. Pt states that he has became recently aggressive towards mother throwing times due

In 1901, a fifty one year old woman named Frau Auguste D. was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Frankfurt, Germany. She had an unusual bunch of symptoms. While she had no history of prior psychiatric illness, her husband had noticed that Frau D. was becoming increasing paranoid, hallucinatory, agitated, disoriented, and having increasing difficulties with language functions and memory.

Persistent fears that harm may come to self or a loved one, an unreasonable belief that one has a terrible illness, or an excessive need to do things correctly or perfectly, are common. Again and again, the individual experiences a disturbing thought, such as, "My hands may be contaminated--I must wash them"; "I may have left the gas on"; or "I am going to injure my child." These thoughts are intrusive, unpleasant, and produce a high degree of anxiety. Often the obsessions are of a violent or a sexual nature, or concern illness.

I remember feeling dazed walking into the hospital; everything was a blur yet seemed to happen in slow motion. And the smell. It was overwhelming and stale. I was detached, just going through the motions: walk here, get wristband, sit, stay, wait. The waiting was the worst part. My mind began to spin. Worrying, and waiting, and contemplating, and waiting and waiting… My fingers began to restlessly tap, dancing out the rhythm of my steps over and over. I fell into a daze, nothing processing except

Several types of anxiety disorders are discussed in this film. General anxiety disorder is described as a constant feeling of worry and fear for at least six months. A person suffering from general anxiety may experience panic attacks, cold sweats, heavy breathing, and may withdraw from social interactions. It is regularly treated with medications and cognitive behavior therapy, which is a psychotherapy that focuses on helping patients understand the feelings they are experiencing and how those feelings may be contributing to their issue. Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is another anxiety disorder discussed in this film. People develop PTSD after experiencing an emotional shock or major trauma. Someone with PTSD may have issues sleeping and controlling their anger; they may experience feelings of detachment, numbness, and may have flashbacks of the traumatic experience causing their PTSD. Like general anxiety disorder, PTSD patients are often treated with medication and cognitive behavior therapy. Recently a new therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy, has been used in PTSD patients. This therapy requires the patient to rapidly move their eyes while recalling the traumatic experience. The third type of anxiety disorder discussed in this film is obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD. OCD is described

Hannah, a 25 year old Caucasian female, presented as alert, tense, and oriented 3x. Hannah is well groomed and appropriately dressed. Her affect was blunted flat. While client was cooperative, she presented as guarded, which may be due to her anxiety. She was calm, but displays signs of anxiety by posture, shuffling hands, lip biting, and eye movement.

The reason behind the expression of hysteric symptoms in a mental patient, such as Anna O., is from the affect of an unpleasant memory that is not brought to the conscious mind. The conflict of repression is the explanation for physical symptoms seen in hysteria. Storr wrote, “In many instances, the physical symptom expressed the patient’s feelings in symbolic fashion. Thus, constriction in the throat might express an inability to swallow an insult; or a pain in the region of the heart might signify that the patient’s heart has been metaphorically broken or damaged” (1989, p. 13). This explains the multiple symptoms that Anna O. expressed in her case.

Engaging in sexual behavior of any kind involves some level of risk. Whether that risk is physical, emotional, or social, those who partake in sexual activity with another human being must incorporate risk into their decision-making processes. However, these decision-making processes and the definition of risk itself are heavily influenced by social schema. There is strong empirical evidence for gender differences in risk taking behaviors, but it is necessary to look deeper in order to apply current data to the topic of taking risk with sexual behavior. By considering how risky sexual behaviors are defined, the influence of social schemata, and potential mitigating factors to risky sexual behaviors, it becomes evident that social