Psychosocial Stages In The Film Girl, Interrupted

Tracy, a seventh grade girl in the movie Thirteen, provides a glimpse into the dangers of negative adolescent development. She was an honor student who was content playing with Barbies, but she was also desperate for acceptance and affection. Tracy meets Evie, a popular girl who engages in destructive behavior. Tracy’s only goal becomes emulating Evie, and she embarks on a path of self-destruction. Tracy, who is in early adolescence, is at the peak of her most critical developmental stage (Capuzzi & Gross, 2014), and is willing to do whatever it takes to belong. Throughout the movie, we see her struggle with low self-esteem, anger, dysfunctional relationships, self-harm, and substance abuse. Vernon (2009), discusses Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which can be utilized with Tracy. Vernon (2009) notes that when needs of safety, belonging, love, and respect are not met, children respond emotionally, cognitively, physically, and socially, depending on their developmental level. The degree of development also impacts how children react to common developmental difficulties and situational problems. Vernon (2009) adds, “…how children interpret and respond to basic needs, as well as typical and situational problems, can result in various self-defeating behaviors” (p.3). Applying this to Tracy, we see that her basic needs of

The movie Mean Girls shows examples of many social-psychological principals. Three of the major social-psychological principals depicted in Mean Girls are prejudice, discrimination, and conformity. According to Social Psychology and Human Nature textbook, written by Baumeister and Bushman, prejudice is a negative feeling toward an individual bases solely on his or her membership in a particular group. Discrimination is unequal treatment of different people based on the groups or categories to which they belong. Lastly, conformity is defined as getting along with the crowd.

Personality and how we behave have been of much interest to psychologists for a long time now and because of this there have been many theories and theorists that have been developed. Personality is defined as consistent behavior patterns and intrapersonal processes originating within and individual (Fritzley, 2012, p. 10). There are six main approaches to personality psychology they include: biological approach, humanistic approach, behaviorist approach, trait approach, psychoanalytic approach and cognitive approach. Each approach shines a little light onto why we behave the way we do and how our personalities are formed, the approaches contain many different theories from

Girl, Interrupted provides an in-depth look into Susanna Kaysen’s experience of living with a mental illness and staying in a mental hospital. Twenty-five years after she leaves McLean she learns of her diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and discusses it in her memoir. Kaysen reads about her disorder from the DSM-III-R and views her diagnosis as:

Being brought into the world as a savior sister and having to undergo countless surgeries so that her older sister can fight leukemia, has an impact on Anna’s psychosocial development. Psychosocial development focuses on the development of the personality. It refers to how a persons mind, emotions and maturity level develop throughout the course of their lifespan (McLeod, 2010, p 4 ). Well known psychologist Erik Erikson gave an insightful theory of how personality develops based on his experience when working in psychotherapy, with children and adolescents from low, upper and middleclass background (Personality development, 2009, p 6). According to Erikson, the socialization process of an individual refers to eight stages, each stage is accompanied by a “psychosocial crisis” that needs to be solved in the

Saunders’ first-person writing style allows the readers to get a firsthand account of how all the individuals within the facility have their self-discovery stripped away from them. In this ‘sex-ed’ video they are told that “there is nothing wrong with self-touching” and that “love is a mystery but the mechanics of love need not be” (37). By taking on the persona of Jon, Saunders is able to portray the control over the individuals the facility has. While teenagers are expected to discover themselves, Jon’s actions are dictated by the facility. Admittedly, at this point Jon is under the full control of the institutional power present within the facility, it is quite evident that independence is discouraged due to the denouncement of love.

Nothing is more terrifying than battling with your own mind everyday. Girl, Interrupted and It’s Kind of a Funny Story are novels that discuss issues regarding mental illness. Susanna and Craig, the two main characters, admit themselves into hospitals due to their mental illnesses. Although Craig and Susanna are very similar, they have a variety of differences that are likely to change the reader’s point of view on the characters, book, and author. In It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Craig is a character that teens would be able to connect with; whereas in Girl, Interrupted, Susanna goes through an unfamiliar situation that many teens are not commonly aware of.

Girl Interrupted released in 1999 is a multi award winning film directed by James Mangold. It centres around eighteen year old Susanna Kaysen, who was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and consequentially institutionalised at Claymoore mental hospital. The film is set in the late 1960’s and focuses on her experience and struggle of being admitted to a mental institution following a failed suicide attempt. The main character of this film Susanna Kaysen (played by Winona Ryder) is diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). The 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual categorises BPD to be a persistent pattern of unstable interpersonal relationships, mood and self-image, as well as distinct impulsive behaviour (Spectrum BPD, 2016).

Susanna Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupted: Telling Susanna’s journey through therapy and being sent to McLean Hospital when she wasn’t sure if she needed the help or not. She meets new people, and goes through many new experiences. Susanna thought at first that she was wrongly admitted to the hospital, then ends up not wanting to go back into the world unprotected.

Girl Interrupted is a book that follows Susanna Kaysen an eight-teen year old who had just been admitted into the Massachusetts psychiatric Hospital McLean. In the book, Susanna has been diagnosed with Borderline Personality disorder. The book defines borderline personality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, third edition (DSM-III). It states that the most prominent characteristic of a borderline personality is an uneven sense of identity. This instability itself ins conflicted relationships, an inability to make ethical choices, confusion about sexual identity, and a persistent sense that one’s life lacks meaning or direction. Fear of abandonment is common, as are intense mood swings. Stress can trigger suicidal

Her mother has always sheltered and catered to her needs and wants. Erickson’s Psychosocial 5th stage is basically a prime example of what Julie exhibits. A person that exhibits this kind of behavior is going through an exploration. Adolescents like Julie are trying show an investment in forming an identity for herself. Julie’s identity moratorium is what allows her to realize that she is in a crisis, however hasn’t made any commitments and shows no enthusiasm to the approach.

Susana Kaysen is a fictional character in the movie, Girl, Interrupted. She is an 18 year old young adult, who suffers from a mental illness. Susana had multiple behaviors that can be defined as abnormal. There are four categories that Susana’s behaviors are grouped in. The first one is deviance, which is defined by behaviors that differ from society’s norms.

Susanna Kaysen’s “Girl Interrupted,” is an autobiography in relation to Kaysen’s two-year stay at a mental hospital as she battles borderline personality disorder. Although in denial, Susanna Kaysen is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder but is unable to come to terms with her illness as she reassures herself she is fine. The reader learns that Kaysen is an unreliable narrator that is unable to discover the truth behind her illness. Through the exploration of her relationships, actions, and opinions, enhances the fact that Kaysen is mentally ill. Through her past and present relationship’s, Susanna demonstrates her self-destructive tendencies. Kaysen’s impulsivity in the novel is another indication that her diagnosis is fitting. Finally, Kaysen’s thought process and anxious behavior further prove her as a candidate for BPD.

The movie Girl, Interrupted focuses on the character Susanna Kaysen along with other girls who have an array of mental disorders. These women all reside at the Claymoore Mental Health Facility. For instance, Daisy was sexually abused by her father and has serious eating issues, also known as a compulsive eating disorder. Daisy binges on rotisserie chicken from her father’s shop, in the privacy of here room. She feels uncomfortable eating in front of others. Lisa, who seems to be the leader of the pack is considered to be a sociopath. She throws tantrums like a child and has little remorse for her actions. She has been a resident of Claymore for eight years and has been in and out of the facility many times. Georgina deals with depression

In the film, “Girl Interrupted”, there was a variety of disorders illustrated. The movie took place primarily in a mental institution, Claymoore. Claymoore is an institution for mentally ill females with a variety of ages. Throughout the diversity of characters in the film many disorders such as personality disorders, pathological lying disorders, sociopathic disorders and depression disorders were portrayed. From my understanding all of these disorders were portrayed correctly within the film but might have been over exaggerated slightly.