Reflection Paper: Girl, Interrupted

Lastly, I will now discuss the emotional, mental, and spiritual reactions I personally had about the movie. I felt very saddened over the loss of Graham’s wife because I could not even begin to know how awful it would be to lose a spouse. I also found it very sad to watch the children deal with the loss of their mother. The moment at the dinner

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.

health began to decline and she soon discovers that she has multiple conditions that “impact her

Second impact of social isolation starts to begin from mental health. On the other way mentally ill members sometimes be socially isolated by the other members of the family which adversely impact the mental condition. Mental illness starts first with anxiety which deteriorates to depression and finally psychological disorder. Mentally ill patients do not want to mention their loneliness rather they express their problem in terms of anxiety and depression. It has been reported by Twenge, 2000 that social isolation from others can give rise to anxiety and stress which if persistent for long time can cause serious morbidity or mortality. In contrast it has also been evident that social affiliation or being with others can reduce or

The 1991 movie My Girl tells the story of 11-year-old Vada Sultenfuss who, having lost her mother at birth , lives with her dementia-ridden grandmother and her job-oriented father in the funeral parlour that he owns and operates. The story follows Vada, an extreme hypochondriac who has many strange misconceptions about death, through a variety of life-changing experiences, including the engagement of her father and the devastating loss of her best friend, Thomas Jay. Through these experiences, the audience witnesses Vada’s social, emotional, and intellectual growth, as well as her changing views of death.

     Considering all the treatment methods used at Mclean Hospital, harsh physical treatments were rarely productive. Methods such as seclusion, ice-baths, Electro-shock therapy, and even the Hospitals atmosphere itself can make one wonder how anyone came out of there better than they went in. It seems odd that people teetering on the edge of sanity were subjected to such horrible treatments. Although such treatments sometimes worked, it in no way outweighs the horrible side

The memoir Brain on Fire, written by author Susannah Cahalan, describes the journey she lived through with an undiagnosed disease. Susannah goes from being a New York Times journalist to being a person who couldn’t control herself and had to be strapped down to the hospital bed, in other words she was becoming psychotic. She did not choose to become the person she was in the hospital, someone who had no control over her body, someone who was lost. This got to a the point to where nurses no longer wanted to treat her and lost their patience because she was not being cooperative and was becoming more violent.The reason as to why she became this person was due to the misdiagnosing, doctors not taking time to do further test and family not thinking her symptoms were serious enough to have an actual disease. The signs were there but no one thought anything about it, as they thought she was over exaggerating. It wasn’t until she had her first seizure and the fact that she was hospitalized that her family, friends and even the doctors finally realized there was something wrong.

Though its primary function is usually plot driven--as a source of humor and a means to effect changes in characters through disguise and deception—cross dressing is also a sociological motif involving gendered play. My earlier essay on the use of the motif in Shakespeare's plays pointed out that cross dressing has been discussed as a symptom of "a radical discontinuity in the meaning of the family" (Belsey 178), as cul-tural anxiety over the destabilization of the social hierarchy (Baker, Howard, Garber), as the means for a woman to be assertive without arousing hostility (Claiborne Park), and as homoerotic arousal (Jardine). This variety of interpretations suggests the multivoiced character of the motif, but

In the book, Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness, by Susannah Cahalan, one of main conflicts is explored at the start of the book between Susannah’s family and a doctor. The disagreement is about whether or not Susannah has a severe illness. This conflict arises when Susannah’s friends, family, and even Susannah begin to notice her acting odd and unlike herself. She begins to experience hallucinations, paranoia, mixed episodes, lack of sleep, seizures, and other strange symptoms. Her friends and family decided that she should see a doctor as soon as possible.

In both stories “Girl” and “Story of an hour” there is use of gender that describes a typically unfair direction of the role of a women, yet the use of gender is describe differently. The use of gender in the “Story of an hour” is mainly about how the wife of a husband who dies in the train crash is going to deal with life without her husband and if she will be able to handle it emotionally. While the story “Girl” deals with a mom that tells her daughter to be well mannered fit in socially with society. The role of women in both stories is to be well mannered and considerate with high standards of behavior. For instance, in the story the women tell the daughter “ on Sunday try to a walk like a lady” (123). A lady is what the mom wants her to become because she is afraid of her becoming unfit for society. Ladies are expected to be very polite and speak in good manners in order to fit the ideal women. In the “Story of an Hour” there is a specific way her family wants her to handle her husband death. The facts Mrs. Malland was told about the tragedy at a certain times makes me believe that writer wants us to believe that women have harder time dealing with her marriage life.

history of mental illness leading to disordered thinking. She would struggle with this illness that

The book Girl, Interrupted is about a teenage girl Susanna Kaysen. At the age of 18 she voluntarily sent herself to the McLean hospital. In the beginning of the book the Susanna was talking to a psychiatrist she has been seeing for awhile, she has had a couple of suicide attempts so she started seeing that doctor. The doctor had recommended Susanna to go to McLean to help her be anti-depressive and help cure her borderline personality. Susanna ended up being in the hospital for 2 years.

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.

R Not at all because she views illness and suffering as something we create in our mind, so it would be difficult to

The film is sublime. It’s funny and insightful as it creates very different worlds for its two characters, and yet it doesn’t shy away from the harsher aspects of the lives of Mary and Max.