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Abnormal Psychology Film Project-Girl Interrupted

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Abnormal Psychology Film Project-Girl Interrupted
Film Project-Girl Interrupted (Borderline Personality disorder)

Borderline Personality disorder-a Personality disorder, which is under the large umbrella of Metal disorders. According to medicine.net, BPD is a serious mental illness characterized by pervasive instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image, and behavior. This instability often disrupts family and work life, long-term planning, and the individual's sense of self-identity. However, according to Susanna Kaysen, doesn’t everyone go have some of these symptoms every once in a while? Everyone experiences mood swings, family, and work life issues. Everyone experiences job changes, or even change in their self. Why then would these symptoms mean that someone has a mental illness? This was Susanna Kaysen’s argument throughout her memoir “Girl interrupted”. In this paper, I will provide a summary of the movie “Girl interrupted”, Identify BPD and its causes and symptoms, as well as provide the lasts findings about the disorder.
Girl interrupted was primarily based on the two years that Susanna Kaysen spent at McLean Psychiatric hospital. After being referred to a family friend who was a doctor, Susanna was told that she needed to seek help. She was strongly urged to “Take a rest” at McLean Hospital after attempting to commit suicide. Along with many promiscuous relations with men, and self harm, her family grew concerned. However, Susanna did not think that she had an issue. Reluctant to believe that she has an illness, she still checked herself into the hospital where most of the movie takes place. Upon being admitted into the hospital, Susanna was given drugs throughout the day consisting of laxatives, sleeping pills, etc. At first, she denied them, and was still forced to take them. She eventually went to not taking them at all. After being introduced to Lisa Rowe, one of the main characters, she learned how to “tongue” her medication. This meant that the nurses would stand around the



References: citations from 11Davidson RJ, Putnam KM, Larson CL. Dysfunction in the neural circuitry of emotion regulation - a possible prelude to violence. Science, 2000; 289(5479): 591-4. Wikipedia.com Webmd.com NIMH.com

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