Susanna Kaysen Case Study

April 10th, 1969 I. Identifying Information The client Susanna Kaysen is a nineteen year old Caucasian woman who was born on November 11, 1948 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She still currently resides in Cambridge at 17 Burlingham Road alone in a one bedroom apartment. She recently moved out on her own after being released from The Claymoore Mental Institution. The patient’s home phone number is [phone]. Currently Ms. Kaysen is a single woman and is not in any significant romantic relationship.Ms. Kaysen’s parents Carl and Annette Kaysen are still actively involved in her life. II. Referral Source
The client has come to ABA Clinic for Mental Health Services as a self-referral. She stated she learned of our agency through her
Kaysen was recently released from the Claymoore Mental Institution where she spent the last eighteen months. Ms. Kaysen was voluntary admitted at the age of eighteen as a result of a family intervention after she attempted suicide by allegedly chasing a bottle of aspirin with a bottle of vodka. Ms. Kaysen states she became depressed during her high school years. She was an outsider with not many friends and although she was determined to be a writer, she had no plans of attending college after her high school graduation in 1967. She stated remembering that her only wish was to not be like her mother, a college educated woman who was a homemaker. Ms. Kaysen believes her depression stems from her unclear path of what she wants to do with her life. She was once fascinated and intrigued by death, dying and suicide and while she attempted suicide once she was often rather careless with her body and was quite promiscuous with men. She comes from a wealthy suburban family yet has little communication and interaction with her family because she feels disconnected from them and cannot relate, being as though she has chosen not to live up to their standards. Although Ms. Kaysen did not have the closest relationship with her parents they tried their best to be supportive; maybe not exactly supportive of her diagnosis and behavior but of her treatment. They did decide to intervene after her suicide attempt and during her stay at the institution they often phoned, visited and even participated in family therapy sessions. According to Ms. Kaysen these sessions weren’t exactly productive for two reasons. For one her parents were in denial about the likelihood of her condition being remotely hereditary. It is five times more likely for a patient to be diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder if at least one parent exhibits similar behavioral patterns. The family life and environment play a huge role in personality disorders and they are often triggered by