Girl Interrupted
Ali Cox
Psych 350
Steve Illardi
15 November 2012
Applied Paper For this applied paper I chose to read the novel Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen. In her biography she writes about her time at McLean Hospital, a residential psychiatric facility in Massachusetts. She tells about the experiences she had there, the people that she met, and most importantly her diagnosis; Borderline Personality Disorder. Through reading her novel I was able to see what caused her diagnosis, the symptoms that she portrayed, and the treatment she received to have the status of recovered.
Through out the novel, Susanna portrayed a number of abnormal behaviors that interfered with her ability to function. The first symptom, and probably the most important, Susanna had thoughts of suicide and eventually attempted it. Her motives ranged, using anything as a reason to kill herself, as she says in the book “My motives were weak” (Kaysen 36). From not wanting to write a paper to making a stupid remark, she used these as reasons to kill herself. Unfortunately, at age 16, Susanna took 50 aspirin and swallowed it with a fifth of vodka. Family had found her about to pass out, and so they rushed her to the hospital to have her stomach pumped. This attempt occurred in 1965. Along with the suicide attempt, she possessed self-mutilating behaviors as well. She took part in an act that she called “wrist banging”. She would slowly bang her wrists on the edge of a metal chair, causing her wrists to swell and bruise. She used this behavior through her stay at the hospital and the time ranged, from a half hour to multiple hours and would do it in the evening. She also had a short period of face scratching as well.
Susanna had some abnormal symptoms that displayed her anxiety and depression. One of these was her obsession and difficulty with visual patterns. She states that when she looked at “oriental rugs, tile floors, and printed curtains” she saw other things within them (Kaysen 40). In
Psych 350
Steve Illardi
15 November 2012
Applied Paper For this applied paper I chose to read the novel Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen. In her biography she writes about her time at McLean Hospital, a residential psychiatric facility in Massachusetts. She tells about the experiences she had there, the people that she met, and most importantly her diagnosis; Borderline Personality Disorder. Through reading her novel I was able to see what caused her diagnosis, the symptoms that she portrayed, and the treatment she received to have the status of recovered.
Through out the novel, Susanna portrayed a number of abnormal behaviors that interfered with her ability to function. The first symptom, and probably the most important, Susanna had thoughts of suicide and eventually attempted it. Her motives ranged, using anything as a reason to kill herself, as she says in the book “My motives were weak” (Kaysen 36). From not wanting to write a paper to making a stupid remark, she used these as reasons to kill herself. Unfortunately, at age 16, Susanna took 50 aspirin and swallowed it with a fifth of vodka. Family had found her about to pass out, and so they rushed her to the hospital to have her stomach pumped. This attempt occurred in 1965. Along with the suicide attempt, she possessed self-mutilating behaviors as well. She took part in an act that she called “wrist banging”. She would slowly bang her wrists on the edge of a metal chair, causing her wrists to swell and bruise. She used this behavior through her stay at the hospital and the time ranged, from a half hour to multiple hours and would do it in the evening. She also had a short period of face scratching as well.
Susanna had some abnormal symptoms that displayed her anxiety and depression. One of these was her obsession and difficulty with visual patterns. She states that when she looked at “oriental rugs, tile floors, and printed curtains” she saw other things within them (Kaysen 40). In
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