Susanna Case Study Psychology

1. Karp describes the first stage as a period of inchoate feelings, in which, patients lack the vocabulary to label their experiences as depression. In other words, during this stage, most patients report bad feelings, but are unable to conclude that something is abnormal because they lack a baseline of normalcy to compare their experiences to. (Karp 1994:13) In the movie, Susanna was checked into the psychiatric hospital after mixing an overdose of aspirin with a bottle of alcohol. In this case, according to Karp’s definition, Susanna did not believe she was depressed, however, her actions showed otherwise. Furthermore, Karp states during the inchoate feelings stage, patients typically define their problems as being centered around the structural
According to Goffman, patients tend to avoid contact with others when initially admitted into the institutions because they are still in denial that they should be there. Goffman explains their actions when he writes that “on entering the hospital, he may avoid talking to anyone, may stay by himself when possible, and may even be “out of contact” or “manic” so as to avoid any interaction” (Goffman 1961:357). In other words, the patient stays under the radar and unknown to the other individuals at the institution because they are in denial anything is wrong with them and, therefore, do not want to be associated with people that have mental disorders. Upon admittance to the institution, Susanna spent a lot of time by herself in her room just sitting on her bed or sleeping. She did not go out of her way to talk and get to know other patients. As Goffman explains, by doing so, Susanna was, ”managing to keep herself from coming to the end of the trail, even though, in fact, she is now in a locked mental hospital” (Goffman 1961:357). In other words, she kept her distance from the other patients in order to not be associated with them because she still believed she did not belong here with these crazy people. Additionally, she is frightened when she sees the other patients act out and be crazy. For example, in one scene, Polly engages in one of her emotional fits after realizing her appearance. Susanna watches from her bed with a shocked and scared look on her face. She does not associate herself with these people and is still in denial that she belongs here. Susanna acted in the exact way Goffman describes initially admitted patients to