Susanna Kaysen: A Psychological Analysis

In the 1999, biography, Girl, interrupted, Susanna Kaysen is diagnosed with a personality disorder at the age of 18. Beforehand, Susanna was experiencing unstable episodes and undergoing promiscuous activities. This later resulted in Susanna attempting to commit suicide by swallowing a bottle of aspirin with alcohol. Thereafter, Susanna reconciled and voluntarily committed herself to a psychiatric facility. Throughout her time, Susanna was impacted severely by others actions and was influenced by others, but later on being able to reflect and reevaluate and be composed, she was able to have clear state of mind. In this film, psychopathology, in regards to borderline personality disorder, and social psychology, in regards to human behavior
If an individual meets at least 5 of the 5th edition, diagnostic and statistical manual criteria, they are diagnosed with BPD. Susanna Kaysen has revealed to meet the criteria of BPD. However, she was never diagnosed until after she attempted to commit suicide. It took her a while for her to be accepting of her diagnosis. Susanna denied having BPD, but in reality, she did not know how to process her disorder. A quote from the movie states Susanna saying “ How they hell am I supposed to recover when I do not even understand my disease?” She was indeed uncertain, promiscuous and even had an affair with her former married teacher. She was suicidal, and on the scale of depression. Individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) display patterns of instability that impact regulation, impulse control, and interpersonal relationships (Maurex, 2010). In addition, individuals with BPD are suicidal, depressed, and have a background of traumatic experiences (Maurex, 2010 ). It is clear that Susanna experienced the traits of
However, little is known about their effectiveness in real-world settings. All in all, Susanna Kaysen expresses and conveys elements of psychopathology, and social psychology throughout the film. She overcomes and is living day-to-day with borderline personality disorder. In addition, Susanna and relating to this film, are bringing awareness to borderline personality disorder all