Psychological Perspectives from the Movie Girl, Interrupted - Essay Example

Days: Time: Psychological Perspectives from the Movie, “Girl, Interrupted” Psychology is a very interesting in thefield of medicine. A good psychologist would easily know if a person is suffering from a psychological disorder just by looking at the way a person walks, speaks, mannerisms or looking through his eyes. That would seem to be very ideal. However, such skill has to be earned through accumulation of knowledge and experience over the years of practicing the profession. I have chosen “Girl, Interrupted” as a good material for this purpose since it offers many insights about mental disorders, a major concern in this field. Another reason for the choice is the fact that the movie was based on a true story, an autobiographical novel written by Susanna Kaysen herself, the main character, who was diagnosed with “borderline personality disorder” and was treated inside a mental institution sometime in 1960’s. Although there are several characters in the movie showing symptoms of different types of mental disorders, this paper will only focus its discussion only to one mental illness, the “borderline personality disorder (BPD)”. Primarily, this paper intends to compare this movie against the real manifestations of BPD if these were properly presented. Secondly, this paper would try to relate the title of the movie to the plot of the movie. Thus, at the end of the day, after reading this paper, it is expected that the readers must have learned some good knowledge about “borderline personality disorder” since this paper will highlight the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of BPD, a favorable input for this psychology class. 1.0 Summary of the Plot The summary of the plot begins to revolve around the main character in the person of Susanna Kaysen (portrayed by Winona Ryder), “a young girl of eighteen, raised in an unstable environment starting with her parents” (Filme pana mea 2013). “Her mother showed signs of mood swings while her father showed very inappropriate aggression” (Filme pana mea 2013). Her life was not like that of any other ordinary normal eighteen year old would experience. Susanna was portrayed to display “damaging behaviors like stormy relationships with her parents and dangerous activities like having sexual activity with many men in a day” (Filma pana mea 2013). She was also shown “to display self-destructive behaviors when she attempted to commit suicide by drinking aspirin and a bottle of vodka which caused her to be put in a mental institution” (Filme pana mea 2013). She also claimed “to have no bones in her hands, a scene showing her delusional, self-mutilating tendencies” (Filma pana mea 2013). “When transferred to McLean Hospital because of her suicidal tendencies, she was placed in a ward to join some female patients with different mental illnesses too” (Kayser, 1994). “The ward was supervised by Dr. Sonia Wick, Head of Psychiatric ward (played by Vanessa Redgrave) and assisted by Nurse Valerie Owen (played by Whoopi Goldberg). Suzanna joins Janet Webber (played by Angela Bettis), the anorexic; Georgina Tuskin (played by Clea DuVall), a pathological liar, Polly “Torch” Clark (played by Elisabeth Moss), the burn victim, Daisy Randone (played by Brittany Murphy), the sexually abused girl with bulimic and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and Lisa Rowe (played by Angelina Jolie), a runaway sociopath”(FoxHugh.wordpress.com 2013: imdb.com 2000). Susanna maintained a personal diary to account everything she went through inside the mental institution from day 1. A scene showed Toby Jacobs (played by Jared Leto) Susanna’s ex-fling, visiting and offering her to run away with him. Susanna rejected to go with him. Later, Lisa was shown to break into the ward and was able to convince Susanna to run away with her. Both got hooked up with hippies and eventually ended up at Daisy’s pad. Later though, everything went bad for Daisy when Lisa told her that she was a freak and many other things that demeaned her ego like mentioning that Daisy appeared to enjoy being molested by her father. The next morning Susanna and Lisa found Daisy dead as she committed suicide by hanging herself inside the bathroom. Susanna went back to the institution without Lisa and started her new psychotherapy sessions with Dr. Wick. One scene showed Lisa breaking into Susanna’s cell, stole her diary and revealed what was inside Susanna’s diary to other girls. This invasion of privacy ended up with Susanna chasing Lisa in fury. The chase ended up with Susanna fracturing her hand while trying to close a metal sliding door on Lisa. The conflict ended with a confrontation. Susanna told Lisa that she would start a new life outside the hospital without them. Finally, before Susanna left the asylum, she first visited Lisa then her other friends in the institution. The movie ended by showing Susanna leaving everything behind the institution as well as showing viewers that during the nineteen seventies, most of Susanna’s friends were already out of the institution leading normal lives. 2.0 The Movie vs. the Kaysen’s Novel Susanna Kaysen herself came out with an autobiographical novel about her stay in a mental institution in the 1960’s, got it published in 1994 and was made into a movie in 1999. Did the movie give justice to the actual events? There is no question with the superb performance on the roles of the chosen actors and actresses. They did portray patients inside a mental institution something that is rarely watched onscreen. The movie was said to be “a melodramatic movie focusing on conflicts between the characters” (Meadows 2000). “But their insanity have been slightly toned down so as not to offend some people. The movie writers just decided to change the whole story” (Meadows 2000). Like for example, in the book, “Lisa and Susanna did not together ran away nor did Susanna was present when Daisy committed suicide, among others” (Deniselle. 2007). “The film makers clearly did not want to portray Susanna as insane or be in state of in need of help at all” (Deniselle 2007). As things are, “this movie did its best to exploit the strange conflicts that occured in a mental hospital, but falls short of doing the job of making a compelling movie”(Meadows 2000). The plot may come weak in some parts but what’s important is that it portrayed the mental illness symptoms the way it should be in the real world. 3.0 Psychological Perspectives Evidenced in Girl, Interrupted 3.1 Diagnosis: Borderline Personality Disorder “As early as 1938, Adolf Stein coined this term “borderline” to this illness, a condition he believed to lie on the murky “border” between neurosis and psychosis” (Scott & Arkowitz 2013). Both movie and novel presented Susanna’s diagnosis to be with borderline personality disorder. To M. Linehan, “the criteria for BPD reflect emotional dysregulation, behavioral dysregulation with emphasis on interpersonal relationships and lastly, cognitive instability” (Linehan 1993). “BPD is associated with specific problems in interpersonal relationships, self-image, emotions, behaviors, and thinking” (Pedneault-Salters 2009). Apparently, all of these manifestations were portrayed by Susanna in the movie. 3.2 Symptoms “ A person with BPD manifests a series of behavioral patterns such as: a) extreme reactions like panic, depression, rage, etc. and sometimes dangerous behaviors(manifested inside the asylum); b) pattern of intense and stormy relationships with family, friends, loved ones, often veering from extreme closeness and love to extreme dislike or anger (shown when Susanna had casual sex with her mother’s friend’s husband; c) distorted and unstable self-image or sense of self (when Susanna mentioned that she had no bones in her hand) ; and d) recurring suicidal behaviors or threats of self-harming behavior (when Susanna drank aspirin with a bottle of Vodka)” (U.S. Department of Health- NIMH). 3.3 Treatment “Psychotherapy Options for BPD Research has shown that several types of psychotherapy are effective in reducing the symptoms of BPD, according to Dr. Pedneault-Salters ( 2011) and that include: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) DBT for BPD focuses on teaching skills to tolerate distress, stabilize emotions, and maintain healthier relationships. Schema Focused Therapy Schema focused therapy for BPD focuses on confronting maladaptive beliefs that are developed as a result of early life events. Mentalization Based Therapy Mentalization based therapy for BPD focuses on helping the client to recognize mental states, such as thoughts, feelings, and wishes, in themselves and in others.  Transference Focused Psychotherapy Transference focused psychotherapy uses elements of the relationship between the client and the therapist to help reduce BPD symptoms” (Pedneault –Salters 2011). CONCLUSION First of all, why the use the title ‘Girl, Interrupted’? Most likely, Susanna should have deserved a better life if not for some traumatic incidents that may have happened along the way which could have extremely marked or impinged on her character causing her to manifest these erratic behaviors, anxieties, etc. “Traumatic life events are generally more common in with borderline personality disorder (BPD) than in non-patients or patients with other personality disorders” (Distel, et.al 2011).Who would dispute Susanna’s sanity after the novel? The movie in the end showed that the buddies of Susanna who are also mental patients have recovered including Susanna Kaysen. Comparing to the realities of life, the movie may not be portraying the real picture. Why? According to Mayo Clinic, “there is not enough information to support a borderline diagnosis, but it is known that if someone has a guardian with borderline personality disorder, it is much more likely to develop it themselves (Mayo Clinic, 2008)” (Filme, Pana Mea 2011) . “Despite remarkable changes in our knowledge about borderline personality disorder, increased awareness involving much more education and research is still needed” (Gunderson 2009). “Clinicians can be reluctant to make a diagnosis on BPD because it is a complex syndrome with symptoms that overlap with many Axis I disorders.” (Paris 2007). And last but not least, BPD must not be treated with drugs. “No medications have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat borderline personality disorder. Many people with borderline personality disorder are treated with medications in addition to psychotherapy. While medications do not cure BPD, some medications may be helpful in managing specific symptoms” (U.S. Department of Health- NIMH). Hence, medications are just to curb or control impulsive behavioral patterns in behavior but will never be the complete cure to Borderline Personality Disorder. Works Cited Deniselle, “Girl, Interrupted. Movie vs Book”. movievsbook.blogspot.com . Blog. Web. March 22, 2013. Distel, M.A., Middeldorp, C.M., Trull, T.J., Derom, C.A., Willemsen, G, Boomsma, D.I. Life events and borderline personality features: the influence of gene-environment interaction and gene-environment correlation. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/. 2011. Web. 23 March 2013 Filme Pana Mea.”Girl, Interrupted”. nuampleacapanamea.blogspot.com. . Blog. Web. March 20, 2013 < http://nuampleacapanamea.blogspot.com/> FoxHugh,wordpress.com. HughFox III - Girl Interrupted. Web. March 25, 2013 < http://foxhugh.wordpress.com/tv-series-esl-discussion-questions/girl-interrupted-film-psychology-lesson/ > Gunderson, John G. “Borderline Personality Disorder: Ontogeny of Diagnosis” Am J Psychiatry 166 (2009): 530-539. Web. 22 March 2013 The Internet Movie Database (IMDb).com. Girl, Interrupted. IMDB.com., Inc. 2000. Web. March 25, 2013. < http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0172493/ > Kayser, S. `Girl Interrupted . U.S., Vintage. 1994. Web. March 25, 2013 < http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68783.Girl_Interrupted# > Lilienfield, S.O. and Arkowtiz, H. “Diagnosis of Borderline Personality is Often Flawed”. Scientific American. (n.d.) Web. 22 March 2013 Linehan, M. Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder. N.Y., USA: The Guilford Press, 1993. Print. http://books.google.com.ph/books?id=UZim3OAPwe8C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Meadows, A. “Film Review, Girl, Interrupted”. The Tech Online Edition. 68:119 ( 2000). 119:68 Web. 22 March 2013. < http://tech.mit.edu/V119/N68/Girl,_Interrupt.68a.html> Paris, J. “Why Psychiatrists are Reluctant to Diagnose Borderline Personality Disorder” Psychiatry MMC (Edgmont), 4(1): 35-36. Web 26 March 2013. Pedneault-Salters, K. “Borderline Personality Disorder Treatment:Learn About Different Treatments for BPD”. bpd.about.com . 2011. Web. March 21, 2013. < http://bpd.about.com/od/treatments/a/BPDtreat.htm > Pedneault-Salters, K. “What is Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)-An Introduction To Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)”. bpd.about.com . 2009. Web. March 22, 2013. < http://bpd.about.com/od/understandingbpd/a/whatisbpd.htm > U.S. Department of Health, National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH). National Institute of Mental Health (NIH) Borderline Personality Disorder (n.d.). NIH publication no. 11-4928. Web. March 25, 2013. < http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/borderline-personality-disorder/borderline_personality_disorder_508.pdf> Read More