Girl, Interrupted

Many people think “I’m normal, everyone else is crazy” but what if you really are the crazy one and do not even realize it? “Girl, Interrupted”, a hit movie portraying only a few mental illnesses people suffer from, proves that a young girl, Susannah Kaysen; played by Wynona Ryder, does not realize that she needs help. Susannah is diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, a disorder in which individuals have difficulty developing a secure sense of who they are, this movie will make you question your own sanity because most people show the signs of BPD. Some treatments that the psychologists used in the movie for this disorder were hospitalization, one-on-one therapy, family therapy and medication, such as Colace (laxatives), Valium (mood stabilizer) and sleeping pills. I believe Susannah correlates to the Sociocultural Perspective, as well as the Behavioral Perspective because her parents are very socially accepted and want her to become someone she does not want to be and her disorder was stronger because she inherited it from one of her parents.

Another character who is also hospitalized is Lisa, played by Angelina Jolie, knows she has a disorder and is proud of it. Lisa is a Sociopath who suffers from Antisocial Personality Disorder, she is extremely manipulative, lacks guilt and has no remorse for any wrongdoing she has done. At first I thought Lisa was Schizophrenic, because of her outbursts and giggling at an inappropriate moment, she was acting abnormally but she was still in touch with reality. The treatments the doctor tried using for her disorder in the movie are medication (which she did not take), individual psychotherapy and shock therapy. Both the Medical Perspective and Psychoanalytic Perspective correlate to Lisa because she was unwanted and maybe have been severely neglected as a child, she pushes the buttons of everyone that is around her and has spent 8 years in the Claymoore institution. I believe she suffers from a chemical imbalance and that would explain the reasons for her actions.

Brittney Murphy also did a great job at portraying, Daisy, a girl who suffers from Mild Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, A disorder characterized by obsessions or compulsions, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a person re-experiences a stressful event in vivid flashbacks or dreams. She will only eat chicken from her fathers deli, was sexually abused by her father, Daisy also has outbursts of anger. The treatments used in the movie for this disorder were, hospitalization, medication, as well as individual therapy. Both Behavioral Perspective and Psychoanalytic Perspective correlate to Daisy, because even though she knows what her father is doing to her is in fact wrong, she likes it and feels guilt for it because she is receiving love and affection from her father.

Some of the other disorders I noticed in the movie were, eating disorders, a pathological liar,  and schizophrenia. When I started watching this movie, as I mentioned earlier, I did question myself that maybe I could have a Borderline Personality Disorder, I know I am a mother and going to school for radiology but who am I really? Do I have my own identity? Why do I argue so much when there is no need for it? Why is it that everything I do now is what doug likes? Maybe it is just part of growing up and becoming an adult, like my preferences have changed? this movie did make me analyze myself. I think the actors portrayed the illnesses perfectly, Brittney Murphy could have had more quirks about her to where the viewers did not have to wait to be told about her OCD, that was the only problem that stood out to me.