There are many movies that depict mental disorders such as schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, personality disorders, and many more. Girl Interrupted portrays several women with different disorders. How precise is this movies to the actual symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment, to the disorder? We will discuss and compare these issues.Susanna Kaysen spent two years in a psychiatric hospital, McLean. Twenty-five years after her release she began to write a memoir about her stay. Once it was completed her memoir was converted into a movie called Girl Interrupted. This movie reveals Kaysen's passage from adolescence to adulthood. This movie is based on actual events.Winona Ryder stars as Susa ...view middle of the document...
We will explore the cause, symptoms, and treatment of Borderline Personality disorder (BPD) and how they are presented in Girl Interrupted.Why is this disorder called "borderline"? People with this disorder feel they are living on the border of life and death, between being and not being competent in the world, and between sanity and insanity. The life of someone with borderline personality disorder may look normal to others, but the person with this disorder doesn't feel normal.Only two percent of the general population suffers from this disorder and seventy-five percent of those are women (Comer). What causes the disorder? We will view several different theories. Some believe that the exact cause for this disorder in unknown. Others like John Oldham, believe it is caused by a combination of environmental circumstances and genetic influences, and many believe that it always stems from their childhood of sexual abuse and physical abuse. In the movie, Susanna showed no signs of neglect in her childhood. Why then, did she obtain this disorder? Psychiatrist Kenneth Silk may be able to answer this question. He suggests that BPD behavior may be influenced by neurotransmitter disturbances, which is a viewpoint of a biological theorist.Biological abnormalities have been connected to BPD. 'Neurotransmitters carry the signals between all the nerve cells in the brain. They underlie every thought and emotion, as well as memory and learning. About fifty different neurotransmitters have been discovered thus far. The neurotransmitter dopamine involves thinking. Impulsivity and aggression are associated with serotonin, mood stability with acetylcholine, and sensitivity to the environment with norepine-phrine. People with BPD may have difficulties in all of these areas' (Kreger). BPD patients are found to have lower brain serotonin activity. If someone in your family is diagnosed with BPD, you are five times more likely to be diagnosed with it.Psychodynamic theorist concentrate on early parental relationships. They propose the BPD patients lacked acceptance by their parents, which lead to low self-esteem, increased independence, and unable to cope with separation. Research has shown that the patients that are diagnosed with this disorder are consistent with this view. The childhoods were marked with divorce, trauma, and death. The parents of the individual rejected or neglected. The patterns were almost the same through many of the diagnosed patients.Another theory of the cause is the environmental approach. The rapidly changing environment causes instability. Which in change, leave the society with problems of identity, heightened anxiety, a sense of emptiness, and fear of abandonment.The exact cause for Susanna Kaysen was unknown; the movie didn't go into detail about her childhood. From what was observed through her parent interactions, there was no sign that it could have stemmed from her childhood.How do you tell if someone has BPD? There are symptoms t...
