Girl Interrupted

Walter Love

PSY 223-504

Girl Interrupted

Girl Interrupted takes place in the 1960's and focuses on 18 year old Susanna Kaysen. Susanna makes a lousy attempt at suicide and consumes a bottle of aspirin followed by a bottle of vodka. After the incident Susanna meets with a family friend who is a former psychologist and suggests she would benefit from Claymore Mental Institution. Susanna voluntarily emits herself to Claymore believing she wouldn't be there that long, but she ends up staying there for over a year. Once there the psychiatrist diagnosed her with borderline mental disorder. Over the next 18 months Susanna is introduced into a new lifestyle and becomes close with a few of the patients there.

During Susanna's time at Claymore she develops a relationship with other patients there. Like Susanna all the patients have some type of mental illness. Polly Clark also a patient at Claymore displays characteristics of schizophrenia and depression. According to most professionals schizophrenia is triggered by a life stressor. Polly Clarks schizophrenia was mostly likely caused because at a young age her mom tried to get rid of her dog since it caused her rashes. In attempt to keep her dog Polly poured gasoline on her rash and lit her self on fire. Lisa Rowe is diagnosed as a social path which American Psychiatric Association describes as a disregard to authority. Lisa displays resentment to authority figures throughout the movie proving her symptoms of social path. Daisy shows signs of obsessive compulsive disorder. Obsessive compulsive disorder is defined as repeating an action over and over again. Daisy relates to this because she only eats chicken and keeps the bones until she has 14 of them then believes its time to leave the hospital.