More handpicked essays just for you.
Girl interrupted psychological dynamic
Girl interrupted psychological dynamic
Girl interrupted psychological dynamic
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
FILM SUMMARY Girl, Interrupted opens with an interesting quote from Susanna Kaysen, the woman who wrote the original novel on which the movie is based. It goes “Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60s. Or maybe I was just a girl... interrupted” (“Girl, Interrupted”, 1999). In the film, we follow Susanna Kaysen as she journeys through the mental health treatment process, from initial events, like her suicide attempt, to diagnosis, treatment by institutionalization, to eventual recovery. Along the way, she has many misadventures with her fellow patients and the staff of the institution and gains many life-long friends. Through the process, she also gains something she didn’t have before: a concept of who she truly is and what she wants to do with her life (“Girl, Interrupted”, 1999). DEFINTIONS OF THE CONCEPTS Of all the questions we ask ourselves in our lives, there is one that stands out. It is something we ask ourselves when we are young and still developing, something that we think we know when we are teens, and something we discover as we grow older and more certain in ourselves. The question is: “Who am I?” Self-concept. According to Myers, “by the end of childhood, at about age 12, most children have developed a self-concept” (Myers, 2013, p. 193). Basically, we all have some awareness of who we are at a very young age. Of course, this identity is not set in stone, but rather changes as they grow into young adults. Self-concept is also about how we perceive ourselves. Baumeister states that self-concept is “the individual’s belief about himself or herself, inc... ... middle of paper ... ...from low self-worth. Since they feel that they are flawed due to having mental illnesses, they frequently compare themselves to individuals in the outside world. One patient, Daisy, is driven to commit suicide when another patient, Lisa, exposes all the flaws in Daisy’s self-image and thus destroys her self-worth as Daisy felt that she was close to her ideal self. In the end of the film, Susanna reveals that many of the girls received the treatments they needed and were released from institutionalization and back into the world. She saw many of them again after being released. In realizing that their disorders were part of who they were, and not some intrinsic flaw, the patients were able to change their self-concepts, ideal selves, and increase their self-worth so that the treatments given by the doctors and nurses were able to succeed (“Girl, Interrupted, 1999).
A movie, “The Other Sister,” is about two mentally challenged people name Carla Tate and Daniel. Carla Tate, a 24-year old woman, return to San Francisco from a sheltered boarding school after long years. After rejoining with her overprotective mother Elizabeth, a gentle and thoughtful father Radley, and two young and older sisters, Carla announces that she wants to attend a local school called Bay Area Polytech, a normal vocational school. Nevertheless of her mother Elizabeth’s disapproval, Radley supports her to pursue her dream. On the first day, Carla meets a boy named Danny and helps him when someone calls him “retarded.” They both get close to each other and fall in love quickly. Carla envied Danny for living on his own, so
Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and film Girl, Interrupted directed by James Mangold display the hospitals act as a microcosms for society. This idea is shown through characters that promote non-conformity, the showing of prejudice against minorities and when authority figures rule absolutely. The audience respond to this idea which is common to both, this idea is mainly presented through the stylistic techniques dialogue, camera angles, sound, and literary techniques, as each reflect the idea of the hospitals acting as microcosms for society.
The first unit on our textbook Interactions by Ann Moseley and Jeanette Harris talks about the self-concept. It is hard to find a definition for the self-concept because it is certain beliefs about ethnicity, religion, and personalities combined. This unit has a number of readings by various authors where it shows struggles with the self. Self-identity, ethnic backgrounds, and self-esteem are the major aspects of those readings. After reading their writings I found that I could relate to their experiences. The three readings that got my attention were “Zero” By Paul Logan, “I’m Just Me” by Lylah Alphonse, and “The Jacket” by Gary Soto.
Although Susanna Kaysen’s rebellious and self-harming actions of coping with her psychosis are viewed by some critics as pushing the boundary of sanity, many people have a form of a “borderline personality” that they must accept and individually work towards understanding in order to release themselves from the confines of their disorder. Kaysen commits to a journey of self-discovery, which ultimately allows her to accept and understand herself and her psychosis.
The viewpoint of mental illness portrays that mental illness is a common mechanism when dealing with stress or drastic changes. Many people are not as exposed with people who have mental disorders. This movie brings in two extremely different people, but they find themselves falling for each other despite their extra baggage. Tiffany has a heavy baggage she is carrying around. She could not accept the fact that Tommy left her suddenly. Although Tiffany’s character seems odd and dysfunctional, this movie portrays Tiffany, as a woman and a person, trying to move on. This film accurately portrays this disorder. There are some Hollywood viewpoints of mental illness, but this movie accurately portrays Tiffany as someone with borderline personality disorder. She shows many signs of borderline personality disorder symptoms. Many viewers can sense that areas in her life are dysfunctional and not
In 1978, Susan Sheehan took an interest in Sylvia Frumkin, a schizophrenic who spent most of her life in and out of mental hospitals. For more than two years, Sheehan followed Sylvia around, observing when Sylvia talked to herself, sitting in on sessions with Sylvia’s doctors, and at times, sleeping in the same bed as Sylvia during her stay at the psychiatric centers. Through Sheehan’s intensive report on Sylvia’s life, readers are able to obtain useful information on what it’s like to live with this disorder, how impairing it can be for them, and the symptoms and causes to look out for; likewise, readers can get an inside look of how some mental hospitals are run and how a misdiagnosis can negatively impact someone’s life.
However, these thoughts are not always true all the time. Sometimes Hollywood makes films to show the audience the truth contained in the movie. In the movie “Girl, Interrupted,” the filmmakers have balanced the grim realism of the book with audience-pleasing elements of entertainment in order to make the film more comfortable. The graphic representation of mental illness makes audiences feel its realities, while the use of attractive actresses captures the attention of the audiences and makes it easier to relate to the story.
The two texts emphasized in this essay include Elyn R. Saks’ The Center Cannot Hold : My Journey Through Madness and Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With A Thousand Faces. “There were many days when I believed I was nothing more than the Lady of Charts - a crazy woman who’d faked her way into a teaching job and would soon be discovered for what she really was and put where she really belonged - in a mental hospital” (Saks 263). Saks entire life was a struggle because of the mental illness she had since a young age, schizophrenia. Most of her younger years were lived being misunderstood by her parents and peers alike. She turned to options like substance abuse and self harm to cope with her deteriorating situation in life. There came a point where she realized that she was better than her illness and was able to overcome it with the help and guidance of a few mentors. Now, Saks is a very successful assistant dean, as well as a professor of law, psychology, psychiatry, and behavioral sciences at the University of Southern California Gould Law School. Saks also went on to receive the award for MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and write her book. Joseph Campbell was also very successful in the same way because he wrote a book that is very complex and still relevant in this day and age. Campbell made the mold and Saks’ life fits it
...f the bad that is going on in her real life, so she would have a happy place to live. With the collapse of her happy place her defense was gone and she had no protection from her insanity anymore. This caused all of her blocked out thoughts to swarm her mind and turn her completely insane. When the doctor found her, he tried to go in and help her. When the doctor finally got in he fainted because he had made so many positive changes with her and was utterly distressed when he found out that it was all for naught. This woman had made a safety net within her mind so that she would not have to deal with the reality of being in an insane asylum, but in the end everything failed and it seems that what she had been protecting herself from finally conquered her. She was then forced to succumb to her breakdown and realize that she was in the insane asylum for the long run.
The TV series Orphan Black revolves around a group of women who discover that they are clones and try to solve the mystery of their origin.
Self-destructive behaviors are also very common in individuals with Borderline personality disorder. Susanna validates this trait by her lack of motivation, conversations about suicide, and her suicide For example; Lisa, the diagnosed sociopath, displays very little empathy for those around her. This is made clear when she sees Daisy’s post suicide body and is not saddened whatsoever. Another accurate portrayal is the patient with anorexia nervosa Janet. Janet refuses to eat, is in denial about her condition, is emotionally labile, and is always exercising.
It tells the story of a person, family and community in which individuals suffer from mental disorders much the same way as people do in the real world. Not only did I find this movie quite accurate concerning mental illness but I also established some important messages concerning mental illness in today’s society. The film takes into account that mental illness is a part of society and overall has a positive outlook on it. Their illnesses don 't define their identities nor are they even the main point of the story. In coming together, the characters find the mutual support that enables them to approach their struggles and redirect their lives in a more positive direction. To some degree, this film addresses stigma and the fact that persons with mental illness should be allowed to participate in society over being kept in a hospital, in other words, it gives
This psychological disorder known as borderline personality disorder is not entirely portrayed within the very beginning of the movie. Displayed is a young woman at the age of eighteen with a strange life style where she considered all types of sex as casual. Her gradation day is shown where she has actually fallen asleep. As regards to that sleepiness, depicted is Susanna Keysen’s little to no interest in what is generally traditional of society. Including her parents friends that she meets at a party her mother throws, it is shown that Susanna has been having casual sex with the husband of her mothers friend, she also views those people the same way as she does the graduation award giving. Due to all of the happenings around her, Susanna comes to the rash conclusion of committing suicide. However, she does not partake in anything gruesome such as extreme slitting of the ...
She is a talented and famous Folk singer and writer who traveled across the country on tours doing what she enjoyed. The movie also featured interviews with psychologists, authors, teachers and neuroscientists who are all working towards impacting the field positively. During several conversations with peers, I repeatedly stated my interest in finding out how the brain of individuals living with a mental illness functions and also how challenging it is for the individual(s) to operate. The movie provided me with such an experience. Shame, pride, and an unwillingness to accept having a mental illness or asking for and/ or accepting help are some factors
In the end, no matter what may be said about me, I know that I am some what of an abstract project. I continue to grow everyday and discover new factors that define me. I know what I stand for. I love myself, and the people around me. They don't create me, or make me who I am, but they do help be define myself