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How the media depicts mental illness
Analyzing girl interrupted
Analyzing girl interrupted
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The 1999 film girl, interrupted is a non-stop talked about and outstanding representation of mental illness. The story follows 18-year-old Susanna Kaysen who is going through troubled times after graduating high school. The beginning showcases her attempt at killing herself which she states is unintentional she simply “was trying to make the shit stop”. The quote relates to many viewers regardless mental illness or not; sometimes the only way to get rid of something on the inside is harmful and cruel methods. In addition sometimes the traumas we have experienced counteract with how we perceive future situations the actions we make, which what we see with the main character Susanna and the supporting characters Lisa and Valerie. In the early …show more content…
Once she does accept it, her recovery begins; she finally realises the only way she can get better and out of the institute is to embrace what she has being given and realises that “crazy isn’t being broken or swallowing a dark secret. It’s you or me.. Amplified.” At the end of the film she ultimately has her final days at claymore and moves on to bigger and better things. Susanna’s time at claymore was just simply an interruption not her whole …show more content…
Lisa is sociopath as discovered in early portion of the movie; she is cruelly truthful from her having no sense of filter or remorse for the words or actions she says or does to people. Lisa feels as she is free can do whatever she wants because that's what mentally ill people are expected to be like according to the stigma around the subject; her words going even so far as to make one of the girls commit suicide. As free and alive as Lisa feels however, the very truth is that she really isn’t. She is stuck in claymore forever because she refuses to get better. By her refusal of getting better she is a basketcase, that people have just stopped caring about without her knowing. She feels powerful but everytime she runs away she knows she’s going to come back; Lisa refers to claymore as her “home”, the institute gives her a sense of security. However deep inside she knows that the others around her could possibly get better and leave her, therefore scaring her into being manipulative. Furthermore she then proceeds to ensure that everyone stops there process in getting better and released; she stops everyone from taking the pills that they’re meant to take and forces them to remain in a void with her and knowing to praise her for
Released in 1996, Sling Blade is a movie that focuses on mental illness. The movies follows the main character, Karl as he is released from a mental hospital. Karl was first admitted to the mental hospital because she killed his mother and her significant other when he was very young. He spent his whole life at the mental hospital. Years later, the mental hospital decided that he was cured and he was free to leave. After Karl is released he is given a job and a place to stay. He also befriends a young boy named Frank. Frank and Karl share a special relationship. Frank’s mother, Linda allows Karl to stay in her garage. At Frank’s home, his mother’s abusive boyfriend, Doyle also lives with them. Doyle is abusive to everyone in the household
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
The film Mean Girls tells the story of sixteen-year-old Cady Heron and her new life as a high school student in the United States. She had previously been homeschooled due to her parents work as zoologists in Africa. Since it’s her first exposure to public school, she is a bit naïve and unaware of all the rules and customs. On her first day, she befriends Janis and Damian, who give her the rundown of different groups and personalities at North Shore High. Of all the groups, they recommend she steer clear of most dangerous one, the “Plastics” and their leader Regina George.
The movie, “Girl Interrupted,”is about a teenage girl named Susanna Kaysen who has been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. People with Borderline Personality Disorder “are often emotionally unstable, impulsive, unpredictable, irritable, and anxious. They also are prone to boredom. Their behavior is similar to that of individuals with schizotypal personality disorder but they are not as consistently withdrawn and bizarre” (Santrock, 2003). In “Girl Interrupted” Susanna Kaysen the main character, goes through many episodes that give a picture of the disorder she’s suffering from. The first such incident occurs when the psychiatrist is talks to Susanna about her failed suicide attempt. During the conversation, she is seen as confused and irritated by his presence. While the psychiatrist questions her, her mind seems to be somewhere else because she is having flash backs of her past, maybe a sign of ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). Susanna seems to be uncertain about things, she claims that she does not know what she feels. She was taken to the hospital after she tried to commit suicide, she took a bottle of aspirin. Her reason for taking the full bottle of aspirin was major headache, which was also alarming to the psychiatrist.
“HE’S GOT THE WORLD ON TWO STRINGS”(pg21). Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Ayers go through a lot since Steve met Nathaniel a homeless man whole plays the violin in downtown Los Angeles. Nathaniel is a homeless man who has paranoid schizophrenia travels downtown Los Angeles pushing his cart with his violin in it. Steve is a writer works for the Los Angeles Times and is always looking for a story for he can write for his column. Both Nathaniel and Steve create a friendship even though with all the challenges but in the book The Soloist it shows how they created a friendship. Even though in The Soloist they talk about how mental illness is a choice, force medication to treat the illness, and the way people treat you.
In the movie, Silver Linings Playbook, it all started with a man named Pat Solitano who had a mental disorder. He was recently released from a psychiatric hospital and now resides with his parents. He had lost his wife and his job and life just was not happening in his favor. His aim was to win back his wife, which happened to be quite difficult in his case. That is until he met this widowed woman named Tiffany Maxwell, who promised to help him reach out to his wife if he returned a favor and danced with her in a competition. Pat wrote letters to his wife and in turn Tiffany delivered them. We later find out that Tiffany was the one all along writing back to Pat and that she had fallen in love with him. Directly following the dance competition,
As well as Daisy, Lisa had an accurate portrayal of her diagnosis. Lisa showed most signs of having Antisocial Personality Disorder. She has a false charm as she interacts with orderlies and other patients of Claymore. She was also very aggressive towards Susanna when she found out Susanna was being released and showed no concern for her feelings as she read through her journal. In the same scene she explains how she feels as if she’s superior to Susanna.
For example, she lacks remorse or any form of sympathy or regret for her actions and sees herself as being superior to other people. Secondly, Lisa saw herself as being invincible, and at one point, Lisa and her friend Susanna described having mental illness as a gift, which allowed them to see and understand the truth.
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.
Frank Coraci’s, also known for his movies Zookeeper and Click, 1998 film, The Waterboy, stars Adam Sadler who plays the main character Bobby Boucher who suffers from a mental disorder. Bobby is an outcast due to his disability and I constantly picked on and taken advantage of by everyone in his life. This includes his mother, coaches, teachers, and his peers. This occurs up until and even after he discovers his true calling as a linebacker. He leads his team to many victories after not winning game in over 40 consecutive games and becomes loved by his whole school. Many people find this movie to be funny or even amusing, but I do due to its type of humor, the way it mocks child abuse and mental illness, and its inaccuracies.
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
Entertaining Angels The Dorothy Day Story Social problem analysis Mental Illness was a very prominent social problem in the movie Entertaining Angels. Although at times it was not named or specified, it was always an underlining issue to the homeless in this documentation. History has shown mental illness as an issue to the homeless but not necessarily a cause to it; today’s research shows otherwise. Mental illness shows more of a cause of homelessness in research conducted today.
Susana returns to the hospital and responds to treatments of depression and personality disorder. Soon after Lisa is captured and brought back to the hospital, she sneaks down to the doctor's office to read a diary to the other patients written by Susana over her recently successful progress in treatment. It sparks a major verbal argument between the patients which soon leads to Lisa having a major mental breakdown and her once proudly sociopathic disorder had spiraled out of control leading her to stab herself, although soon resisted when the staff finds them in the
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a very serious mental health condition that is brought upon by either experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. This event could be the murder of a loved one, either being the murderer, witnessing the event or even being the one who picks up the pieces for example the emergency worker, detective, or police officer. Symptoms of PTSD can be nightmares, flashbacks, and severe anxiety. When you have experienced or witnessed such a traumatic event, it is normal to have bad dreams and trouble sleeping. In the film 'shutter island' directed by Martin Scorsese the main character Edward 'teddy' Daniels suffers from PTSD after murdering his wife not long after she murdered there 3 kids.