Analysis of Psychopathology in ‘Girl, Interrupted’ Film PDF

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Based on the film "Girl, Interrupted" the paper discusses psychological disorders of the main character...

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1 Running Head: ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

Analysis of Psychopathology in ‘Girl, Interrupted’ Film Student name Instructor Course Date

2 ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY Abstract A borderline personality disorder is characterized by symptoms such as impulsiveness, poor empathy, intense volatile or unstable relationships and extreme emotional reaction, among others. The paper uses the film ‘Girl, Interrupted’ directed by James Mangold. The discussion centers on the protagonist’s character and behavior, which led to her being diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder. Mangold managed to reveal psychopathology of this disorder and therefore made it easier for the audience to understand its symptoms and appropriate treatment intervention. Although the film has several pros, it is also characterized by some limitations which rendered it to convey an unequal message to the audience. For instance, the film addresses several mental disorders among them, including borderline personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, psychopathy, schizophrenic, and pathological lying. This makes it difficult for the audience to concentrate on the psychopathology of a single disorder. Despite this being the case, the paper concludes that the content presented by Mangold is a gem in the treatment of psychopathology of ‘Girl, Interrupted’ film. Introduction Today, literary works and films are common media platforms used to describe and explain psychopathology. They create a meaningful platform that allows the audience to understand the psychopathology of some disorders. In this paper, the film ‘Girl, Interrupted’ is used. The film is a 1999 psychological film directed by James Mangold. It is based on a protagonist, Susanna Kaysen’s memoir during her stay at a psychiatric hospital, Claymoore. Kaysen is diagnosed by borderline personality disorder (BPD) based on symptoms such as experiencing unstable relationships, reduced empathy, increased attempt to become socially

3 ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY visible, extreme emotional reactions, and impulsiveness, among others. It is necessary to note that BPD is not the only mental disorder in the film. Other assisting characters present at the mental health institution are characterized by some psychiatric disorders such as obsessivecompulsive disorder, psychopathy, schizophrenic, and pathological lying. Despite this being the case, the paper focuses on BPD and describes its psychopathology based on what is presented by James Mangold. Since Kaysen is the protagonist, the attention is given to BPD. The content of the film is essential in the treatment of psychopathology mentioned. Description of Psychopathology At Claymoore psychiatrist hospital, Susanna Kaysen was diagnosed by BPD. Brüne (2016) defines BPD as “a psychiatric syndrome that is characterized by emotion dysregulation, impulsivity, risk-taking behavior, irritability, feelings of emptiness, self-injury and fear of abandonment, as well as unstable interpersonal relationships.” The diagnosis followed several symptoms, including suicidal attempts, extremely emotionally reactive, impulsive, and many others. According to Bhome and Fridrich (2015), BPD is characterized by unfortunate interpersonal friendships, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, impulsiveness, and mood instability. In the film, Susanna portrayed impulsiveness on several occasions. First, on the same day, Susanna committed sexual adultery with four different people, including the security guard, husband of her mother’s friend and other two minor characters. Reckless sexual behavior indicated that she was mentally ill. This behavior is not normal unless the person is mentallyaffected. Another example of impulsivity is derived from the fact that Susanna managed to steal her medical record and ran away from the mental institution. Sebastian, Jacob, Lieb, and Tüscher (2013) noted that impulsive behavior is a trait of BPD. Individuals with impulsive behaviors are more likely to engage in activities that are out of their control.

4 ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY BPD is also defined in terms of the seriousness of unstable relationships. In the film, Susanna has intense and unpredictable relationships with others and particularly Lisa Rowe. In most cases, the relationship between the two varied between being good or bad. Moreover, Susanna could not experience conflicting feelings when relating to other characters. Oldham et al. (2010) clarified that people with BPD tend to exhibit a pervasive sequence of the instability of interpersonal relationships. The uncertainty of their relationships correlates with an unstable sense of identity and awareness problems. That is, BPD patients are less likely to show empathy and accommodate the feelings of other people. Actually, this was the case with Susanna’s behavior, and it proved more robust for her to appreciate and accommodate others. It is worth noting that the experiences of unstable relationships are threats to the well-being of the patients. Further, individuals with BPD are characterized by self-harm and suicidal thoughts. As a mental disorder, Selby and Yen (2014) believed that self-harm and suicidal ideas are common characteristics of individuals infected. The study focused on adolescents with BPD because they constitute a population that is at high risk of suicidal ideation. The findings revealed that suicidal ideation tends to decrease quickly after hospitalization. Although this explanation holds some truth, it cannot be applied in the Susanna case, because the change followed the demise of one of the patients and close friend at the mental institution. Accordingly, Soloff and Chiappetta, L. (2012) reported that about 10% of patients with the borderline disorder are reported to die by suicide. Thus, it can be concluded that people with mental disorders are at risk of committing suicide. In the film, Susanna attempted to commit suicide by consuming a cocktail of aspirin and vodka. It is good that she was sent to a psychiatric hospital at the right time before the severe consequences of BPD could catch with him.

5 ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY Finally, people with BPD tend to show a significant variation in mood changes. That is, their well-being is greatly affected by mood instability. For instance, at a particular moment, a person with BPD may seem happy and friendly, but this could change in a blink of a second, making the person develop hostility to others. Susanna’s relationship with other characters in the health facility was unpredictable due to her continued mood swings. Also, mood instability can be associated with other symptoms such as unstable relationship, self-harm, and impulsiveness due to its intense factor. The change in mood is a mental process which has an adverse effect on the psychological well-being of a person with BPD. According to Salters-Pedneault (2018), mood swings might be healthy, but it becomes more intense among people with BPD. Belli, Ural, and Akbudak (2012) added that BPD is underlined by mood swings believed to be a threat to human health, and therefore introducing mood stabilizers and antipsychotics is essential in the treatment process. In summary, this section has discussed BPD regarding the character of Susanna. Description of Scenes Symptoms of BPD can be identified in several films. First, after graduating from high school, Susanna attempts to commit suicide. At this point, the audience is yet to know the exact cause of trying to commit suicide based on the fact that the protagonist is a daughter of profound patients in the region. Susanna seems to be unaware of what could have made her attempt suicide. For instance, during the session with her doctor, Dr. Melvin, she openly denied when told that she was feeling depressed and wanted to commit suicide. Also, when the doctor talks about time jumps, she thinks that all those are just unnecessary allegations. To the audience, it is no doubt that Susanna is depressed and could commit suicide when given a chance. Evidently, what is true to the audience, and the doctor is just allegations based on Susanna’s thoughts.

6 ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY Another great scene is when Susanna is talking to her friend Toby and asks her to kill herself. Susanna does not show any empathy for Toby. As noted earlier, a person with BPD is less likely to feel what the other person could be feeling at a particular time. Apparently, this was the same case with Susanna. During Susanna’s earlier stay at Claymoore psychiatric hospital, she never felt sorry for anybody. Consequently, Susanna in several scenes at the hospital revealed that she was not insane and instead referred so to other characters. In one of the scenes, Susanna tells Lisa that Daisy was insane. The psychopathological description provided in the above section reveals that a person with BPD is less likely to appreciate the fact that he or she is also disturbed mentally. In these scenes, massive mood swings approve a lack of empathy and ability to regulate emotions. This, however, changed following the death of Daisy. Finally, Susanna portrayed unstable relationships with other patients at the hospital. For instance, in one scene, Susanna could weakly engage in any mutual communication with Lisa, and in another scene, she is close to Lisa and even willing to absorb and use her ideas. In a scene involving interaction between Susanna and Lisa, Lisa convinces her that she should not agree or get swayed by doctor’s remarks. At this point, Susanna and Lisa were great friends, and the latter was willing to take Susanna’s advice and despise his doctor. Without any reluctance, during Dr. Melvin’s session with Susanna, Susanna refused to accept any allegations about her health state. Lastly, Susanna behavior replicates impulsivity, which is a core symptom of BPD. Mangold (1999) portrays Susanna as female character acting out of her consciousness. She engaged in reckless sexual behavior with four people who included the security guard, husband of her mother’s friend and other two people on the same day. Positive and Negative Messages

7 ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY The film conveys a clear message about the psychopathology of BPD. Although it can be said that the message is conveyed positively, the film is also associated with some shortcomings which rendered sending the message adequately. Therefore, in this section, a discussion of positive and negative messages as presented in the film is attained. First, in terms of positive message, Mangold (1999) significantly tried to display symptoms of the disorder using Susanna character in and out of the mental institution. The film reveals that the protagonist attempted to commit suicide before she was admitted at the psychiatric hospital where she is diagnosed with BPD. Other behaviors such as engaging in reckless sexual behavior, massive mood swings, and increased experiences of time jumps contribute to the diagnosis of the disorder. Research findings of the study conducted by Leichsenring et al. (2011) indicate that BPD is characterized by a high risk of suicide and severe functional impairments, which are evident in the film. Thus, the psychopathology of the film contributes to an improved understanding and treatment of the disorder. In the film, the director revealed that it is necessary to introduce a place where patients from a healthcare institution could go to facilitate easy adjustment back into society. Patients with BPD should not just be released anyhow to the community because of the likelihood of going back to their previous state. However, in this halfway home, healthcare providers are expected to create good contact with patients. For instance, Daisy committed suicide in halfway home. It is possible to link Daisy’s death with the communication experience between psychiatrists and patients. Caputo (2014) noted that communication is an essential element of the recovery process among patients in a halfway house. The author added that poor communication could lead to devastating feedbacks such as suicidal attempts, feeling of going berserk. “With a vertical communication structure that strictly prohibits lateral communication, critical decisions

8 ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY about residents’ care and treatment are often made away from them and without their participation” (Caputo, 2014: 64). Therefore, the film presented a positive message of what should be happening in halfway homes to ease patients’ adjustment back to society. Further, Mangold (1999) disclosed that the availability of hospital staff that is far more in control and attentive to the patients’ healthcare needs is vital to the well-being of patients. The audience becomes aware that each patient is allocated a psychiatric whose responsibility is to ensure the patient is recuperating fairly. An individual setting at the hospital allows patients and therapist to interact, something which helps the therapist to achieve the ultimate goal of providing help to the patient to successfully reintegrate with society. Babić et al. (2013) disclosed that communication between physical therapists and patients aid the recovery process. Although this is not attained entirely based on the fact that mentally-ill patients are given more space to work and interact freely. For instance, the freedom these patients are provided at the mental hospital makes Lisa convince Susanna that it was not essential to take medication but instead should develop a strategy to run away from the institution. In regards to negative messages, Mangold (1999) script did not involve proper mechanisms to address BPD. The audience notices that Susanna treatment intervention follows the suicide of Daisy. Perhaps the audience would want to imagine the role played by healthcare providers at the mental institution to acknowledge factors that might have contributed to Susanna’s change and focus on recovery. The point is that the audience might have expected the film to define the efficacy of a particular treatment method of BPD. However, that did not happen, but Daisy’s suicide changed everything and made BPD patient focus on the road to recovery. Of course, the death of a character in the hospital indicates that there was still a gap between patients and psychiatrist. On the other hand, although the death of Daisy could be

9 ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY received negatively by the audience, it is essential to recognize its importance towards Susanna’s road to recovery. Characterization Mangold (1999) covered psychopathology of BPD, and the accuracy of symptoms is worth regarding as far as treatment interventions are assumed. First, the audience learns that psychiatrist diagnosed Susanna with BPD following her behaviors and particularly suicidal behaviors. Koweszko et al. (2017) noted that the disorder is highly characterized by suicidal behaviors and hence the need for crisis intervention. Suicidal thoughts are dangerous to human safety. They push a patient to end limits, thereby accelerating self-harm. Therefore, it is necessary to take immediate treatment intervention steps before suicidal behaviors assume the control of the patient. In the film, Susanna’s parents placed her in a private psychiatrist hospital for better services. The need for better healthcare services to tame the disorder, and its effect is what is considered to be immediate crisis intervention. The film prepares the audience by disclosing ways that can be used to address BPD in the case its symptoms are availed. Consequently, the theory of BPD is upheld in several scenes of the film. For example, in one of the flashbacks, Susanna discloses to the audience that she was once very disengaged at the event which she attended together with her parents. During the party, she ended up having sex with one of the male attendees who was a close family friend. In addition, the flashback reveals that Susanna’s feeling of isolation in social interaction is linked to her mother’s disengagement. These instances reflect signs and symptoms of BPD patient. Susanna’s mother disengagement is an excellent example of a situational trigger of the disorder (Miskewicz et al., 2015). It can be contended that the director wanted to use this film to convey the message to the audience that

10 ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY BPD can come in different forms and therefore it could be necessary to carry out diagnosis whenever a person is suspected of having associated symptoms. Finally, although the film tried to represent psychopathology of BPD accurately, several limitations could be noticed. In the film, the doctor assigned to Susanna's health condition suggested that BPD is more common in the female population than the male population. This might not be true based on the empirical evidence provided by Brüne (2016). In the study, the author noted that the disorder is common in both psychiatrist population and the general community. Thus, it means that the general population is at risk of BPD and hence the need for routine diagnosis. Holding on Susanna's doctor assertion, the community might be at risk of the repercussions of allowing symptoms of BPD to develop fully. Another limitation of the film is that it uses the death of a character to create an impact on Susanna. Truly, this might fail to apply in the real world where people are looking for appropriate strategies to reduce suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Conclusion In the film, the protagonist is diagnosed with BPD. Common symptoms associated with this disorder include the character’s experience of unstable relationships, reduced empathy, increased attempt to become socially visible, extreme emotional reactions, and impulsiveness. Kaysen experiences many hard times in a mental institution, thereby creating a vivid picture of the pervasiveness of BPD. According to the film, the disorder is associated with biological, psychological, and sociocultural causes and hence the need for intensive attention from the healthcare provider. Further, it can be concluded that the film played a significant role in describing the pathology of BDP and how it can be addressed. Based on the scenes, the positive

11 ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY message is rooted in the fact that clear and vivid psychopathology is described and hence making it easier for the audience to follow and assume the best intervention to address the disorder. The negative message portrayed by the film is that it fails to describe appropriate treatment interventions based on the potential causes. Thus, it is quite difficult for the audience to ascertain the best strategy in curbing BPD. In general, the film provides a great platform that informs the audience about several mental health disorders and more so BPD thereby making it easier to understand symptoms associated with it for early treatment.

12 ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY References Babić, S., Drašinac, I., Muftić, M., & Smajović, M. (2013). Importance of communication of physiotherapists working with patients with Alzheimer disease. Belli, H., Ural, C., & Akbudak, M. (2012). Borderline personality disorder: bipolarity, mood stabilizers and atypical antipsychotics in treatment. Journal of clinical medicine research, 4(5), 301. Bhome, R., & Fridrich, P. (2015). Borderline personality disorder. British journal of hospital medicine, 76(1), C14-C16. Brüne, M. (2016). Borderline Personality Disorder: Why ‘fast and furious’?. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, 2016(1), 52. Caputo, G. A. (2014). A halfway house for women: Oppression and resistance. Northeastern University Press. Koweszko, T., Gierus, J., Więdłocha, M., Mosiołek, A., & Szulc, A. (2017). An introduction to the model of crisis intervention procedure for borderline patients (CIP-BP): a case study. Archives of psychiatric nursing, 31(3), 324-328. Leichsenring, F., Leibing, E., Kruse, J., New, A. S., & Leweke, F. (2011). Borderline personality disorder. The Lancet, 377(9759), 74-84. Mangold, J. (1999). Girl, Interrupted [Film]. USA.

13 ANALYSIS OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY Miskewicz, K., Fleeson, W., Arnold, E. M., Law, M. K., Mneimne, M., & Furr, R. M. (2015). A contingency-oriented approach to understanding borderline personality disorder: Situational triggers and symptoms. Journal of person...