Borderline Personality Disorder in "Girl Interrupted"

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the book, "Girl, Interrupted," which is the autobiographical account of Susanna Kaysen?s life just after her graduation from high school in the late 1960s. The movie, is an adaptation of the book. The author reviews both works, which deal with a woman with borderline personality disorder, one of the most common, and misdiagnosed types of mental illness facing women.

From the paper:

"Another anecdote from the book that meets the DSM-IV criteria for diagnosis of borderline personality disorder is Susanna?s dissociative episode. One day while simply sitting in a chair in the common room at the hospital, Susanna had the random notion that she had no bones in her hand. Susanna instantly, and for no apparent reason, became completely convinced that there were no bones in her hand. She was thus immensely disturbed and resolved to bite down on her hand until it bled in an attempt to get all the way down to the bone. Susanna felt as though she must see her bones to know that they are there and she refused to take anyone?s word for it. This psychotic episode seems as though it may also be tied to a feeling of emptiness."

More papers on Borderline Personality Disorder in "Girl Interrupted":

• Book Review # 48743 : "Girl, Interrupted"
• Case Study # 98121 : "A Psychological Case Formulation"
• Research Paper # 91952 : "Borderline Personality Disorder "

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: