GIRL INTERRUPTED By Ashley Ferrer SUMMARY Girl Interrupted

GIRL, INTERRUPTED By Ashley Ferrer

SUMMARY Girl, Interrupted, covers the time of when Susanna Kaysen was admitted to Mc. Lean Hospital, in Belmont, Massachusetts after attempting suicide by overdosing on pills when she was 18 -yearsold. She was meant to stay in the hospital for a few weeks, but ends up staying for 2 years. In her memoir she mentions her experiences of being a mental patient and mentions the people who shaped those experiences. She reflects on her diagnosis and makes sense of the experiences she has gone through during those times.

MAJOR CHARACTERS ■ Susanna Kaysen (Author/Narrator/Protagonist) - She attempted suicide by swallowing 50 aspirin in 1966, then was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder in 1967. ■ Lisa – Kaysen's fellow patient and the leader of the girls in their ward. She is proud of her diagnosis as a sociopath and is often escaping from the hospital. ■ Georgina – Diagnosed with schizophrenia and is both good friends and roommates with Kaysen. She has a boyfriend named Wade in the hospital. ■ Polly – A kind patient with disfiguring, self-inflicted burns from gasoline all over her. Kaysen describes her as the only patient trapped forever by the consequences of her illness (schizophrenia and depression). ■ Valerie – The head nurse of the ward. She can be strict but is generally liked by all of the patients, including Kaysen due to her honesty and how she doesn't use psychiatric terms.

THEMES ■ Mental Illness vs. Individuality - Blurry line between sane and mentally ill, normal and deviant - Kaysen's examining of her diagnosis of borderline personally line by line and wonders if every teenager has the same behaviors as her ■ Freedom vs. Captivity - Ward is organized to keep all patients exposed to the staff - Nurses do checks on each patient at frequent intervals, which makes every room except for one open to "public" - Seclusion room is seen as "freedom" room ■ Limited Choises Available to Women (SEXISM) - Kaysen faced sexism in her typing job at Harvard. The supervisory staff consisted entirely of men, while the typing staff were all women. She is forced to obey a strict dress code and the rule that women can only smoke on break in washrooms. - Sexism appears in Kaysen's diagnosis of borderline personality disorder due to the symptoms being almost universally identified in women.

REASONS WHY SUSANNA KAYSEN WROTE GIRL, INTERRUPTED ■ She wanted people to know what it was like to be a patient at a psychiatric facility. ■ To have the reader question their own mental health and sanity ■ To make sense of why she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital when she felt sane and okay ■ Reflect on the experiences she's gone through while in the hospital and the people she's met

ISSUE RAISED IN GIRL, INTERRUPTED An issue that was raised in "Girl, Interrupted" was the stigma of mental illness. § An example of this is when Susanna and her other fellow patients, along with some nurses went to get ice cream down the road from the hospital. People knew where they came from and gave them dirty looks and judged them from their mental illness.

AFFECTS OF THE ISSUE ON THE WRITER The stigma that was attached to mental illnesses at the time caused a huge impact on Susanna Kaysen. § Her family never directly interacted with her anymore while she was in the hospital due to her illness § The stigma caused difficulty for getting a job § She's seen as crazy person which makes no one want to get involved with her (affect the way people viewed her) § The mental illness stigma, made her see more positively toward those with mental illness

HOW DOES THE ISSUE AFFECT THE SOCIETY? ■ People that do have mental illness are afraid to get help because of the stigma ■ Reduces the self-esteem and worsens the mental illness of a person ■ People with mental illness may feel excluded from society because of their mental illness ■ Causes people to be ignorant of those with mental illnesses ■ Stops and limits people with mental illnesses to continue on and live their life

SOCIETY'S RESPONSE TO THE ISSUE Society is trying to get rid of the negative stigma and stereotypes that go along with people who have mental illness. § Most of society is trying to become more accepting of those with mental illnesses to take away the stigma § There's more open conversations about mental illnesses to help those with the illnesses and help stop the stigma § Unfortunately there are still a few groups of people who are prejudiced and endorse the stigma and negative stereotypes of mental illness § People are raising awareness and educating people more about mental health issue to stop the stigma

PERSONAL OPINION ON GIRL, INTERRUPTED In my opinion, I thought this book was very well written. I enjoyed this book a lot and I almost cried at one part. Any person is able to find a connection to the main character and the other characters in the book. While reading the book, it made me raise a lot of questions, as well as answered questions. This book alters and helps give a person their own definition of sane and insanity, mental illness and recovery. I definitely recommend this memoir to any teenager, any person who is able to understand advanced talks of mental health or any person who just wants to read about mental health.

Bibliography ■ http: //ontario. cmha. ca/mental-healthconditions/stigma-and-discrimination/ ■ https: //www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pmc/articles/PMC 1489 832/ ■ http: //www. cmha. ca/mental-health/understandingmental-illness/ ■ https: //crumpledpapercranes. com/2014/12/29/ment al-illness-treatment-and-stigma-in-girl-interrupted/ ■ http: //www. mentalhealth. wa. gov. au/mental_illness_ and_health/mh_stigma. aspx