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1.The “My Diagnosis” chapter of Girl Interrupted (150-164) examines Susanna Kaysen’s hospital file that stated she had Borderline Personality. On page 151 she writes: “What does borderline personality mean, anyhow?” The DSM has lots of neat categories for all sorts of mental conditions but I feel that human beings are much more complex than a list of definitive signals that result in being “labeled” with one disorder or another. What about overlapping conditions? How do you feel about Susanna’s lengthy hospitalization? Was it warranted or an overreaction to the emotional struggles of a sensitive and intelligent young woman who felt lost and trapped by her circumstances?
2.Kaysen mulls over the chaos going on in her mind in the chapter called Velocity vs. Viscosity (75-78). I found the last line of this chapter particularly moving. Susanna is wondering what the catalyst to her next depressive episode will be and she says: Endogenous (internal) or exogenous (external), nature or nurture – it’s the great mystery of mental illness. So, in your opinion, what causes some people to succumb to depression and sometimes even give in to the suicidal impulse and others to simply cope with all kinds of suffering and come out unscathed?
Submitted by Bonnie Akkerman I pledge…