...Alexis Marques PSC 168 Extra Credit In Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen, the book starts out in the year of 1967 and introduces an eighteen year old Susanna Kaysen who is in session with a doctor she never seen before; who tells her she has a “pimple and that she has been picking at it.” (pg 7) He then asked her if she has been picking at herself in general and Susanna nods (she agrees to anything that the doctor asks her). The doctor repeats that she has been picking herself and then says “you need a rest.” (pg 7) Before Susanna knows it the doctor makes a call, a taxi comes and he tells the driver to take her to McLean Hospital. Once at McLean, Susanna introduces a girl name Polly who had set herself on fire at one point, and that she was never unhappy, she was kind and comforting and never complained. Susanna describes Polly’s suicide attempt as one having courage and being dangerous at the same time. She compares danger and defeat to when one puts a gun in their mouth and is not able to pull the trigger, which is expressed in this quote: “But you put it there, you taste it, it’s cold and greasy, your finger is on the trigger, and you find that a whole world lies between this moment and the moment you’ve been planning, when you’ll pull the trigger. That world defeats you. You put the gun back in the drawer. You’ll have to find another way.”(pg 17) Susanna then reavles her suicide attempt, which she swallowed fifty aspirins and then went outside and fainted , while...
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...either a form of Bipolar disorder or a type of Personality disorder whether it is for dramatic purposes or to engage the viewer into the mindset of a psychological thriller. Whatever their reasoning, more often than not, the portrayal is inaccurate. There is however a film that I have chosen that borderlines accuracy to a degree. Girl Interrupted is based on the memoirs of an actual person who was diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder. Although an adaption of her biography with the usual artistic liberties, it can be used as a case study in the theory of psychology. I intend to show the similarities between borderline personality disorder verses bipolar disorder. Susanna Kaysen, with whom the movie was based, was diagnosed as borderline back in 1967, if she were seen today by a mental health professional, would she now be considered bipolar? Borderline Personality Disorder or Bipolar Disorder Susanna Kayson was a young woman who was admitted into Mclean hospital at age 18 after a suicide attempt. A movie called Girl Interrupted was made chronicling her stay at this hospital. There she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. In the movie although they portrayed some of her symptoms accurately, it focused more on her friendship and experiences with other patients instead of her in particular. Today I am sure her diagnosis would have learned more toward a bipolar disorder rather than as someone suffering from a borderline personality disorder which is why...
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...Section 1: Borderline personality disorder is a serious mental illness marked by unstable moods, behavior, and relationships. Because some people with severe borderline personality disorder have brief psychotic episodes, experts originally thought of this illness as atypical, or borderline, versions of other mental disorders. While mental health experts now generally agree that the name "borderline personality disorder" is misleading, a more accurate term does not exist yet. The symptoms of borderline disorder were first described in the medical literature over 3000 years ago. The disorder has gained increasing visibility over the past three decades. The full spectrum of symptoms of borderline disorder typically first appears in the teenage years and early twenties. Although some children with significant behavioral disturbances may develop readily diagnosable borderline disorder as they get older, it is very difficult to make the diagnosis in children. It is estimated that more than 14 million American adults, distributed equally between men and women, have borderline personality disorder. It is more common than schizophrenia or bipolar disorder: an estimated 11% of outpatients, 20% of psychiatric inpatients and 6% of primary care visits meet the criteria for the disorder. Obtaining an accurate diagnosis can be difficult. As ,ost patients with bipolar disorder go years before receiving an appropriate diagnosis and starting mood stabilizers[1] As with all personality disorders...
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...Journal of Applied Philosophy,Suicide Intervention and Non-Ideal Kantian Theory Vol. 19, No. 3, 2002 245 Suicide Intervention and Non-Ideal Kantian Theory MICHAEL J. CHOLBI Philosophical discussions of the morality of suicide have tended to focus on its justifiability from an agent’s point of view rather than on the justifiability of attempts by others to intervene so as to prevent it. This paper addresses questions of suicide intervention within a broadly Kantian perspective. In such a perspective, a chief task is to determine the motives underlying most suicidal behaviour. Kant wrongly characterizes this motive as one of self-love or the pursuit of happiness. Psychiatric and scientific evidence suggests that suicide is instead motivated by a nihilistic disenchantment with the possibility of happiness which, at its apex, results in the loss of the individual’s conception of her practical identity. Because of this, methods of intervention that appeal to agents’ happiness, while morally benign, will prove ineffective in forestalling suicide. At the same time, more aggressive methods violate the Kantian concern for autonomy. This apparent dilemma can be resolved by seeing suicide intervention as an action undertaken in non-ideal circumstances, where otherwise unjustified manipulation, coercion, or paternalism are morally permitted. 1. The chances are good that each of us will some day confront a person close to us contemplating suicide. Every year...
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