Girl Interupted

Girl, Interrupted

Girl, Interrupted is an autobiographical book written by Susana Kaysen which was turned in to a movie. Susana Kaysen expressed promiscuous behavior earlier in her life and was sent to the Claymore Mental Hospital to be analyzed. Throughout her development at Claymore, Susana formed bonds with a group of girls she would have never met until she was sent to Claymore. Claymore Hospital allowed these girls to become so close, and without this experience Susana would not be the girl she has turned out to be. These girls had a special friendship that caused each and every one of them to pull together and make it through there time spent at Claymore. (Wikipedia 2)

Each girl at Claymore has their problems, and most of their problems are very different from the next patient. This makes the atmosphere of Claymore a very strange and unpredictable place. The nurses and doctors at Claymore are very nice and attentive of all the patients. One nurse in particular plays a major role in the movie, Val who becomes quite close with a few of the girls. She always makes sure the girls have what they need to make them feel more comfortable in the hospital.

The group of girls Susana becomes closest to consists of Lisa, “the rebellious one,” Daisy, “the daddy’s little girl,” and Torch “the follower”. Each girl contributes something special and unique to their friendships. While Lisa is always acting out, then running away and coming back she is still looked at as the “ring leader” of the group. All of the girls look up to Lisa; they ask her for guidance because she has attended Claymore the longest. Torch was admitted into Claymore because when she was eight years old she decided she wanted to catch herself on fire. She suffered major burns which caused her to be considered an outcast and she started to withdraw from society. While she attended Claymore she became a follower of all the girls, always following their examples, believing anything they had to say, doing anything the other girls asked her to do. Daisy is “daddy’s little girl”, always gets her way in every situation and if she doesn’t she throws a fit. Daisy is in Claymore because of an eating disorder as well as obsessive compulsive behaviors. Her father makes sure that Daisy is treated “special”. She has her own room which none of the other girls have, and Daisy is brought chicken from home every week which the other girls are not allowed to have. With Daisy’s special treatment the other girls tend to look down on her and not like her as much. Susana is the newest addition to Claymore. Susana is given a room assignment and her roommate takes it upon herself to make sure Susana knows that the last girl in her room hung herself. Susana is freaked out to say in the least, and has a hard time trying to understand how these girls live in this horrible place. (Kaysen 15-40)

Each girl is assigned to a psychiatrist that will listen to their stories and problems; he also determines if the girl should be allowed to take any medications. After the doctor had his opportunities to sit down and talk with Susana, he came to the conclusion that she should be diagnosed with Borderline Personality disorder. Borderline Personality Disorder is a disease that affects emotional instability of the patient and their self-image (BDP 1).

Susana was sent into Claymore Hospital because she has shown promiscuous relationships with her boyfriend, and has attempted suicide. She tried to take a whole bottle of aspirin and chased it with a bottle of vodka, when the psychiatrist asked why she tried to commit suicide she said “I didn’t, I just had a really bad headache that is why I took the aspirin (Kaysen 17).”

Many close bonds are formed while attending the Claymore Mental Hospital. I think each girl having a different disease or problem brings them closer, they have something to talk about. The girls tell stories to each other about their past life, and why they were admitted to Claymore. One night the girls decide it would be a fun idea to sneak out after they are put to bed. They want to head down to the psychiatrists office and read the file he has kept on each and every girl at Claymore. This experience is when the girls form their closest bond with the others, they need to work together to sneak past all the nurses and down to the basement where his office is. When they arrive at the office Lisa opens the file cabinet and calls out each of the girls names, forcefully hands them their file and says “read it dammit then we will switch” (Faber). The girls sit there in silence for a bit, reading their file, realizing they all have an actual “problem or two”. Susana reads her file and immediately runs to the book case to read about her disease, Borderline Personality Disease. She tears through the pages of the doctor’s