Girl, Interrupted is an autobiographical book by Susanna Kaysen first published in 1994, that relates the author's experience of being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and admission to McLean Hospital. Susanna Kaysen is an American author born in 1948 and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... In psychiatry, borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a personality disorder characterised by extreme black and white thinking, mood swings, emotional reasoning, disrupted relationships and difficulty in functioning in a way society accepts as normal. ... McLean Hospital is a mental hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts noted in part for the large number of famous people who have been treated there, including mathematician John Nash, poets Robert Lowell and Sylvia Plath and singer-songwriter James Taylor. ...

It was adapted into a 1999 movie that both starred and was produced by Winona Ryder. The movie, which also starred Angelina Jolie, Brittany Murphy, Clea DuVall, Vanessa Redgrave and Whoopi Goldberg, takes viewers to 1967, when Susanna Kaysen is told by her psychiatrist that she needs to take a short rest in a psychiatric ward of McLean Hospital, though, the name was changed for the movie to "Claymoore". 1999 (MCMXCIX) is a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Winona Ryder Winona Ryder (born Winona Laura Horowitz) is an American actress born on October 29, 1971 in Winona, Minnesota to Michael and Cindy Horowitz. ... Jolie on French Glamour 2005 cover Angelina Jolie (born Angelina Jolie Voight on June 4, 1975 in Los Angeles, California) is an Oscar-winning American actress and humanitarian. ... Brittany Murphy performs at a USO show aboard the USS Nimitz Brittany Anne Murphy, birth name Sharon Bertolotti, (born November 10, 1977 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American actress. ... Clea DuVall Clea Helen Detienne DuVall (born September 25, 1977 in Los Angeles, California) is an American movie and television actress who goes by the shortened form of her name, Clea DuVall. ... Vanessa Redgrave, CBE, (born January 30, 1937) is an British actress, a member of the Redgrave acting dynasty. ... Sarafina movie poster featuring Whoopi Goldberg Caryn Elaine Johnson, better known by her stage name, Whoopi Goldberg (born November 13, 1955 in New York City - although many sources indicate 1949), is a well-known American movie actress, comedian, and singer. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... McLean Hospital is a mental hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts noted in part for the large number of famous people who have been treated there, including mathematician John Nash, poets Robert Lowell and Sylvia Plath and singer-songwriter James Taylor. ...

The book Prozac Nation and its adopted film are similar to Girl in that both were published in the same year and were written by young women about the experiences they had personally. Prozac Nation (sub-titled Young and Depressed in America : A Memoir) is an autobiography published in 1994 and written by Elizabeth Wurtzel. ...

Plot summary

During her stay, Susanna (Ryder) meets Lisa (Jolie). Lisa proves to be a sexually driven and volatile character. Susanna and Lisa form a tight bond, but later Lisa begins to spin out of control and becomes a traitor to Susanna. Lisa ends up in a bed in restraints, repentant for what she did to Susanna. Susanna also befriends Daisy (Murphy), whose home problems lead to her suicide. Lisa, however, is not so sympathetic to Daisy's problems and never really shows a desire to be friends with her. This is a reflection of Lisa's sociopathy. Antisocial personality disorder (APD), or dissocial personality disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that interprets antisocial and impulsive behaviours as symptoms of a personality disorder. ...

Quotes

[These quotes have been taken from the movie and not the book]

• "Lisa thinks she's hot shit cuz she's a sociopath"
• "We are very rare and we are mostly men"
• "You think you're free? I'm free! You don't know what freedom is! I'm free. I can breathe. And you...will choke on your average fuckin' mediocre life!"
• "I know what it's like to want to die. How it hurts to smile. How you try to fit in but you can't. How you hurt yourself on the outside to try to kill the thing on the inside."
• "No one cares if you die, Lisa, because you're dead already. Your heart is cold. That's why you keep coming back here. You're not free. You need this place to feel alive. It's pathetic."

External links and References

• Kaysen, S. (1994) Girl, Interrupted. Vintage Books. ISBN 0679746048
• Mangold, J, Loomer, S, Phelan, AH (2000) Girl, Interrupted : The Screenplay. Faber & Faber. ISBN 057120211X
• Girl, Interrupted at the Internet Movie Database
• Review of film from BBC