American Beauty: Borderline Personality Disorder

When instructed to write a 3-5 page paper over a psychological disorder I wondered to myself what disorder could I do to interest me enough to take so much time to look into. What one disorder would I have to force myself to research and write about that would not be completely painful? This is when I decided to write my paper over the Borderline Personality Disorder, the disorder Mrs. Kline refers to as the crazy girlfriend disorder which fits the disorder a lot better. This disorder grabbed my attention because I’m interested in what causes one to become so obsessive in such a short time span. In this research paper I will inform you about what can cause this disorder, what symptoms and actions are made by the ones affected by this disorder, and the treatment that reduces the symptoms.

Susanna Kayson is a character in the film Girl, interrupted that has borderline personality disorder (BPD) (Wick, Konrad, & Mangold, 1999). As Susanna Kayson meets 5 of the 9 Diagnostic and Statistical Manual 5 criteria, Susanna can be diagnosed with BPD. According to criteria 1, Susanna often restrains from stating her true feelings about a situation or a person to maintain relationships. Lisa, a resident of the psychiatric ward, would tease or humiliate Daisy, eventually leading her to commit suicide. Susanna knew that Lisa’s actions were inappropriate but she did not stand up for Daisy. This is an example of criteria 1 (Barlow, Durand, Stewart, & Lalumiere, 2015). One day when Susanna’s boyfriend Toby came to visit, they are caught in the middle of a sexual act and decide to escape to the grounds. Toby said he wanted to be with her, and she stated that she had no inclination to be with him. This is an example of criteria 2. Susanna tries to commit suicide by consuming a bottle of aspirin with a bottle of vodka, and later also stated that she understands what it feels like to not want to be alive. This is an example of criteria 5. When the wife of a man who Susanna had an affair with confronts her, she begins to laugh. This is an example of criteria 6. Lastly, Susanna’s inability to understand her disorder causes her to have bouts of intense anger, which satisfies criteria 8 (Barlow et al., 2015).

     The movie, “Girl Interrupted,”is about a teenage girl named Susanna Kaysen who has been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. People with Borderline Personality Disorder “are often emotionally unstable, impulsive, unpredictable, irritable, and anxious. They also are prone to boredom. Their behavior is similar to that of individuals with schizotypal personality disorder but they are not as consistently withdrawn and bizarre” (Santrock, 2003). In “Girl Interrupted” Susanna Kaysen the main character, goes through many episodes that give a picture of the disorder she’s suffering from. The first such incident occurs when the psychiatrist is talks to Susanna about her

American Beauty, a film that was written by Allan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes in 1999 is a unique piece that demonstrates many sociological themes throughout the development of the plot. The characters strive to portray themselves as the All American Family. They live in a nice house, drive nice cars and seem perfectly normal to the general public, but the audience is allowed to view the deep set issues that plague the main characters; Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), Carolyn Burnham (Annette Bening), Jane Burnham (Thora Birch), and Jane's best friend Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari). As the plot develops there are many obvious parallels relating the lives of the characters to Merton's Strain

A psychiatric disorder is, as Kristalyn Salters Pedneault defines it, a mental illness diagnosed by a mental health professional that 1.) greatly disturbs your thinking, moods and/or behaviors and 2.) seriously increase your risk of disability, pain, death, or loss of freedom. Will Hunting, in the movie Good Will hunting, suffers from four different psychiatric disorders, such as PTSD( Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), borderline personality disorder, mood disorder, and inferiority complex. What caused the development of all these disorder was the constant abuse that Will’s foster family gave to Will throughout his childhood. Growing up Will felt that he was responsible for the abuse that his foster family gave him, however, when he meets with

Without any dispute, the 1992 feature film "Single White Female" is an excellent example of a psychological "thriller", which it was initially touted as and seemingly confirmed by grossing several million dollars. However, the one particular aspect of this film that truly confirms to the label of psychological is the characterization of Hedy Carlson, who functions extremely well as a case study for Borderline Personality Disorder. By definition, Borderline Personality Disorder is a condition in which someone exhibits "A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts"¦" (APA 2000). A fairly comprehensive examination of Hedy's actions and personality within "Single White Female" lends credible evidence that she is in fact suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder, and also alludes to forms of treatment that may be of assistance in any attempts to counteract the effects of this condition.

When I was told to choose a movie to perform a psychoanalysis on a character. I did not know what movie to choose. After watching the two hour long film on the multiple characters that seemed to be struggling to find their inner happiness: American Beauty. I knew that I should not look any further. One character that especially stood out was, Lester Burnham. A forty-two year old father with a mid-life crisis. In the film, American Beauty Lester Burnham is portrayed as an ordinary man, with a perfect life, but of course that is far from the truth. From the outside, Lester seems to have a perfect salary, and a perfect family who lives in a perfect neighborhood. In reality, things are not

Although happiness is a more evident theme in American Beauty, the idea of liberty is substantial; specifically, because free will is difficult to find, not to mention, exceedingly rare. One of the uniting personality traits in the movie is that so many of the characters appear trapped: trapped by their fears, their existences, and their occupations. Several characters such as Colonel Fitts and his wife, Barbara Fitts conclude the film just as entombed as they were when the movie began. Additionally, character’s such as Carolyn Burnham, merely begin to free themselves from the events that bind them in the substantial moments just before the film

Girl Interrupted is a 1999 film in which Susanna, a high school senior on the verge of graduating with her class in 1967, is rushed to the Emergency Room because she consumed a whole bottle of Aspirin, followed by a bottle of Vodka. After being treated, Susanna is seen by a friend of her fathers, who is a Psychiatrist who believes that her actions were an attempt at suicide. Susanna, of course denies this, instead stating that she was making an effort to rid herself of a headache. The Psychiatrist recommends that she stay at a mental hospital named Claymore for a rest. While there, Susanna meets a number of individuals with a diverse array of disorders. One individual in particular, Lisa essentially runs the group of girls because

binge eating, ex, i saw a snapchat of my ex wih what appears to be anoher girl (new love interest) and i ended up eating half a bag of chips and three pieces of french toast.

Simply, it leaves a bad impression of sorts. The film is based on a rich memoir by Susanna Kaysen. It depicts the suffering of a fictional character referred to as Susanna. The film does not primarily give focus on true hospital course during the recovery process of the fictional character. Much of the focus is on the characters recovering without the aid of the hospital or staff. It is depicted as a road of self discovery and not very realistic for the conditions ascribed the characters. Recovery of an individual suffering from a mental ailment takes time and proper guidance coupled with proper coordination of counseling, medications and familial support. As such, the film provides a decent exploration of mental illness but not realistic. Though in my opinion it does portray the little resources available to women during the day in age depicted the effectiveness of the society’s mental health care system.

American Beauty is a movie that sets in suburban America. The story is about Lester, whom is a middle-aged writer working in a magazine company. He was having a midlife crisis where he felt lonely and numbed by continuous unchanging routine of his everyday life. In the movie, his wife portrayed as a successful real estate agent, but she was also going through her own midlife crisis in both her career and personal life. Lester’s daughter, Jane Bumham had alienated her parents and was going through puberty. They have a new neighbor who is a U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Frank Fitts, and he has a son, Ricky Fitts, who is a drug dealer. Lester was going to get fired from his company that he had worked for fourteen

A Beautiful Mind illustrates many of the topics relating to psychological disorders. The main character of the film, John Nash, is a brilliant mathematician who suffers from symptoms of Schizophrenia. His symptoms include paranoid delusions, grandiosity, and disturbed perceptions. The disease disrupts his social relationships, his studies, and his work. The more stressful his life becomes the more his mind is not able to distinguish between reality and fantasy.

Personality disorders are very defined and recognized in today’s society. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) published by the American Psychiatric Association provides common language and standards classifying mental disorders. The DSM is used by many people in varying disciplines in the USA as well as many other countries. In times past, people with disorders may have been outcast from a community or even persecuted. However, in our current culture the pendulum has swung in the other direction. It almost seems that there is a trend to explain all behavior by a mental disorder. This results in needing to disprove that certain people are not displaying a disorder, rather acting within a normal human emotion or

“American Beauty”, the 1999 film, is a motion picture that more or less shows a different side of the average suburban family. Although all of the characters have significant issues, I have chosen to take a closer look at Lester Burnham. Lester Burnham is a 42-year-old businessman who is married to the career-obsessed Carolyn and they have one daughter, a teenager named Jane. One of the first scenes of the movie explains how the family works: Carolyn is driving, just like she “drives” the family, Jane is sitting right next to her in the front seat, and Lester is slouched in the backseat, visually becoming more miserable by the second.