Blockbuster project for psych 101 online class S. Barr

1. GIRL INTERRUPTED:
PERSONALITY
DISORDERS &
FRIENDS

2. PSYCHOLOGY BASIS

3. Abnormal Psychology
 The study of abnormal mental processes and behavior.
 A mental health professional must be able to define abnormal
behavior and then determine when abnormal behavior
constitutes a mental disorder.
 There are almost 300 different mental disorders classified into
sixteen categories including: Anxiety disorders, Eating disorders,
Mood disorders, Personality disorders etc.

4. Anxiety disorders
These disorders share a symptom f an extreme fear or anxiety. Including: phobias, panic attacks with or
without agoraphobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder.
Eating disorders
Excessive overeating, undereating, or purging as a result of a fear of gaining weight. Including: anorexia
nervosa and bulimia nervosa.
Mood disorders
Characterized by extreme changes in mood, including: major depression, cyclothymia, dysthymia, and bipolar
disorder.
Personality disorders
Results of maladaptive patterns that disrupt a person’s ability to function in everyday life and/or cause
extreme distress. Including: Narcissistic personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, borderline
personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, and paranoid personality disorder.
Examples of disorders used:

5. MEDIA

6. • In the movie Girl Interrupted, a young woman by the name of Susanna is sent to the mental
institution know as Claymoore, by her parents because she is clinically depressed and cuts
herself. Also suffers from borderline personality disorder. During her stay she encounters
several different woman with very different stories.
• Susanna ends up becoming quite close with Lisa, the unit’s longest staying resident &
sociopath (personality disorder.) Lisa is hypnotic and Susanna becomes intrigued and
manipulated by Lisa’s ways. Lisa ends up strapped to a bed in the end because she read
Susanna’s diary and was told that she was already dead on the inside.
• Daisy is a seemingly sweet young girl. It is implied in the movie that she has an incestuous
relationship with her father but is never conclusive. She has an eating disorder (bulimia),
obsessive compulsive disorder & cuts herself as well. She keeps the carcasses of the chicken’s
her father brings to her. She is released but when Susanna and Lisa escape and run away to
her home, Lisa is cruel and says nasty things to cause Daisy to break and commit suicide.

7. CONNECTION

8. Susanna Kaysen
A seemingly lost young woman, that
does not know exactly what she wants
out of life. Attempts suicide, than says
she did not try to. Has affairs with
married men. Cut herself. Easily
manipulated and influenced. Has a
sudden change of soul when Daisy
commits suicide due to Lisa’s cruel and
evilness. Is later released with a clean
and healthy state of mind.
Lisa Rowe
Has been locked in the mental
institution for 8 years and has made
several attempts at escaping
indefinitely but is always caught and
brought back. Manipulative. Likes to
hurt others feelings and make fun of
people. Labeled and diagnosed as a
sociopath (personality disorder.) Talks
Susanna into running away. Assists in
Daisy’s sad suicide by speaking to with
hatred. Later is so depressed because
Susanna says what she is thinking that
she is strapped to a bed.
Daisy Randone
A sweet young lady who is spoiled by her
fathers love. However, it is suggested that
she is engaged in incest with her father.
She suffers from bulimia, obsessive
compulsive disorder and self harm. Lisa
loves to taunt her and eventually after
Daisy’s release and Susanna and lisa escape
to her home, Lisa begins to taunt her and
Daisy has had enough that she commits
suicide the night of or the following
morning. The girls find her and Lisa does
not care, she steals her money and runs off
as Susanna calls 911 and returns to the
institution.

9. REFERENCES
• Notes used in class & psychology book notes.
• Google, typed in “Girl Interrupted.”
• Wikipedia results for “Girl Interrupted.”
• Google image results for psychology to use in my slides.