The Portrayal of Mental Illness in “Girl, Interrupted” Essay

The Portrayal of Mental Illness in â€Å"Girl, Interrupted† The film â€Å"Girl, Interrupted† is a true story adapted from the original memoir by Susanna Kaysen. Set in the 1960s, it relates her experiences during her stay in a mental institution after being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder following a suicide attempt. Many films include characters with a mental illness; the actors who play these characters have the immense challenge of staying true to the illness they portray. The main character in â€Å"Girl, Interrupted,† Susanna Kaysen, played by Winona Ryder, was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. According to the DSM-IV-TR (2000) borderline personality disorder is a pervasive pattern of instability in relationships,†¦show more content†¦Her parents became embarrassed by her condition and were anxious to know when she would be released from the hospital, most probably so they would not have to explain to people where she was and what had happened to her. Lisa Rowe, played by Angelina Joli e, was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder which, according to the DSM-IV-TR (2000) is a pattern of disregard for and violation of rights of others. People with antisocial personality disorder, or sociopaths, fail to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behavior, they perform actions that are grounds for arrest such as destruction of property, harassing others, stealing and pursuing illegal occupations (DSM-IV-TR, 2000). They are deceitful, manipulative and repeatedly lie and con others to gain personal profit or pleasure. They display impulsivity and fail to plan ahead; they make decisions without consideration of consequences to self or others. Sociopaths are irritable and aggressive; they get into fights and assault others, for reasons other than self defense. They are extremely irresponsible and engage in sexual behavior, substance abuse or other behavior that has high risk of harmful consequences. They show little or no remorseShow MoreRelatedThe Lines Betw een Sanity And Insanity1064 Words   |  5 Pagesthe novels, people are often too quick to write off nonconformist as crazy or insane. Girl, Interrupted and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest both illustrate how society’s stern view cause them to treat mental illness unethically and take away from individualism. Minds may be altered through prescribed medication until they are faded husks of what they once were, As seen in both Susanna Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupted and Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, those who do not conform to societyRead MoreAnalysis Of The Movie Girl Interrupted 1252 Words   |  6 PagesGirl, Interrupted is a captivating and striking film about the struggle of coming to terms with mental health and overcoming personal obstacles to allow treatment and support. While the main character Susanna Kaysen stays in the Claymoore psychiatric hospital, she is introduced to a whole new world, one where she is forced to confront the fact that she has a mental illness and needs professional help. The film begins with Susanna and the other girls from the hospital sitting in somber silenceRead MoreEssay on Perceptions of Mental Illness in Girl Interrupted1815 Words   |  8 PagesThe portrayal of people being sickly creatures has been used in Hollywood film for a very long time. This has been in the endeavor of putting the viewing public in the shoes of the patient and entertain them with over the top portrayals of disease. For patients that are women in particular this has been achieved by defining them along the lines of vague terms such as them being over emotional and unstable. Despite the advancement experienced by the society, women have not yet fully seen the goalRead MoreGirl Interuppted2146 Words   |  9 PagesGirl Interrupted: Susanna Kaysen’s Mental Illness Katie Casebeer Margaret Gibson Amancio Lopes Molly Rather Boston College PY230 The film, Girl, Interrupted, is based on the life and memoir of Susanna Kaysen. During the late 1960’s Susanna Kaysen, attempted suicide and checked herself into a mental health hospital for two years. This movie adaptation weaves together the intricacies of Susanna’s personal life, the pressures of a changing society and the unexpected friendships she formedRead MoreMedia Portrayal of Mental Illness in America4048 Words   |  17 PagesMedia Portrayal of Mental Illness in America The media in American society has a major influential impact on the minds and beliefs of millions of people. Whether through the news, television shows, or film, the media acts as a huge database for knowledge and instruction. It is both an auditory and visual database that can press images and ideas into peoples minds. Even if the individual has no prior exposure or knowledge to something, the media can project into peoples minds and leave a lastingRead MoreEssay on Media Portrayal of Mental Illness in America3893 Words   |  16 Pages Media Portrayal of Mental Illness in America The media in American society has a major influential impact on the minds and beliefs of millions of people. Whether through the news, television shows, or film, the media acts as a huge database for knowledge and instruction. It is both an auditory and visual database that can press images and ideas into peoples minds. Even if the individual has no prior exposure or knowledge to something, the media can project into peoples minds and leave a lastingRead MoreMovie Review : Girl Interrupted1957 Words   |  8 PagesIntroduction-What is the disorder The movie I have chosen to do my psychological film disorder assignment on is Girl Interrupted which is a psychological drama directed by James Mangold. The movie takes place in a mental institution for troubled women. All of the characters in this movie suffer from one or more mental illnesses such as depression, borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia. The movie gives us an inside look on how poorly these women are being treated and how they are treatedRead MoreOvercoming Anorexia Nervosa2103 Words   |  9 Pagesbook talking about the struggle she faced with her eating disorder. Even at a young age she knew there was some sort of internal draw for her need to keep pushing herself to lose weight. Whitboune Halgin (2013) write: Since I was a twelve-year-old girl taking pictures in my front yard to submit to modeling agencies, I’d never known a day where my weight wasn’t the determining factor for my self-esteem. My weight was my mood, and the more effort I put into starving myself to get to an acceptableRead MoreEssay about Biography and Work of Guy de Maupassant4591 Words   |  19 Pageswere published during the second half of the decade. â€Å"His short fiction has been compared to that of Ivan Turgenev, Anton Chekhov, Edgar Allan Poe, and Henry James.† (Encyclopedia Britanica 1012) Maupassant took as his primary goal the realistic portrayal of everyday life. He wrote about what he knew best, and that is as a peasant of his native home of Normandy, the war of 1870, the lives of government employees and Parisian high society, and his own fears and hallucinations. â€Å"His short storiesRead MoreComment Cuisiner Son Mari a L’africaine: How-to Manual or Cautionary Tale ?4022 Words   |  17 Pagesthis year, is called La Plantation. Beyala’s novel Comment cuisiner son mari à   lafricaine appeared in the year 2000, published by Albin Michel. It is similar in structure to Laura Esquivels Like Water for Chocolate, where the narrative is interrupted by the recipes which figure in the plot line. In her book, Beyala includes twenty-four of the recipes which her heroine Aà ¯ssatou prepares to attract her neighbor and compatriot, Souleymane Bolobolo. In this way the book serves as a how-to manual

Night Creature Blue Moon Chapter 11 Free Essays

I should have driven out to my land and plunged my treacherous body into the chilly pond right then. To hell with the wolves. Though I’d been satisfied, embarrassingly so, I still felt empty, even achy. We will write a custom essay sample on Night Creature: Blue Moon Chapter 11 or any similar topic only for you Order Now I knew why. I might have come and it had been great, but I hadn’t done what I really wanted to. Cadotte. Man, was I in trouble. Perhaps if I’d swum until I felt nothing but limp, I wouldn’t have been so distracted all night. However, I doubt anything could have erased his taste from my mouth and his image from my mind. I know that an hour’s worth of pacing did not get rid of the question: Why me? Cadotte certainly hadn’t been dazzled by my charm or my appearance. I wasn’t wealthy, brilliant, or hot. What was he up to? The questions swirled in my head as the mortification swirled in my gut. I’d shared an appallingly intimate moment with a stranger. How was I ever going to look Cadotte in the face again? I wasn’t sure I could, but I’d have to. He hadn’t given me one speck of the information I’d asked for. The memory of my moans and gyrations haunted me all the way to work, which only meant that I had a mood to match Zee’s. The phones were ringing like the church bells on Christmas Eve when I walked into the station. Thankfully Zee triaged better than anyone I’d ever met. She put one call on bold, routed another to the fire department, a third to the clinic, and spoke to the fourth. I’d never make it as a dispatcher. My crisis management skills were heavily weighted to action rather than reaction. â€Å"Two Adam Four, do you copy?† â€Å"Two Adam Four. I copy and am ten-forty-two.’ ‘† â€Å"My ass you’re off duty,† Zee muttered, though not over the radio for a change. She glanced at me. â€Å"Henry’s been to three fights already tonight. He’s going to love this.† As everyone in the department knew, Henry – one of our second shift officers – loathed overtime. He had a young wife and no children – yet – though not for lack of trying. â€Å"Ten-seventy-four that,† Zee continued. â€Å"There’s a ten-ten in progress at the Sportsman.† â€Å"Another one? What are people drinking? Okay, I’m ten-seventy-six to the Sportsman.† â€Å"This whole town has gone ape shit,† Zee muttered. â€Å"You’d think rabid wolves and a school shooting would make people stay home and play nice. Instead, they’re out drinking and driving and fighting.† She picked up the call on hold. â€Å"Yeah, she’s here now.† Zee listened. â€Å"I’ll tell her.† After hanging up, she lit a new cigarette off the stub of her old one and took a deep drag, letting the smoke blow out of her nose on a sigh of contentment. Zee loved her cigarettes nearly as much as she loved me. Or maybe it was the other way around. â€Å"Who’s here?† I prompted when she continued to smoke and ignore me. â€Å"Who the hell do you think? You see anyone else hanging around?† Since I was accustomed to Zee’s usual manner of conversation, I didn’t even blink at her words or her tone. â€Å"Someone’s looking for me?† â€Å"Yeah. That spooky old fart the DNR hired. He’s on his way. You’re supposed to wait for him.† I flicked a finger at the phones. â€Å"Don’t I have work to do?† â€Å"Hell, yes. But Clyde said you deal with Dr. Death first.† â€Å"Peachy.† I glanced around the office. The second shift hadn’t come back in yet. The rest of the third shift must have already gone out. Zee and I were the only lucky ones in the place. I hated waiting around with nothing to do. I stuck my hand in my pocket and my fingertips nicked the totem. â€Å"I’ll be in the evidence room,† I said. I could at least put this back where it belonged and get Clyde off my ass. As I walked by Zee, she put down her cigarette and sniffed the murky air. â€Å"Where you been?† she asked. â€Å"Home. Where else?† â€Å"You smell funny.† How she could tell with cigarette smoke still swirling around her snowy white hair I have no idea. But Zee had always had the nose of a bloodhound. I wondered what she’d be able to smell if her senses hadn’t been depleted by nicotine. I lifted my arm and sniffed underneath. â€Å"No, I don’t.† â€Å"Aftershave,† she announced. I blushed. I couldn’t help it. Strange, though. I hadn’t smelled any aftershave on Cadotte. Only that scent that was his alone – earth, air, forest, man. â€Å"What are you up to, girl?† Since I rarely had reason to blush, my heated cheeks must stand out like the flash of a searchlight on the night of a new moon. Zee glared at me suspiciously. â€Å"Nothing but my job, Zee.† She snorted and I had a hard time not joining her. If my job involved letting William Cadotte put his mouth all over me, the number of applicants for my position would be greater than ravaging mosquitoes on a muggy summer night. I escaped from the front office before Zee pried more out of me. Not that I was easy – prior evidence to the contrary – but Zee was even more bullheaded than I was. She’d pick at me until I cracked or she got enough information to come to her own conclusion. I wouldn’t really mind if Zee knew. In fact, I’d like to talk to her about what in hell was wrong with me. But Clyde was another story. Since his relationship with Zee was as close as or even closer than mine was, telling her would be the same as telling him. I’d lose my job, or at the least my involvement with this case. When Clyde had told me to stay away from Cadotte, he hadn’t just been whistling Dixie. Sighing, I slipped into the evidence room. I made my way to the shelf where I’d left the bag of junk that comprised the evidence from Karen Larson’s accident. It wasn’t there. I didn’t panic right away. Just figured I was on the wrong shelf. My mind wasn’t exactly focused. I put the totem into my pocket and searched the room. There wasn’t a lot there. My evidence certainly wasn’t. I began to feel uneasy. I remembered putting the bag on the second shelf, along with the signed note from Cadotte. I got down on my knees and crawled around. Nothing. I needed to report this to Zee and then to Clyde. The evidence room wasn’t Fort Knox, but it was secure enough for Miniwa. I’d had to use my key to get in here, and only officers had keys. If we took evidence out of the room for any reason, we made a notation in the evidence log. The evidence log! I smacked myself in the forehead and grabbed the book off the desk next to the door. Quickly I spun through the pages, expecting to see a familiar name scrawled in the margin next to my scribbled listing of Karen Larson’s evidence. Not only was there no name; there was no scribble. Hell, there wasn’t even a page. I opened the book as far as the spine would allow. I couldn’t see a shred of paper. Either someone was very good at ripping pages out of books, or I was nuts and I’d never recorded anything at all. I had to go with the first option, even though that made no sense. Who would want a bag of glass and plastic? Unless†¦ I patted my pocket, felt the hard ridge of the totem against my thigh. Had the culprit been looking for something else entirely? Cadotte had said that whoever the totem belonged to would be wanting it back. Then why not just ask? Unless the owner had good reason not to be recognized as such. And if it wasn’t the owner, then what possible good could the totem do them? I was more confused than ever. I couldn’t prove I’d brought in the evidence. Couldn’t prove the evidence had disappeared. Clyde was going to have my head when he found out. He was already pissed at me for letting Cadotte keep the icon. But it was lucky I had or we’d have lost that, too. One thing I knew, I wasn’t leaving the totem here to disappear along with everything else. For now the stone was safe right where it was. How to cite Night Creature: Blue Moon Chapter 11, Essay examples

Issue and Behaviour to Change

Question: Discuss about the Issue and Behaviour to Change. Answer: Introduction Poaching is a behaviour in humans which is characterized by illegal hunting of certain animal species for either food or monetary benefits. In other cases, poaching can be done as a participation in sports through a competition process (Hsiang Sekar, 2016). For instance, some people may decide to engage in the poaching of endangered animal species sp as to boast around for killing a rare animal. In the case of elephants, poaching has threatened their numbers to a large extent. The ivory has been used for trading even at international levels, a trading which is done in black markets for high prices. Therefore poaching of elephants has been termed as an illegal business since their population is always low. The increased poaching of elephants for ivory tusks and in few cases for meat has seen the number of elephants in forests goes down day by day. It is important to note that the elephants are tourist attraction and this earns revenue for the countries (Gobush et al., 2008). Apart fr om this role, elephant trails act as firebreaks; they produce nutrient rich manure which makes soils fertile, break trees and thorns to form grassland for other animals and create salt licks which is important for other animals among other functions. Target audience The poachers should understand the need to change their behaviour because apart from lowering the elephant population, poaching endangers the lives of other wild animals. Instead, poachers can engage in other economic activities which can earn them income. Consequently, the poachers stand a risk of being charged with this criminal offence or being shot by the game rangers. The poachers should also understand the reproduction rate of elephants is very low and hence the more they are poached, the less their numbers become and in the end, they might become extinct (Becker et al., 2013). Instead, the poachers should convert and be on the forefront in hunting down the poachers and report them to the police. Target behaviour The poachers should join the wildlife movements in the communities so that they can learn more about the conservation of elephants. These lessons will enable the poacher to understand that the elephants are very important animals. As a result of this, the poachers also have a duty to take care of the elephants and still meet the needs of the country through tourism. The poachers also need to o alternative tourist methods that can earn them income for instance they can be tour guides (Booth Dunham, 2016). The poachers should join the community based organization that aim at reducing the poaching activities. Finally poachers should report the traffickers and brokers of elephant tusks to the police for action to be taken. Behaviour strategy behaviour-change tools The businesses need form partnerships with the nongovernmental organizations which support conservation of elephants so that they can ensure that no materials from elephant parts are displayed for business purposes. For instance, businesses can support the move to destroy ornaments which have been made from elephant tusks. Social diffusion is another tool which can be used to reduce poaching activities. This method involves a situation where a person makes an initiative and informs colleagues about it. In this case, a few friends can meet and develop a foundation or a community based strategy for protecting elephants and then communicate to other friends over social media to lobby for support. Organizations for wildlife protection can prepare guides and develop mobile phone applications, websites, face book page and twitter accounts to inform people about the need for elephant protection. Offering of incentives to individuals can help in the spread of behaviour against elephant poaching. For instance, if poachers are offered for having reported their group poaching members, they can stop such behaviour (McKenzie Schultz, 2012). The suppliers need to partner with national parks and make a commit that they will never accept to do business with products made from elephant parts. Potential partners, stakeholders, spokesperson In this case, the government agency to be consulted is the Kenya Wildlife service. This agency has all the statistics and other relevant information concerning the population and species of elephants in Kenya and the rates of poaching activities. https://www.kws.go.ke/ The nongovernmental organization which would be used in this project is the Mara elephant project which deals with the protection of elephants in Kenya. The celebrity for use in this project is Lupita Nyongo, having previously won the Oscar awards, indicating that she is globally popular. As a result, any programs and initiatives would be of interest to many people as a result of this celebrity. The scientific expert on the issue of elephant for protection of elephants in this project is Gerald Bigurube who is a regional cordinator in the zoological society. Similar projects or campaigns Examples of project similar to this one are: save the elephants campaign is involved in tracking of the elephants through remote GPS racking so as to monitor their activities. This project also implements the objectives of the United Nations through the reduction in the poaching activities. The 96 elephants campaign is involved in the provision of a bright future for the elephants. This is through the provision of safe environment and prevention of the poaching activities. The save the elephants campaign is similar to my project because it aims at determining the number of elephants which are available in the game reserves from time to time, indicating that it can determine the number of elephants lost through poaching. The 96 elephants campaign is similar to our project because it offers protection to the elephants and offers education to the people on the need for protecting elephants through discouraging of illegal activities like poaching (Ezeonu, 2004). Possible barriers and benefits The barriers to this project can be grouped into psychological, physical, socio-cultural, economic or individual differences. For instance, one of the economic barriers would be the lack of funds which would in turn hamper the strategies for propelling the campaigns to a success (Lombard et al., 2001). In some instances, there is a need to go to the forest or game parks to assess the situation as it is on the ground. The travelling and other logistics would require funds for them to be accomplished. Another barrier is lack of cooperation among the team members due to personal differences. In this case, it would be difficult to make any efforts concerning this project because people need to come together and consolidate their ideas. The benefits associated with the target audience in this project are the psychological and economic benefits. In the psychological benefits, a poacher would change the minds of poaching elephants and instead become an advocate who lobby for elephant protection. The second is the economic benefits which would come along following increased reduction in poaching activities (Harris, 2014). More elephants would be saved and the government would earn revenue from tourism. Simple message References Becker, M., McRobb, R., Watson, F., Droge, E., Kanyembo, B., Murdoch, J., Kakumbi, C. (2013). Evaluating wire-snare poaching trends and the impacts of by-catch on elephants and large carnivores. Biological Conservation, 158, 26-36. Booth, V. R., Dunham, K. M. (2016). Elephant poaching in Niassa Reserve, Mozambique: population impact revealed by combined survey trends for live elephants and carcasses. Oryx, 50(01), 94-103. Ezeonu, I. C. (2004). Poverty and the environment: Sociologizing environmental protection in Sub-Saharan Africa. Review of Black Political Economy, 31(3), 33. Gobush, K. S., Mutayoba, B. M., Wasser, S. K. (2008). Long?Term Impacts of Poaching on Relatedness, Stress Physiology, and Reproductive Output of Adult Female African Elephants. Conservation Biology, 22(6), 1590-1599. Harris, J. (2014). Wildlife conservation in China: preserving the habitat of China's Wild West. Routledge. Hsiang, S., Sekar, N. (2016). Does legalization reduce black market activity? Evidence from a global ivory experiment and elephant poaching data (No. w22314). National Bureau of Economic Research. Lombard, A. T., Johnson, C. F., Cowling, R. M., Pressey, R. L. (2001). Protecting plants from elephants: botanical reserve scenarios within the Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa. Biological Conservation, 102(2), 191-203. McKenzie, D., Schultz, M. P. W. (2012). Choosing effective behavior change tools. Social Marketing Quarterly, 20(1), 35-46.