Girl, Interrupted
by Susanna Kaysen
Rating : 4/5
Genres : Psychological disorder, Mental illness, Memoir.
A girl at seventeen finds no meaning in her life. Has no ambition or desire to pursue anything of importance/purpose. She is depressed and bored out of her wits. Gradually she descends into a state of not being able to distinguish between reality and fantasy. She sees things and then doubts herself if what she has actually seen is the same as what her brain/mind interpreted. She is also constantly bombarded with thoughts of suicide and one day, decides to take her life by consuming an overdose of aspirin. She is rescued in time but is committed to a mental hospital by her doctor. She spends around 2 years in this mental hospital and gives us a glimpse into the inner world of the insane which is otherwise shielded. They have therapy sessions every day..some of the ward incharges are good, some bad..new patients come in and others go out..it sets a daily rhythm to their lives which is unperturbed by outside interference.
She eventually makes it out and gets married to men who don't treat her right making her rethink her mental status/health/wellness. Like a girl in a painting who is stuck/Interrupted/stopped both in time and space, Susanna is also Interrupted by her mental illness and is stuck in the memories of her time at the hospital where/when she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. So even if she got out of the hospital, did she ever really cure? Has she recovered her sanity or is she just sailing crazy with an awareness of being crazy?
The other books which I have read on this subject portrayed mental hospitals in an unflattering light and showed them as terrifyingly deplorable places. But this one strangely has the inmates feeling secure inside so much so that a bold and reckless girl Lisa who succesfully escapes comes back time after time and feels happy about it.
I am touched by the honesty and the openness with which the author has shared some of the most intimate aspects of her life and also exposed us to her inner thoughts of emptiness and worthlessness. Where others would have shied away and hid things, she openly laid them out so that perhaps others could learn a thing or two and get a sense of hope for a brighter future. :)
Comments
Post a Comment