INS Rough Draft In the novel, Girl Interrupted, by Susanna Kaysen, Susanna constantly noticed events around her that demonstrated prejudice against women. The novel was based in the 1960s when doctors did not know much about how to treat diseases. They could easily diagnose illnesses without needing proof that one had an illness, and for this reason, they commonly got the diagnoses wrong. There was a boom in the diagnosis for identity disorder around this time period. Dissociative identity disorder (DID), at this time, meant that one did not know where they wanted to go in life or who they were exactly. DID is now defined as a state of mind in which the mind is split into neuropsychological modules where each complete personality system has
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Susanna once said, “I didn't mention that I'd never seen that doctor before, that he decided to put me away after only fifteen minutes. Twenty, maybe. What about me was so deranged that in less than half an hour a doctor would pack me off to the nuthouse?” (Kaysen 12). He seemed like he was in a hurry and would not listen to anything Susanna had to say. Additionally, he knew he would get away with putting her there because no one questioned a woman’s mental health when a doctor sent her. “He tricked me, though: a couple of weeks. It was closer to two years. I was eighteen. I signed myself in. I had to, because I was of age. It was that or a court order, though they could never have gotten a court order against me. I didn't know that, so I signed myself in” (Kaysen 12). They did not have proper tests to identify mental illnesses, so it was up to doctor to form his own opinion about the situation he was facing. Some doctors could not see things through the patient's eyes. They would not understand how some teenagers’ life can be disorganized and chaotic, so it must mean some of them have mental issues. Susanna could have gotten better in a couple therapy sessions or maybe a few weeks of professional care, but she was stuck at McLean Hospital for two years. She could not be compared to most of the women at that hospital. It also felt like the hospital made her more crazy than what she actually was before because she was surrounded by so many people that had serious issues.
Girl Interrupted suggests that gender can lead to prejudices when referring to mental diseases, and this can be shown using the diagnostic signs, men-to-women ratio, and the amount of time the doctor took to diagnose Susanna. Two years of Susanna’s life were wasted all because of the doctor who diagnosed her in 20 minutes. “In Massachusetts,
Susanna once said, “I didn't mention that I'd never seen that doctor before, that he decided to put me away after only fifteen minutes. Twenty, maybe. What about me was so deranged that in less than half an hour a doctor would pack me off to the nuthouse?” (Kaysen 12). He seemed like he was in a hurry and would not listen to anything Susanna had to say. Additionally, he knew he would get away with putting her there because no one questioned a woman’s mental health when a doctor sent her. “He tricked me, though: a couple of weeks. It was closer to two years. I was eighteen. I signed myself in. I had to, because I was of age. It was that or a court order, though they could never have gotten a court order against me. I didn't know that, so I signed myself in” (Kaysen 12). They did not have proper tests to identify mental illnesses, so it was up to doctor to form his own opinion about the situation he was facing. Some doctors could not see things through the patient's eyes. They would not understand how some teenagers’ life can be disorganized and chaotic, so it must mean some of them have mental issues. Susanna could have gotten better in a couple therapy sessions or maybe a few weeks of professional care, but she was stuck at McLean Hospital for two years. She could not be compared to most of the women at that hospital. It also felt like the hospital made her more crazy than what she actually was before because she was surrounded by so many people that had serious issues.
Girl Interrupted suggests that gender can lead to prejudices when referring to mental diseases, and this can be shown using the diagnostic signs, men-to-women ratio, and the amount of time the doctor took to diagnose Susanna. Two years of Susanna’s life were wasted all because of the doctor who diagnosed her in 20 minutes. “In Massachusetts,