Girl, Interrupted

Use this activity to engage all types of learners while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Perspective of a Young Nurse”

In this activity, students will write Kaysen’s story from the perspective of one of the student nurses Kaysen befriends while she is a patient at McLean Hospital.

While at McLean Hospital, Kaysen encounters a variety of nurses and doctors. She and the other patients grow particularly fond of the student nurses in charge of their care, noting that their younger age helps them to better understand the patients and that their friendship works better than therapy.

Taking into account Kaysen’s theory that the generation gap plays a significant role in the ways she and other patients are (mis)treated and (mis)understood by older doctors and nurses, write a brief account of Kaysen’s story from the perspective of a student nurse. Consider the culture of the 1960s in the United States as you address the following questions in your analysis:

• What are some common fears that adults hold about youth during this era?
• How do adults misunderstand teenagers at this time, and what role does this play in the ways teen mental health issues are addressed?
• How do the older nurses and the younger nurses differ in their approaches to the teenage patients at McLean?
• How might a shared understanding between younger nurses and their teenage patients lead to better mental health outcomes than traditional treatments at the time?

After completing the story, share a draft with a partner and contribute feedback. Incorporate the feedback if you choose. Finally, complete a one-paragraph reflection in which you analyze the experience of writing Kaysen’s story from a different perspective.

Teaching Suggestion: The purpose of this activity is to challenge students to engage with and express an understanding of the subjective nature of not only perceptions of mental health but also of mental health diagnoses and treatment. Writing from the point of view of a young nurse who better understands Kaysen than older doctors and nurses—and the subsequent better outcome of her care—offers an added challenge and opportunity to think about the ways both agency and mutual understanding play a significant role in mental health recovery. The paired resource “1966: The Year Youth Culture Exploded” linked with Chapters 11-15 in this unit will help students gain an understanding of the cultural setting of the decade that serves as a backdrop for this activity.

Paired Text Extension: “God Knows Where I Am” by Rachel Aviv

As you read this article in The New Yorker about a woman who rejects her bipolar diagnosis, consider the following:

• What is the impact of Linda’s agency (or lack thereof) on her diagnosis and treatment?
• What role does the idea of “informed consent” play in Linda’s treatment and discharge?
• Consider the irony of the notion that denying an illness is proof of its existence. What recourse is left for those who are not ill?

Teaching Suggestion: Sharing this article with students will challenge them to more deeply understand the role of one’s own perspective of mental health in determining outcomes, as well as the ways in which perception of the self and identity influence an individual’s sense of agency.