Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

The first book I finished reading in 2023 is Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen. I bought the book on my Kindle back in August, but it took me so long to finish reading it because I never had time to read due to work and grad school. I was happy to finally finish my thesis and have time to read more often. I’ve been trying to read for at least thiry minutes everyday and was able to finish reading Kaysen’s memoir on January 4th.

Throughout my time in graduate school, my teachers often compared the memoirs I wrote in my writing courses to Kaysen’s popular memoir. I often write about my own mental health issues and my graduate thesis was actually a memoir about my life from puberty to adulthood. It focused heavy on my mental health between that time and the ways in which it impacted my relationships, friendships, physical health, and my relationship with myself.

Kaysen’s memoir was really inspiring for me. At one point in the memoir, she begins to get paranoid that she isn’t human because she can’t see her bones underneath her skin, but the brutal honesty of her story shows how human she really is.

The memoir is about Susanna’s time spent in a mental hospital in the 1960s. I think the craziest part of her experience is that she was sent to the hospital after a twenty minute session with a doctor. From the conversation (or lack there of) she shares in the text, the doctor comes to the conclusion that she needs to be hospitalized because she picks at her pimple and he assumes she is having trouble with her boyfriend. The doctor insists that she needs a “rest.” He sends her to the hospital and she winds up spending almost two years under observation.

Kaysen not only describes her experience, but also informs the reader of the other patients in her ward. Some of them have physical scars, some of them has wild personalities, but in the end they are all people. Kaysen even gives us a small glimse into the high security ward of the hospital that has barely any furniture and one girl’s room is covered in smeared shit.

Throughout the memoir, Kaysen often questions the idea of sanity vs. insanity; what the difference between her and “normal” people are. I’ve definitely felt the same insecurity in my own life. Sometimes I question if other people think the same way I do, or have the same type of thought processes. I wonder if it’s normal to feel the way I do, or if it’s abnormal compared to everyone else. This memoir has shown me that questioning things like this is normal, especially when society percieves you as crazy.

Girl, Interrupted opens up a dialogue on mental illness that isn’t always wanted. I recommend this novel to anyone who suffers from mental illnesses, or even to people who would like insight into a different person’s perspective.

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