FILM SUMMARYGirl, Interrupted opens with an interesting quote from Susanna Kaysen, the woman who wrote the original novel the film is based on. He said: “Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stole something when you have money? Have you ever been blue? Or did you think your train was moving when it was standing still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the '60s. Or maybe I was just a girl...interrupted” (“Girl, Interrupted,” 1999). In the film, we follow Susanna Kaysen as she goes through the process of mental health treatment, from initial events, such as her suicide attempt, through diagnosis, treatment through institutionalization, to eventual recovery. Along the way, she experiences many misadventures with her fellow patients and facility staff and makes many lifelong friends. Through this process, she also gains something she did not have before: a concept of who she really is and what she wants to do with her life ("Girl, Interrupted", 1999). DEFINITIONS OF CONCEPTS Of all the questions we ask ourselves in our lives, there is one that stands out. It's something we wonder when we're young and still developing, something we think we know when we're teenagers, and something we discover as we get older and more confident in ourselves. The question is: “Who am I?” » Self-concept. According to Myers, “by late childhood, around age 12, most children have developed a sense of self” (Myers, 2013, p. 193). Basically, we all have some awareness of who we are from a very young age. Of course, this identity is not set in stone, but rather changes as they grow as young adults. Self-concept is also about how we perceive ourselves. Baumeister states that self-concept is "the individual's beliefs about himself, including...... middle of paper...... low self-esteem." Because they feel imperfect due to their mental illness, they frequently compare themselves to individuals in the outside world. A patient, Daisy, is driven to commit suicide when another patient, Lisa, exposes all the flaws in Daisy's self-image and thus destroys her self-esteem as Daisy felt she was close to his ideal self. At the end of the film, Susanna reveals that many girls received the treatment they needed and were released from institutionalization and reintegrated into the world. She saw many of them again after being released. By realizing that their disorders were part of who they were, and not an intrinsic flaw, patients were able to change their self-image, their ideals and increase their self-esteem, so that the treatments administered by doctors and nurses could to succeed (“Girl, interrupted, 1999).