Summary: Susanna begins to think about how she was admitted to the Hospital, and about the doctor who placed her there. The doctor that made her believe she had a mental illness. She tries to narrow down what a mental illness is, she says it has two types fast and slow. However, to others not experiencing this it may look simpler than what it is. Susanna herself believes she suffers from both, the inability to act, and the obstacles that make it hard to act. According to Susanna's doctor he had examined her for three hours, but Susanna says otherwise, she says it was only twenty minutes.
While in the hospital, the patients realize how hard life is outside of the McLean. They witness all the violence going on, and how it does not seem like a battle to win. Even though, Susanna thinks the hospital has them all confined, she feels that in a way its a haven. She doesn't have to worry about what's going on with the rest of the world, no need to worry about parents, or homework. A girl who cannot relate to Susanna is Torrey. She was recently admitted into the hospital, and her parents blame her for everything that goes wrong. Torrey, like Susanna in a way is glad to be at hospital. She no longer has to be in Mexico, trying to cope with her addiction. Then her time at the hospital is cut short when her family comes to pick her up, Torrey does not want to leave, and of course Lisa would be the one to throw a tantrum. Though, Valerie the head nurse was already used to Lisa and knew what she was up too. Torrey was gone back to Mexico, and the girls were back to their normal days at the hospital. Another patient is checked in to the hospital, her names Alice. One day Alice went through something none of the girls could explain,
The nurses quickly transfered Alice to a new room, this room had nothing but a mattress. Her room quickly filled up with waste. The girls stay away from Alice after they see what she has been going through. Once again Susanna begins to think about her mental illness, her counselor is the only man that makes her feel comfortable. Susanna discuses with him how she is 18, and she's still in that hospital. He then arranges that the nurses let her be about more freely. Once having been in the hospital for quite a while, Susanna begins to explain her views on the brain and the mind, rather than her mental illness. She comes to a conclusion that this concept cannot be divided, the mind is part of the brain, unlike the way mental illness can be divided. Susanna also talks about her future husband, and what she encountered during her working time.
After her release from the hospital, Susanna claims herself to have a borderline personality, in which certain things in her a damaged but not completely. Everyone, at some point left the hospital, and Susanna caught up with some of her friends outside the ward.
Quote: "Our privacy, our liberty, our dignity: All of this was gone and we were stripped down to the bare bones of our selves" (Kaysen 94).
Reaction: The title of this chapter is bare bones, and it ties in with what Susanna thinks of the hospital, as a place of both confinement and liberty. In a way they were free, they were in a place that kept them safe, there was not much that could go wrong there. Then comes in what they think about their dignity, it is like they can do nothing but act sad to avoid the things they do not want to face. During this chapter, was when Torrey became a patient, and in a way she was free from the drugs of Mexico, but she was confined to this place. This shows the patients control over the situation.
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