“A successful suicide demands good organisation and a cool head, both of which are usually incompatible with the suicidal state of mind.”
HA! I loved Kaysen’s dry and detached observations about being viewed as crazy, even more commendable since this is her story about being locked up in a mental institution for 2 years in the 60’s. She was in the rock-star McLean Hospital, home to fellow nutty alumni such as Sylvia Plath, Ray Charles and James Taylor, and was admitted after a 20 minute consultation with her doctor. Having been diagnosed with ‘Borderline Personality Disorder’, Kaysen seemed to me like a slightly moody, anxious teenager, barely grown and displaying some vaguely subversive tendencies that wouldn’t get a second look at now – she was vegetarian, slept with her English teacher and didn’t want to go to college. She must be nuts, let’s throw her in with society’s rejects.
Becoming a writer, Kaysen tracked down her medical records, which must have been strangely illuminating, since it never really was made clear to her why she was there. She obviously needed some time chilling away from the world, as she didn’t really protest or try to bust her way out, but her story does beg the question – what were her family doing? Why was she there for two years? Answers aren’t all that forthcoming, and Kaysen focuses more on the day to day of being in a loony bin, which she does in an engaging and direct style. There’s an awesome chapter called ‘Velocity vs. Viscosity’ which describes the fastness and thickness of insanity in a way that gave me great insight into mental illness, and the fragility of the mind.
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