owly Susanna began to learn from her fellow patients. At first, she is angry and antisocial, and gravitates naturally towards Lisa. Eventually, however, she learns that Lisa's cruel streak has a vicious edge in which she doesn't want to associate. So she concentrates on making a conscious effort to rehabilitate. Not only does Lisa aid in Susanna’s turn around, but there is also one nurse in particular that has an enormous impact. Valerie is a one-of-a-kind nurse who has the patient’s best interests truly at heart. She is stern and doesn’t respond to anyone’s outbursts. While she may not be the most entertaining, she has a significant impact on her patients. As Susanna partakes on a life-altering nearly two-year journey through group ice-cream trips, late night chats in the “TV room,” and fifteen-minute “checks,” she discovers her lost self and manages to restart a fairly normal life. Susanna was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. The DSM-IV defines B.P.D. as the following: A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following: 1. Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. Note: Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in (5). 2. A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation. This is called "splitting." 3. Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self. 4. Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating). Note: Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in (5). 5. Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behav...
