Girl, Interrupted

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What are the most likely significant causes of mental health concerns for teenagers today?

Teaching Suggestion: To prepare students for discussing this topic, and with sensitivity in mind for students’ individual circumstances, you might share a brief account of an experience you or someone you know had as a teenager that created a mental health challenge. For example, you might mention divorce, changing schools, disagreements with parents, a car accident, or other events. Students might pair up to develop a list of events or situations they think might cause a young person to experience mental health difficulties. After the pairs have finished, volunteers might share one or two items to create a class-generated list.

• This article from the American Psychological Association outlines the major causes of mental health issues and discusses research that explores why young people are struggling and what can be done to help.

Short Activity

Work together in pairs or small groups to investigate how mental health was treated in the United States in the first half of the 20th century, what the common diagnoses were, and how people were treated after their diagnoses.