Depression In Mrs Bonnie Gilbert Grape

This movie actually does a good job portraying major depressive disorder on Mrs. Bonnie Grape’s character. At the beginning of the movie, while Gilbert is describing his family, he explains the reason behind his mom’s depression, and then every time that Mrs. Grape appears on screen, her condition is noticeable because she displays most of the symptoms.
One of the most common causes for depression is grief, which can be caused by the death of someone who is close to the patient and this can be seen in the movie when Gilbert explains that his dad’s death affected his mom. An old portrait picture of Mrs. Grape is shown while Arnie is describing her as one of the prettiest and happiest girls in Endora town, who changed completely after her husband committed suicide. What is so important about this, is that it helps the viewers to have a general idea of how Mrs. Grape was, physically and emotionally, before showing the character’s current features and appearance. The

Grape’s insecurities are noticeable in important parts of the movie, which help the viewers understand why she was acting in certain ways towards her family and other people in the town. Mrs. Grape had anxiety, another depression symptom, because of two reasons: she was always afraid of losing her family and she was always wondering what others could think about her looks. During the movie, we can definitely notice how her anxiety caused her to be dependable of her children and socially isolated from everyone else.
Talking about her family, Mrs. Grape couldn’t handle to be separated from her children for long periods. Someone had to be always with her, while the others had to be working or taking care or Arnie. When they had a family fight, Gilbert left during dinner time and didn’t came back until the next day and Mrs. Grape lectured him and told him that she couldn’t think that she could be strong enough to manage someone else leaving