Holden Caulfield Mental Illness

Today we are dealing with Holden Caulfield, a 17 year old student who attends Pencey Prep in New York City. Holden is maturing quickly and has happened to grow six and a half inches in the past year. He has grey hair at the age of seventeen and is very skinny for his age. Holden’s family consists of his mom and dad, his brother D.B, and his sister Phoebe. Holden did have another brother, Allie, but he passed away when Holden was thirteen years old. Holden does not communicate with D.B often but they keep in touch once in awhile. On the other hand, Holden cares for and loves Phoebe with his whole heart; he would never let anything happen to her and he continues to worry about her and care for her. Holden is very passionate about his family but

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is known by a failure to recover after experiencing or witnessing a horrifying event. There are triggers that affect people, causing them to re-live the memories of the trauma resulting in intense emotional and physical reactions. Distancing oneself from society is a common occurrence by those affected, as “Loneliness is typically defined as having a subjective sense of being emotionally or socially isolated or disconnected” (Psychology Today). People diagnosed with PTSD often feel they can no longer be apart of society. This feeling of isolation creates an obstacle of getting back involved in society and resuming personal life. Another common PTSD occurrence involves the patient experiencing flashbacks. During these flashbacks, it can overwhelm one’s sense of reality and make it seem the event is happening again for the first time, “Mimicking the real thing because it provokes a similar level of stress in the body” (Trauma Recovery). The aspect of the heart pounding and the preparation of muscles to react as they did at the time can have some patients believe it is occurring a second time, making any other symptoms worse. Emotional breakdowns are common after experiencing flashbacks and can lead to the patient having energy outbursts where it is hard for them to control themselves. Holden Caulfield recalls past events that

To start, the death of Holden’s younger brother, Allie, has impacted Holden’s life to a certain extent. He passed away when he was eleven years old and when Holden was thirteen years old from Leukemia. Holden has not been the same ever since the death and can be shown by, “I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage. I don’t blame them. I really don’t. I slept in the garage the night he died and broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it” (Salinger 39). Ever since the passing of his brother, Holden has never been the same person as he had been. He never quits thinking of Allie and he believes he is with him at all times. When Holden is depressed, which happens frequently, he decides to speak to Allie to comfort him, as shown by, “What I did, I started talking, sort of out loud, to Allie. I do that sometimes when I get very depressed. I keep telling him to go home and get his bike and meet me in front of Bobby Fallon 's house” (Salinger 98). Holden always keeps a spot in the back of his head for his younger brother so he can communicate with him whenever. By communicating with Allie, Holden feels better about himself, as he can recall past events that he shared with his brother. To add, the death and tormenting of Holden’s former peer, James