While there is stigma associated with visible illnesses, like Updike's psoriasis, there are also invisible mental illnesses. In Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar, Esther is cautious of everyone around her, including her doctor and her very own mother. Right when she walks into his office, Esther doesn't trust Doctor Gordon," I hated him the minute I walked in through the door,"(Plath 128).Esther does not believe that this man will help her in any way because of her built up thoughts, "Then I thought, how could this Doctor Gordon help me anyway,"(Plath 129). Since Gordon does not fit Esther's imagine of what she wants the perfect Doctor to be , she doesn't trust him enough to tell him what's wrong. Esther even attempts removes her mother from her
In her opinion she doesn’t have a problem and she feels that she is smarter than the therapists. She has an intense fear of not being liked or not being viewed in positive regard. She has been unwillingly admitted several
Psychoanalytic Criticism may also be applied, as her actions and thought patterns were heavily influenced by her sickness, "Better in body perhaps--" I began, and stopped short, for he sat up straight and looked at me with such a stern, reproachful look that I could not say another word. "My darling," said he, "I beg of you, for my sake and for our child 's sake, as well as for your own, that you will never for one instant let that idea enter your mind! There is nothing so dangerous, so fascinating, to a temperament like yours. It is a false
Laurie Anderson’s historical fiction book, Fever 1793, takes place in Philadelphia during the 1700s. This book mentions about a girl and her family living during the Yellow Fever epidemic. Throughout the story Mattie loses and gains family members while they are trying to protect her. Mattie goes through one of the worst epidemics in the history of Philadelphia, and her family tries to take care of her during it. Anderson uses description and imagery in the story to portray the theme, family is always trying to protect each other.
Mental illnesses have a high prevalence amongst the United States population. Each year, tens of millions of individuals suffer and are affected by mental illnesses (National Institute of Mental Health, 1). These illnesses range from anxiety disorder, eating disorders, major depression, personality disorder, and many more. Yet, with the existing knowledge, mental providers and professionals, and the DSM-5, mental illness remains a growing mystery to the public. Literature has played a significant role in how mental illnesses are defined, their characteristics, and the portrayal of those who are mentally ill to the public eye.
This is the case with Susanna, who is the autobiographical main character of the book. She provides a perfect reason as to why it is important that mental illness must be talked about more. Susanna is admitted to the McLean Hospital after she attempts suicide and is then diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. She is at first convinced that there is nothing wrong for her, which is something that many patients go through, and is one of the important reasons that mental illness should be discussed more.
This societal separation and fear has progressively led to the development of the current stigma surrounding the illness. The general
“Having anxiety and depression is like being scared and tired at the same time. It 's the fear of failure but no urge to be productive. It 's wanting friends but not socializing. It 's wanting to be alone but not wanting to be lonely. It 's caring about everything then caring about nothing.
In the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a group of men living in a psychiatric ward are dealing with different types of disorders. The character that I chose to observe and analyze was Billy Bibbit. Billy is a young man who struggles to speak without stuttering and make his own decisions. He seeks approval from those around him and is always worried he will disappoint those around him. Although some people at this psychiatric ward are committed, Billy is a voluntary patient.
Laurie Halse Anderson’s historical fiction novel, Fever 1793 takes place in colonial Philadelphia, during the time of the yellow fever outbreak. Mattie Cook, a young girl during the outbreak has to cope with the many hardships brought onto her by the disease. While the fever brought many terrible things to Mattie and her family, she is able to move past them and build her life up again. By using character development and figurative language, Anderson is able to create the theme that good things can always come out of something bad. The theme that prevails throughout the novel Fever 1793 is that good things can always come out of something bad.
We all have felt worthless at one time or another as if we just faded into ethereal would have no affect on anyone. But what about being so undervalued in society that you have no personality to the outside world, one where any action is justified as you are nothing more than a triangle among a symphony. Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man highlights the black struggle of mental illness as the unnamed narrator struggles with his loss of identity and constant struggle just to stay sane in his everyday world, and from the PTSD vets to the crazy man he encounters in New York, Ellison makes his character disdain in the eyes of society. Within the book Ellison tells the reader the struggle of how black patients were treated as lab rats, being unfairly
During the Vietnam War the soldiers, whether or not they wanted to be there, many of them developed mental illnesses. The things they would experience would cause burdens on them for the rest of their lives. “Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers until he was shot in the head outside the village of Than Khe in mid-April.” (The Things They Carried) Lavender carried tranquilizers until he died, because he was scared.
Mental Illness affects an immense amount of individuals no matter their race, culture or age. It is everywhere we go, yet still an issue some choose to ignore; whether it is the person facing the illness or those around them. People handle their sickness in a variety of ways. Some by using violence as their only answer, others run away from their issue and majority choose to accept and make the best of it. After reading the novel The Secret Life of Bees, it would be easy to think that the main theme is discrimination or family, but in reality it is actually focused on the toll that mental illness takes on a family.
Ken Kesey uses his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, to describe the lives of patients in a mental institution, and their struggle to overcome the oppressive authority under which they are living. Told from the point of view of a supposedly mute schizophrenic, the novel also shines a light on the many disorders present in the patients, as well as how their illnesses affect their lives during a time when little known about these disorders, and when patients living with these illnesses were seen as an extreme threat. Chief Bromden, the narrator of the novel, has many mental illnesses, but he learns to accept himself and embrace his differences. Through the heroism introduced through Randle McMurphy, Chief becomes confident in himself, and is ultimately able to escape from the toxic environment Nurse Ratched has created on the ward. Chief has many disorders including schizophrenia, paranoia, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, and, in addition to these illnesses, he pretends to be deaf and dumb.
The narrator is certain she is really sick, and not just nervously depressed as diagnosed by her husband, but she is confined by her role as a wife and woman, and cannot convince her relatives and friends that something is actually wrong with her. In the story the narrator says, “”If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the
In the book “One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest” Ken Kesey shows that the “insanity” of the patients is really just normal insecurities and their label as insane by society is immoral. This appears in the book concerning Billy Bibbits problem with his mom, Harding's problems with his wife, and that the patients are in the ward