Schizophrenia In Steve Lopez's The Soloist

“Out of Darkness” shows the real experience of a person living with paranoid schizophrenia. The movie shows Pauline Cooper, a former medicine student, who struggles with the illness for years.

In the words of Steve Lopez, “You're only as good or bad as your latest attempt to make some connection with the world.” The novel, The Soloist, by Steve Lopez is an insight to Lopez’s time helping and connecting with Nathaniel Ayers, a homeless schizophrenic. When Lopez meets Nathaniel he is awed by his musical talent and soon discovers he once attended Julliard, a prestigious school of performing arts. Lopez’s story was transformed into a film produced in 2008. Lopez’s character in the book and film share similarities and differences in his personal life, attitude towards Nathaniel, and struggles that contribute to the overall theme of the novel.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in the book Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General, reports that “[o]f children ages 9 to 17, 21 percent have a diagnosable mental or addictive disorder that causes at least minimal impairment” (http://www2.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=federal_and_state_policy_legislation&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=43804). With numbers as high as twenty-one percent, this is an issue that is probably more widespread than we realize it is. Statistics like these raise many questions as to just how many characters are afflicted with mental illnesses. One such case is Holden from the book The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, who may have any of a number of mental illnesses

People on medications who suffer from mental illness may not feel like themselves, so many people fear of losing their selves. Bipolar disorder is a mental illness that causes unusual and extreme shifts in a person’s functioning, mood and behavior further conveyed through erratic mood swings. However, the symptoms delusions of grandeur, and racing thoughts get in the way. It’s very important to be understood when dealing with a mental illness, furthermore remember to work out the manic episodes. The author, Adam Haslett, addresses a daily issue battling a disorder in the story “Notes to My Biographer”. A father, suffering from manic depression, pays a visit to his son, to whom he hasn't spoken in four years. The story Notes to My Biographer,

The Soloist Mental health is becoming a major section of health care. The movie “The soloist” exquisitely demonstrates how mental health is very important to make a living, take care of yourself and interact with the community. The Soloist film follows a journalist, Steve, who is on the hunt for a good story for his column in the LA Times.   He hears a homeless musician, Nathaniel, playing one day while on lunch who mentioned that he attended The Juilliard School.

“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. It 's feeling everything at once than feeling paralysingly numb,” writes Maria Henriksson. Mental illness refers to many conditions that individuals could go through. For example depression, addictive behaviors, and eating disorder have effects that could indicate whether or not an individual has a mental illness. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger, Holden faces many hardships after his brother 's death. Holden 's mental illness is inferred through his lack of control, isolating himself from others, and relieving the past which caused him to not move

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. This combination of many mind and life altering diagnoses leads to an interesting point of view, and a deeper look into the lives of people living with the

An outline of the causes and effects of schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder that is most commonly associated with delusion and hallucinations. It has been estimated that 0.4-0.7% of people develop schizophrenia, with the mental health condition being equally prevalent in both men and women (Saha et al., 2005). It is a particularly expensive illness due to its severity, reportedly costing the U.S. around $62.7 billion in 2002, with unemployment the most significant factor causing this staggering figure (Wu et al., 2005). While there is no known cause for the development of schizophrenia, a number of factors have been attributed to increasing the likelihood of someone developing the mental disorder.

What are some thoughts that come to mind when a person brings up the word schizophrenia? According to Ford-Martin, “Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder or group of disorders marked by disturbances in thinking, emotional responsiveness, and behavior” (2139). The character, Alice, from the film, Alice in Wonderland is a perfect example of schizophrenia, and the director, Tim Burton, further emphasizes the disorder by his use of film techniques.

Another way that Jim Stevens used symbolism in the poem Schizophrenia, was by using the appearance of the house on not only the inside but also the outside to represent the way outsiders see the family as opposed to the way the family actually is. The outside of the house is representing what the family is showing to others, they do not put up a perfect front, but it is not nearly as hurt as the inside. In reality, the inside of the house is what the whole family is really dealing with, and what it actually looks and feels like to have schizophrenia. The inside of the house is talked about much more than the outside because Jim Stevens wants the reader to understand that the family is hurting from the schizophrenia on the inside and trying

There are two parts to the superego. The first is the ego ideal, which includes the rules and standards for good behaviors. The other is the conscience which comprises data about things that are regarded as bad by parentages and civilization. The superego performs to perfect and enlighten behavior. In the case of Fight Club, the narrator’s conscience represents his superego.

A house characterized by its moody occupants in "Schizophrenia" by Jim Stevens and the mildewing plants in "Root Cellar" by Theodore Roethke, fighting to stay alive, are both poems that reluctantly leave the reader. The house in "Schizophrenia" raises sympathy for the state the house was left in and an understanding of how schizophrenia works as an illness. In "Root Cellar", the conditions disgust at first, but then uncover a humanly desperate will to live in the plants. Both poems contribute to their vivid meaning by way of well placed sensory details and surprising personification.

Imagine any dystopian novel you have read recently. The plagued life they live, the crumbling government, and the aspiring heroine who attempts to make change to their world. “American Psychosis” is an article where the author, Chris Hedges examines the problems he sees in our society. He believes that our civilization is plagued by social media and criticizes American culture saying that everyone is the same. He pulls us in by talking about something we can all relate to, which in this case is the celebrities we see on TV. Some people in our society admire celebrities because their lives seem so perfect but what we see is never what it seems. Hedges is trying to get us to see that our world isn’t as perfect as we believe it to be.

Many people in our society refuse to think that mental illness is something real or that it affects many people. Mental illness is something that is looked over and never gets any real attention. Many people are not able to get help because they don’t have the resources or it is considered to feminine. “The C-Word in the Hallways” by Anna Quindlen and the book, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger and the movie Dead Poets Society, explore society’s attitude towards teenage mental health. Anna Quindlen explained that if people aren’t able to get proper mental health care, then they could possibly do something harmful to themselves or others. In Catcher in the Rye, if Holden had not been institutionalized, then he would have likely committed

A Beautiful Mind with Schizophrenia A Beautiful Mind, starring Russel Crowe as John Nash, is a phenomenal portrayal of one of the most mysterious and complicated mental disorders known to the world of psychology: schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder in which the patient experiences hallucinations and delusions, and often has difficulty functioning in their daily life (CITATION). A Beautiful Mind allows some insight into what this disorder entails and what it may be like to live with the diagnosis, as it accurately represents various symptoms and treatments.