I just wanted to address something that someone said in class a couple weeks ago that I haven't gotten around to responding to until now. The class was discussing how Holden was inconsistent in some of his behaviors; how he was flip-flopping back and forth between feelings and moods. Someone used the phrase "Bipolar Disorder", and everyone agreed that Holden might be suffering from mental health issues.
I just wanted to clarify some errors in that statement. A few years ago, a friend of mine was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, so I did some reading on the subject. The disease is often portrayed in the media and popular culture as someone, who like Holden, flip-flops between emotions " :) >:( :) :(". There are two types of Bipolar Disorder and neither of them is like that. The more common form makes those with the disease have a manic period and a depressive period (especially compared to the manic period). The manic period lasts between six and nine months and the second period is a couple months shorter. During the manic period, the person with the disease feels on top of the world, and my friend described it "as if you could do anything." During the other period the person with the disease feels very let down and can be suicidal during this period.
Now I'm sure this information isn't perfect, and my information about how long each period is may be off by a month or two, but my point still stands that Holden Caulfield's mood swings aren't caused by bipolar disorder, they're caused by a short fuse and hormone shifts. If he has mental health problems, he may have depression or anxiety, but not Bipolar Disorder.
I just wanted to clear that up so that people involved in that discussion don't continue to think false things about mental health. I encourage people to do some reading by themselves on the subject so that they can be better informed when discussing mental health.
Thanks for reading!
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ReplyDeleteYou know, this is really interesting. I agree that we can't classify Holden as having Bipolar Disorder, however, it might not be the same in the case of Esther. We see that at first, during her "relationship" with Buddy she is kinda on top of the world, following which, during the chapters we had to read for today (12-13), we see that she feels like she wants to kill herself and she's quite let down.
ReplyDeleteAlso, a side comment: I really like the way you depicted the change of emotions by emojis!
It's definitely possible that Holden has something like Bipolar disorder, but the fact is that we can't observe him long enough to make that kind of a statement.
DeleteThere are definitely some risks in reading these books because you wouldn't want to use the wrong diagnosis based on misconceptions about the illnesses. Some of our characters--Stephen--might not even be suffering through anything. It might seem like it because all their anger and depressing moments are condensed and concentrated into the expanse of 300 pages or less. This means they get all of their strongest emotions one after the other.In addition to that, I feel as though the author might have exaggerated in describing the character's feelings to make us understand. Given that, I always give the character the "benefit of a doubt" before labeling them with an mental illness, and I think others should too, before dismissing them as ill and distancing yourselves from the characters.
ReplyDeleteI think that it's hard to specifically assign Holden with a mental disorder outside from the all-encompassing and somewhat generic depression. We only really get a glimpse into his psyche over the period of a few days and the moments we get into his past are carefully selected. Not to mention that we're given a choice: do we trust the narrator to tell us the truth objectively or are we suspicious of a little flubbing on Holden's part? But since the periods are as long as you say, I too have my doubts with pinning a "bipolar disorder" on Holden.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, CR! I feel that bipolar disorder is often skewed by media and TV shows, dramatizing it to an extent of unrecognizability. Up until this point I did think BD was mostly a quick shift in moods, which previously explained Holden's personality. However, I wonder if we should put any type of label on Holden, whether that be BD or just anxiety or depression? As Donna mentioned in her comment, we are only getting a glimpse of his psyche and ONLY what he is telling us. We could attribute his dark periods and thoughts to just general teenage angst and confusion. Holden is finding himself, a tough and trying process, similar to what a lot of other people go through.
ReplyDeleteIf Holden is suffering from BD, we definitely don't get to see his manic state. I don't think we have enough information to diagnose Holden with anything, even if we were expert armchair psychiatrists.
DeleteI think the media/popular culture tends to exaggerate illnesses that can be comical. Narcolepsy is another example of that.
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ReplyDeleteI agree that it is important to get a better understanding of mental illness. Sometimes media, like you said, can distort and overdramatize situations and conditions. I also did a little bit of research on bipolar disorder when it was first mentioned in class, and I realized that as much as I thought I knew, most of it wasn't even right. It's kind of hard to really to get an even basic understanding of it because mental illnesses are still things that people in general feel uncomfortable to talk about, but either way, it's better to stay informed.
ReplyDeleteYeah, when my friend was diagnosed I spent a couple hours reading the BD Wikipedia page and reading around. I definitely didn't have any sort of understanding of the disease before, but now I get it a little better. It's still frustrating when other people talk about things like this knowing nothing about it whatsoever, but it isn't something they can necessarily control. It just means we should all educate ourselves better.
DeleteI'm happy that you clarified this because I do not think Bipolar Disorder (or any other mental health issues for that matter) should be talked about based off a more stereotypical view of it. I think that Holden definitely has some form of depression (I think we've basically all realized that by now) because he definitely shows a lot of signs of it. Again, I'm happy you cleared this up. Great post.
ReplyDeleteI would never confidently try and "diagnose" Holden, and I certainly wouldn't assert that he suffers from anything so specific as bipolar disorder. But I do think it's a useful term for describing his dramatic mood swings throughout the novel--there's simply a "bipolar" quality to his character, during this three-day period of crisis, where he moves rapidly from good humor and even euphoria down to deep and even suicidal depression. He fluctuates between these poles, and all the territory in between.
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