The battle of a mental disorder is a tough fight that people tend to deal with on a daily basis with a tendency of being alone while trying to find a way out of that battle. Keeping a distance from those who will help, and rejecting help due to age, heritage, and even gender. Maggie Nelson illustrates the battle she faces with depression using the color blue as a tool to have control over her depression bringing the color blue to life as an ally to have a control over depression as well as targeting the gender differences for mental health is taken upon by society depending on the gender. Maggie Nelson is creating a comfort zone inside her walls with the use of the color blue to maintain a sense of power and control over her depression. Nelson …show more content…
states that she painted everything yellow, and after the was done she quickly moved out of the apartment, and moved into an apartment with a baby blue hallway. With this statement nelson is showing how she tried to move away from her comfort zone where she felt that she had the most power, since she felt that giving up blue would mean that she’s giving up the control that she might have over depression. By giving up the color blue and painting all of her home is a sense that she’s letting go of her control and allowing a normal flow of her state to happen by using the color yellow as a way to cover up her state and that no one would notice.
In an article by Jennifer Soong she explains what Depression Traps are she explains that “rumination is a habit that a person creates a theme and seeing negative the negative aspects in a day …show more content…
to day actions”. Nelson creates that habit when she painted her entire apartment yellow, and even bought a yellow notebook to follow her theme, and looks for the negative in that theme by saying that when she got home the color was different even stating that yellow was a the least attractive of all colors. In this statement Nelson is showing show she tried to create a theme with the color yellow which is often associated with joy, but failed since she has a rumination with the color blue as well as the sense of control that she gets whenever she’s surrounded by her old friend the color blue. With Nelson’s personification of the color blue she’ creating a friend that hides in her walls as a shadow and comes out whenever she need that friend in her most vulnerable moments. Nelson looks for the color blue as if it were a real person capable of comforting when she’s alone; as far as even looking for love in the color as Nelson states “It cannot love me that way”. Looking for support from the color blue to create a sense of power for her to overcome her problems and deal with her sense of loneliness that later creates her depression. Again Nelson demonstrates the personification of the color blue, and how she uses the color as an ally in her battle with her depression illustrated her dependence on the color when nelson again does a personification of blue “But sometimes I do feel its presence to be a sort of wink- Here you are again, it says, and so am I.” Even Nelson gives the idea that the color blue is like an assistant to her comparing the color blue with Newton assistant that many believe that was a “rhetorical fiction” that Newton assistant never existed just like blue is not a real person, but helps her with her problems and provides answers.” With this Nelson is giving the audience the confirmation that she’s brought the color to life in order to assist her with her depression as a friend. Even when she’s all alone she seeks refuge in her old friend blue. Nelson addresses the point of how depression is target differently depending on the gender society will target the mental health differently.
While Nelson makes a statement about how when she tried to accept help she saw how all the help is target directly at women, and not to men or even general help for anyone that might grab that book. Nelson stated how when she grabbed that book Nelson felt ashamed about having a gender target book to fight depression “Having expected a chromatic treatise, I am embarrassed when I see the subtitle: How Women Face and Overcome Depression” instead of having a book that would not be a gender specific targeted book. Since females are the target gender since there’s more gender specific depression such as a postpartum, puberty, pregnancy and premenstrual depression according to the Mayo clinic staff “Women are nearly twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with depression.” At a medical point of view women are twice as likely to be diagnose with depression, but due to society women are more acceptable to look for help and acceptable to have depression. APA President Ronald Levant, EdD, dean of Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Akron use the term “normative male alexithymia to describe men's greater problems with expressing their emotions, a possible contributor to depression and barrier to treatment” (Men: A Different Depression) given this phenomenon the percentage of males receiving medical help, or even admitting that
there’s a problem is half as compare to females receiving help. Within this statistics Nelsons mention of the book “Having expected a chromatic treatise: How Women Face and Overcome Depression” becomes a clear point of how women are the clear target of any sort of help for overcoming depression. Since women are statistically twice of likely to accept help there’s more help available for women Nelson becomes embarrassed and angered of how all of those resources are targeted to women, and not to the general public as a whole but is gender specific help. Maggie Nelsons battle with depression is a clear message as how the women are still taken upon as the fragile gender due to mental health, and accepting help compared to males that do not accept the help since it would make them seem weak by showing their emotions. Since depression is a battle that is usually fought alone Nelson created a persona for the color blue that made her feel as if there was someone helping and making everything better when in reality no one was helping with Nelson’s fight over depression. While people live with depression as a daily routine Nelson took a stand to fight depression, and showed the reader that going through depression is not something to be ashamed of no matter the gender people should seek out for help.
Throughout the graphic memoir Marbles by Ellen Forney, she talks about and discusses her daily struggles with dealing with her recent, formal, diagnosis of bipolar I disorder. She, from the very beginning, explains her constant struggle with dealing her mental state and her constant high and lows. When she illustrates her daily life she intensely details her emotions and how she interacts with people and different places. She uses the illustrations to speak for her when there are no words to be said. These words, spoken and unspoken, account for some deep, meaningful thoughts and questions that arise about her and her daily life with bipolar I disorder. Afraid of and questioning her mental state, Forney’s initially uninformed life creates panic
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s "The Yellow Wall-Paper," does more than just tell the story of a woman who suffers at the hands of 19th century quack medicine. Gilman created a protagonist with real emotions and a real psych that can be examined and analyzed in the context of modern psychology. In fact, to understand the psychology of the unnamed protagonist is to be well on the way to understanding the story itself. "The Yellow Wall-Paper," written in first-person narrative, charts the psychological state of the protagonist as she slowly deteriorates into schizophrenia (a disintegration of the personality).
The theme of this story is feminism. Having gone through postpartum depression herself, Gilman?s story was strongly personal. During the time period that she wrote it, woman?s rights were limited. The character in this story felt she knew ways to recover herself from her depression, or ?baby blues?. Baby blues also known as postpartum depression is a form of severe depression after pregnancy delivery that requires treatment. Women may feel sadness, despair, anxiety, or irritability. The woman from the story wanted to get well and wanted to work. However, as a woman she was forbid by her husband to do this. Instead she was isolated from society, from being able to work, do the things she loved, or take care of her baby.
There are numerous works of literature that recount a story- a story from which inspiration flourishes, providing a source of liberating motivation to its audience, or a story that simply aspires to touch the hearts and souls of all of those who read it. One of the most prevalent themes in historical types of these kinds of literature is racism. In America specifically, African Americans endured racism heavily, especially in the South, and did not gain equal rights until the 1960s. In her renowned book The Color Purple, Alice Walker narrates the journey of an African American woman, Celie Johnson (Harris), who experiences racism, sexism, and enduring hardships throughout the course of her life; nonetheless, through the help of friends and family, she is able to overcome her obstacles and grow into a stronger, more self-assured individual. While there are numerous themes transpiring throughout the course of the novel, the symbolism is one of the strongest prospects for instigating the plot. In The Color Purple by Alice Walker, numerous symbols influence and drive the plot of the novel.
As the narrator presents a dangerous and startling view into the world of depression, Charlotte Perkins Gilman introduces a completely revitalized way of storytelling using the classic elements of fiction. Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” combines a multitude of story elements that cannot be replicated. Her vast use of adjectives and horrifying descriptions of the wallpaper bring together a story that is both frightening and intensely well told. Using the story’s few characters and remote setting, Charlotte Perkins Gilman presents the wallpaper itself as both a representation of the narrator and the story’s theme, as well as a symbol for her descent into the abyss of insanity.
The Color Purple is an epistolary novel that tells the story of a young black girl, Celie, who is abused by her father and others, left with no other option but to confide in God and use writing as a way of journal therapy and to find her own sense of agency. In The Color Purple by Alice Walker, the author uses first person point of view to make evident to the reader Celie’s growth from an emotionally detached being who is not capable of making her own decisions to a full fledged person with her own sense of agency throughout the novel.
Alice Walker’s writings were greatly influenced by the political and societal happenings around her during the 1960s and 1970s. She not only wrote about events that were taking place, she participated in them as well. Her devoted time and energy into society is very evident in her works. The Color Purple, one of Walker’s most prized novels, sends out a social message that concerns women’s struggle for freedom in a society where they are viewed as inferior to men. The events that happened during and previous to her writing of The Color Purple had a tremendous impact on the standpoint of the novel.
Nolen-Hoeksema offers studies to prove that rumination leads to depression, and that, in addition, people suffering with depression are more likely to ruminate;
In the preface to ‘the Colour Purple’ Walker identifies her religious development as the inspiration for her novel and labels religion and spirituality as the principle themes in the book. There are a number of principle characters who complete this journey however in many instances the religious element of the novel is overshadowed by other prominent themes such as personal development, female relationships and racial issues. These must be taken into consideration when assessing Walker’s success in delivering her theological message to her readers.
...o considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuff "offers a personal testimony of survival and spiritual health." P.29 Having attempted suicide four times; Shange writes with the deliberate full intensity of a survivor who places herself at the forefront in defense of `colored girls' who have or who may consider suicide. The defense is a collective effort to provide sustenance through guidance and supportive feeding of the `colored girls' desires to be loved, to be educated, to be actively identified, to be protected, and to know when these rights to life are abused and how to fight for themselves and their family.
As we are all imperfect humans, we thrive and face a sense of self determination by the expectations of those around us, whether distinguished by close family or society, expectations molding us to conform to the roles that have been set forth for us to play. However, the view that society has on these roles that each gender is supposed to play is not always what society should expect from individuals. Throughout the book The Color Purple by Alice Walker, several characters do not follow these stereotypical roles that their genders are assigned; because of this, they break through the stereotypical walls that have traditionally been directed at their genders. Therefore, the attitudes and personalities that genders are labeled with are often
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story that continues to transcend time with its’ themes of feminism and mental health issues. The narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper must struggle not only against her own mind, but the oppressive nature of her husband and her horribly inaccurate treatment plan, the combination of which destroys her sense of self. Throughout the story the narrator shares her experiences of her mental illness in a day to day basis until she completely loses her sanity. This just shows how serious it can be to ignore a type of mental illness for too long.
Am I a Blue? When hearing this title one might insight into a colorful narrative that is meant for a youthful audience, when in fact the title is a representation of society’s dark and concealed meanings. Am I Blue by Alice Walker depicts all the struggles and hardships people have been through and still go through on a day-to-day basis. While the title suggests something pretty, the story itself proves to be far from it as one looks closely at the words and reads between the lines. This piece of literature is the epitome of symbolism.
To elaborate, society expects males to externalize their problems and females to internalize their problems (Arnett, 2018). Coupled with such assumptions may be the underlying motivations of socializing young boys to be aggressive and protective while young girls to be passive and obedient (LaMarre, 2018). Though this socialization is shifting, such traditional expectations have not disappeared (LaMarre, 2018). The Canadian Mental Health Association suggests that one barrier for males seeking help is the notion that mental health issues are weaknesses, and thus non-masculine (“Men and Mental Illness”). The Healthy Place termed this belief as one needing to “man up” (Barton, 2017). Nevertheless, such stigma has led to projects like the Good Men Project, with the hopes of changing the conversation. Moreover, they suggest that we think we know what it means to be a good man, when truly, we don’t (“The Good Men Project”). Having this conversation and providing males the space they need to simply be themselves, challenges what is considered normal for a man or woman and ultimately allows society to move
In turn, these expectations lead to men and women handling stress and negative situations differently, and the development of mental illness typically stems from there, with some genders being more prone to certain disorders than the other (“Gender and women’s health”). For example, common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, are predominated by women, and are possibly brought on by socioeconomic disadvantage, income inequality, or a subordinate social rank. In comparison, males are more likely to be diagnosed with alcohol dependence and antisocial personality disorder, possibly due to pressure of being the prime provider for the family, or the expectation of internalizing any negative thoughts or emotions. However, not only are gender roles detrimental to mental health, they also have a negative effect on its diagnosis and treatment of men and women, further promoting the inequities. Gender bias has shown to be a strong factor in the treatment of psychological illnesses, and can often result in misdiagnoses. For example, according to the World Health Organization, even if both patients present identical symptoms, doctors are more likely to diagnose depression in a woman than a man (“Gender disparities in