Mental Disorder In The Kingdom Of Yr, By Joanne Steinberg

What symptoms classify a person to be diagnosed as sick? A cough, a sore throat, or maybe a fever. Often times when individuals refer to the word ‘sick’, they neglect to mention a common disorder, one which takes a tremendous amount of personal determination, courage and strength in order to overcome. Mental illness took the author, Joanne Greenberg, down a path complete with obstacles, forcing her to battle against schizophrenia, a chronic brain disorder resulting in delusions, hallucinations, trouble with thinking and concentration as well as a lack of motivation. This complex piece of literature was originally composed to fight against the prejudice accusations associated with mental illness, while providing the semi-autobiographical novelist

Deborah’s original fears sprouted from her largest secret, the secret of her personal safe haven. To Deborah, opening up about the Kingdom of Yr, sparked her fear that the haven in which she finds safety, has potential to be destroyed in the hands of another individual. During the earlier stages of the novel, Deborah’s fear for the destruction of Yr ran deep, as without the Kingdom she would no longer have an outlet to run towards during her period of hurt. The fears in which Deborah experiences, also linger towards the emotional pot brewing inside of her, as she is terrified that the anger building up will spill out like an erupting volcano, causing a great deal of damage to an individual, “The clamor of from the Collect built higher until it was an overwhelming roar and the gray vision went red” (Greenberg, Chapter 19, page 26). Once the anger which accumulated over her life finally erupts, it becomes clear that the fear of not being able to control her anger, instigated Deborah to cling onto the rage for so long, eventually forcing her to maintain control of her fear. The protagonist’s final fear is sparked by her belief that the world is a place of betrayal, and love and kindness are foreign objects in the physical world. Due to the taunts she received from bully’s as a child and the lies she was prone to from

Prior to the hospital, Deborah only considered the gods and goddesses existing in Yr, to be her friends, as she would turn to them during times of loneliness or rejection. Throughout the time spent in the hospital, Deborah slowly opened up to Dr. Fried, even nicknaming her ‘Furii’, based upon the power her insight held. During her treatment sessions with Dr. Fried, Deborah familiarizes a feeling which she has become immune too over the years, a feeling of love. Due to the empathy displayed by famous psychiatrist Dr. Fried, the feeling of being the sick, crazy girl ultimately distinguishes during their sessions, resulting in a positive impact along Deborah’s road to recovery, "She liked working with patients. Their very illness made them examine their sanity as few 'sane ' people could. Kept from loving, sharing, and simple communication, they often hungered for it with a purity of passion that she saw as beautiful." (Greenberg, 19). When Dr. Royson supply’s for Dr. Fried, it becomes evident that the trust Dr. Fried built within her relationship with Deborah, and her genuine desire to help the protagonist, assisted the uphill battle, as without the compassion and belief Dr. Royson failed to provide, Deborah fell back down the hill. In conclusion, the honest efforts of the