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Essay on psychological effects of trauma
Essay on psychological effects of trauma
Essay on psychological effects of trauma
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Experiencing a tragedy at a young age causes many problems as that individual grows up. The most common effects are changes in usual behavior, episodes of crying or sadness, and suicidal thoughts. In The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, and The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D Salinger, the death of a close sibling causes two characters to act out and experience these effects.
Enduring a tragedy often leaves one with feelings of depression. These effects could include loss in interest, hopelessness and feelings that things will never get better. Depression is more likely when you have had great losses, such as a family member (Common Reactions After Trauma). Another effect is changes in ones’ usual behavior. This could include not doing something that is routine of them or different feelings (Osofsky). These symptoms apply both to Holden, from The Catcher in the Rye, who lost his younger brother, and May, from The Secret Life of Bees, who lost her twin sister. Due to their losses, they both feel great despair and act out. Holden often describes himself feeling lonely, like nobody understands him. He even goes on dates with girls he has no interest in. Having been kicked out of multiple schools, he loses all interest in his grades or what his teachers think of him. He also does things that are not like him; he goes out to bars and attempts to buy alcohol. Also unlike him, he pays money for a stripper which he doesn't end up having sex with. Holden explains that he is feeling “more depressed than sexy” (Salinger 93-98). May Boatwright also shows signs of depression, and changes in her usual behavior. Since her twin sister died, May was never the same. She became depressed and carried the weight of the burden. He...
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...would take her own life eventually.
Characters May and Holden experienced the death of a loved one as teenagers. These catastrophes had a negative effect on their lives and caused them to have changes in their usual behavior, episodes of sadness, and suicidal thoughts.
Works Cited
“Common Reactions After Trauma.” PTSD: National Center for PTSD. 23 Jan 2009. Web.
Conner, Michael G. “Coping and Surviving Violent and Traumatic Events.” Crisis Counseling. 24 Aug 2011. Web.
Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees. New York: Penguin Group, 2003. Print.
Osofsky, Joy D. “Parenting After Traumatic Events: Ways to Support Children.” Psych Central. 30 Jan 2013. Web. 12 Dec 2013.
“Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).” Psych Central. 9 Oct 2013. Web.13 Dec 2013.
Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1951. Print.
There is one universal truth that will exist through out all of time and space that affects all that live to experience it. That truth is known as grief. We all experience grief, and for Holden Caulfield, grief is a major aspect of his life, the force that drives him to do everything he does in the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. There are seven stages to this emotion known as grief: denial, depression, anger, bargaining, guilt, reconstruction, and finally, acceptance. There are many parts in the novel that could have influenced Holden’s grief, but the main one that most people who read the novel have figured it out was the death of his little brother Allie. The root to Holden’s grief lies with his brother which cause Holden’s to act and change the way he does in the novel.
Imagine if your best friend or someone close to you suddenly dies of a fatal disease. The death of this person would physically and mentally inflict trauma. All though the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is a grieving seventeen year old because he endures a traumatic experience at the age of 13. His 11 year old brother, Allie, dies of leukemia, and this affects Holden throughout the novel. It causes him to yearn for his innocence and childhood back because he wants to return to the stage in his life when there are no worries. He realizes that it is not realistic to become a child again, and he begins to accept the fact that he must grow up and set an example for his sister, Phoebe. Growing up with the loss of a close brother, Holden wants to be a protector of all innocence, and later in the novel, he begins to notice he must find a solution to his traumatic experiences in order to become successful in his lifetime.
Thesis statement: The relationship Holden and Blanche have between family and people in society leads them to an inner turmoil, which eventually results in their psychological breakdowns.
The experience of being in a state of grief is not limited by age but by experience. The symptoms of a person experiencing bereavement and grief are found throughout the book. These symptoms not only apply to Holden and his situation, but also are accepted as classic symptoms recognized by the Grief Counseling Community. The story is replete with the phrases "I felt so lonesome; I almost wish I was dead; it was so depressing; it was so quiet and lonesome out; feeling sort to lousy; made me sad; I felt miserable; felt like committing suicide; jumping out the window; sitting on an atomic bomb; blue as hell; felt like getting stinking drunk; can't sleep."
“The Catcher in the Rye” is a 1950’s novel written by J.D. Salinger. It tells a story about a teenage boy who travels to multiple locations throughout New York after being kicked out of his school, Pencey. Throughout the book, Salinger uses numerous amount of symbolism to show the feelings of the main character, Holden Caulfield. One of the most recognized symbol is Holden’s red hunting hat. It is present in many situations and has abundance amount of symbolic characteristics. The red hunting hat plays an important role to Holden and represents his individuality, safety, as well as his strive for childhood innocence.
One sign of depression is feeling sadness, emptiness, and loneliness (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/ ). In the book Holden says “I was crying and all. I don’t know why, but I was. I guess it was because I was feeling so damn depressed and lonesome” (Chapter 20). Also, Holden is kind of lonely considering he only has only a few people in his address book and Phoebe is the only one he really likes in his family. Holden also feels overwhelmingly sad. He expresses, “Almost every time somebody gives me a present, it lends up making me sad” (Chapter 7). This
Holden goes through life not wanting to grow up. For him growing up meant the death of his brother Allie, leaving his younger sister, Phoebe, and not being able to keep in touch with his friend Jane Gallagher. Holden is very critical of others and is written as a cynical and at tim...
In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, a sixteen year old boy named Holden Caulfield gets expelled from his school and runs away before his parents find out. He goes to his home town, New York, and encounters many people. Throughout the novel, Caulfield is still coping with the death of his brother Allie. His attitude slowly decreases and various signs of a mental disorder are exhibited through his actions and his thoughts. Some people believe that he does not have a mental disorder, he is just grieving; however, he has clear symptoms that he is suffering from depression and anti-social disorder. These disorders are shown when Caulfield takes everything in a negative way, talks about being depressed, thinks that everyone is “phony”, and talks about his deceased brother.
There are instances of a death of a loved one causing harsh emotional strain on individuals for an extended period of time, where the pain can eventually worsen into a mental disorder, such as depression. Although some individuals are able to cope with and eventually overcome the death of a family member or friend, there are others who are not able to recuperate and will allow the grief to take over each aspect of themselves in their mourning state. Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye, is believed to be suffering a major depressive disorder due to the death of his younger brother, Allie. I support this viewpoint completely, because Caulfield’s depression is perceived throughout the novel throughout his words and actions amongst himself and others. Since the main character is shown at a young age and is easily depicted as a highly brash person, it can be conceptualized that his character and depression developed through his loss of Allie.
“Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger is, in simplest terms, a book about life. A novel about what it means to exist, to be human, and to live – and a sixteen-year-old boy mercilessly critical of the world of 1950’s New York he lives in. The movies, the music, the people are all meaningless to him, even despicable. He hates the way life works – the divisions between the rich and the poor, the endless walking in circles and the inability to understand one’s purpose. Holden feels that life is sad and empty because of unfair economic inequities, the fragmentation of society into different groups and the boringness of adult life.
Both Holden and Charlie affected negatively, changing their perspective to life pessimistic, from what happened in their family life. Holden is angry at his brother’s
Psychological Problems in Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye Jerome David Salinger was a very famous American author who wrote several books. One of his most successful books was The Catcher in the Rye. Other works by Salinger include the short story collection Nine Stories, Franny and Zooey, and Raise High The Beam, Carpenter and Seymour. In the book The Catcher in the Rye Holden Caulfield, became a model of the rebellious and confused adolescent who detected the “phoniness” of the adult world. (Microsoft Encyclopedia 98). This showed that he had a serious psychological problem. He never wanted to grow up and, he also never wanted his sister to face the world. He thought that the world was too bad for her to go out to because of the problems he faced in his own life. Psychology of a person determines that person’s personality. This research paper will attempt to tell why Holden suffered from psychological problems.
Twenty percent of teens in America today suffer from at least one symptom of depression.( Teenage Depression Statistics ) Depression is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts, that affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. Depression symptoms include loss of emotional expression, feelings of hopelessness, pessimism, and social withdrawal (Teenage Depression Statistics )Holden Caulfield, in J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, suffers from symptoms of depression. Because of his mental illness, he is a misunderstood, confused young character who is in search of his identity and place in the world. He suffers from symptoms of depression, which are rooted in a lack of closure concerning his brother's death. The devastation Holden experiences after Allie's death is understandable. This unfortunately leads to a lack of personal motivation, low self esteem and compulsive lying. Holden's inability to self-reflect and his stubbornness in overlooking the obvious has resulted in a chronic lack of motivation. Holden lacks the necessary ability to motivate himself, which is required to survive in the 'real' world. Holden feels no need to self motivate, because all those who survive in the 'real' world, he considers phonies. He is unable to realize the importance of progress, maturity and responsibility.
Holden’s depression becomes worse as time goes on. The adverse situations that Holden gets involved in, provokes his thoughts on death. After the controversy he has with Maurice and Sunny, Holden ponders jumping out his hotel room’s window. A day later, he starts to imagine himself dying from pneumonia as he sits in cold Central Park. And at one point, out of nowhere, he feels like he is going to disappear every time he reaches the end of a street. Holden feels like disappearing from society.
Necessary Behavioral Mental Health intervention does not end at the point first responders have successfully contained the actual crisis. The ongoing need for Behavioral Mental Health services will continue for an extended length of time when a traumatic event such as that depicted in the scenario occur. A copious number of individuals will have ...