From J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye comes forth the timeless protagonist,
Holden Caulfield. To some, the perplexing anomalies of his character remain a
captivating mystery, but to others, such as psychoanalysts, Holden Caulfield is an open
book. By carefully observing his social quirks and inward thoughts, psychoanalysts can
make a conclusion about his psyche. Specifically, through his lack of social contact,
occasional mood swings, and paranoia among other things, anyone looking through a
psychoanalytic lens could conclude that Holden Caulfield is schizophrenic.
The psychoanalytic lens is one of many ways to observe a work of literature. By
using this lens, psychoanalysts observe the special behaviors of a
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Meanwhile, Holden believes that the world is completely bisected into the
innocent and the corrupted, this is apparent in his obsession with “phonies”. Furthermore,
he also believes that he can prevent grey areas from occurring; affectively preventing
children from becoming adults by “catching” them as they fall from a perilous cliff
(Salinger 173). Holden has molded his life around this fantasy and fails to realize that
nothing can prevent children from one day becoming adults. These thoughts that seem
realistic and attainable to him are merely the products of his schizophrenic psyche.
Holden’s obsession with the theme of innocence versus corruption connects to
schizophrenia in more ways than one. Ronald D. Laing’s theory proposes that
schizophrenia is not an illness per say, rather it is a logical reaction of an individual to a
corrupted society. Holden’s lament of his obviously corrupted world is further indication
to his schizophrenia, even if it is a rational reaction and not a disease.
More evidence of Holden’s inability to distinguish reality from fantasy is in his
episodic flights of fancy. After his confrontation with Maurice, the elevator man, and
Sunny, a prostitute, he imagines, “coming out of the goddam bathroom, dressed and all,
with my automatic in my pocket,” and proceeding to, “hold onto the banister and all,
with this blood trickling out of the side of my mouth,” and later, in the episode, he would
I chose to write my research paper over Schizophrenia. It is a psychological disorder that I have always found fascinating. It is a serious disorder that consumes a person's life and is nearly impossible to control. In this paper, I will talk about the definition of Schizophrenia, the diagnosis of Schizophrenia, Schizophrenia in children, suicide, sexually related characteristics of the disease, sleep disorders caused by the disease, differences in the disease on different ethnicities, and insensitivity to pain.
Schizophrenia is a severe, disabling and chronic disorder that affects people. Schizophrenia is diagnosed as a psychotic disorder. This is because a person suffering from schizophrenia cannot tell their own thoughts, perceptions, ideas, and imaginations from the reality. There is continuing debate and research as to whether schizophrenia is one condition or a combination of more than one syndrome that have related features. People suffering from schizophrenia may seem perfectly fine until the time they talk actually talk about they are thinking. People with schizophrenia rely on others for help since they cannot care for themselves of hold a job. There is no cure for schizophrenia, but there is treatment that relieves some of the symptoms. People having the disorder will cope with the symptoms all their lives. There have been cases of people suffering from schizophrenia leading meaningful and rewarding lives. There are five types of schizophrenia namely paranoid, disorganized, residual, undifferentiated, and catatonic schizophrenia. This paper will discuss paranoid schizophrenia.
One must inevitably confront the daunting face of adulthood. In J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger depicts the disheartening journey from adolescence to adulthood that Holden Caulfield endures. Although holden seeks the freedoms that mark adulthood, he has yet to take up the role of a truly mature citizen as the society conforming nature of those adults disgust him, leading him to his gradual mental decline. J. D. Salinger uses the immature character of Holden Caulfield as a means of revealing the difficult transition from adolescence to adulthood and its psychological effects.
The symptoms of schizophrenia vary, however, they have been categorized as positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms. Positive symptoms may include hallucinations, delusions, and / or thought disorder. Hallucinations normally give a false perception of touch, smell, taste, and / or visit, those with this particular mental disorder often experience auditory hallucinations. Delusions are also a sign of schizophrenia. Open quotations delusions are beliefs that are not part of the person's culture and do not change. Quotation parentheses u.s. Department, print the seas, 2010. These may cause a person that has this disorder, to think or feel as if they are victims in imagine conspiracy. It is also shown that they believe they are being controlled
Over the last few decades Schizophrenia has become embedded in mainstream vernacular as any behavior or emotional response that is out of touch with reality. However even with its popularity heightened through movies and headline news stories, schizophrenia is still one of the most enigmatic and least understood disorders of the brain. With current research focused on the role of neurobiology and functioning on a cellular level, investigative analysis has merited new innovations towards its source, however a single organic cause for the disorder still eludes scientists. Although the foundation of the affliction is still unknown, its effects are well documented and over the next few pages will show the changes in the brain as the disease
A patient that shows sign such as regression, inappropriate affect, and other behaviors that are childish or bizarre most likely has disorganized schizophrenia. But this is not the only type of schizophrenia, there are others such as: Paranoid schizophrenia, disorganized schizophrenia, catatonic schizophrenia, undifferentiated schizophrenia, and lastly residual schizophrenia.
Disorganized schizophrenia is defined as one of several subtypes of schizophrenia as chronic (long-term) mental illness. It is thought to be extreme expression of disorganized syndrome that has been hypothesized to be one feature of a 3-factor model of schizophrenia. The other factors are delusions/hallucination (reality distortion), and psychomotor poverty (poor speech, lack of spontaneous movement, and blunting emotion). People who suffer from this mental illness had to battle for years before getting any help. Also, people that have disorganized schizophrenia use and abuse drugs. There is about 1% of the population who suffer from this mental illness. In my paper I will speak about the treatment, symptoms, causes, of disorganized schizophrenia.
Many people today believe they are experts on schizophrenia due to hollywood titles such as 1948 blockbuster The Snake Pit or the 2001 hit A Beautiful Mind. However, many people do not know the cause, the symptoms, or the experiences people who suffer from schizophrenia face. Schizophrenia is a psychological disorder characterized by a split between thought and emotion where a person has difficulty distinguishing whether altered thoughts, perceptions, & conscious experiences are real versus imagined (Grison, Heatherton, and Gazzaniga, 2015, p. 518).
In the US, patients with schizophrenia who are unemployed, may be eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. These programs pay the cost of medical care; however benefits may be revoked if individuals begin to work or acquire other means of income, even if their job or other source of income provide minimal to no health benefits. Another consideration when dealing with Schizophrenia is how it affects the individual’s entire family. While difficult, the patient benefits greatly from having a support system to assist in keeping track with therapy, medication and to help decrease feelings of being different. “The results indicate a 20% relapse rate reduction if the family is included in schizophrenia treatment.” (Walz, "Psychology of Schizophrenia ") The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) is an advocacy group that is helpful in supporting family members. NAMI also advocates funding and research. ("Schizophrenia Treatment & Management: Approach Considerations, Antipsychotic Pharmacotherapy, Other Pharmacotherapy", 2018) Lastly, a person with schizophrenia should be encouraged to stay active and consume a healthy diet as antipsychotic medications can cause weight gain and changes in glucose or lipid metabolism. They may also develop odd food cravings, have limited funds, can't cook for themselves, or may simply find that fast food is much easier to
A Battle Against Himself CONNECTICUT - Ken Steele has heard voices most of his life. He was 14 years old when he started having auditory hallucinations. These voices commanded him to hurt himself and they were predicting his death. "Hang yourself," the voices told him. "The world will be better off. You 're no good, no good at all." The voices got louder and louder everyday and he was no longer in control of his life. They were. Ken’s behavior unexpectedly changed and Ken’s parents grew worried. No one was aware of what has happening. They took him to the family doctor, who announced that Ken had schizophrenia. Ken Steele at the age of 14 Subsequently,
The character of Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in The Rye, is one of the most studied and theorized protagonists in literature to this day. He leaves critics mystified and speculating on the depths of the personality and the reasoning behind his actions. The story takes place in New York City following Holden’s explosion from a string of prestigious preparatory schools. Three days of meandering around the city gives the reader insight to his history and to the question of why, perhaps, he is less than mentally sound. The better answer to that question is found in the research of the man who created Holden and his world, J.D. Salinger.
Schizophrenia is a complex and puzzling illness. Even the experts in the field are not exactly sure what causes it. Some doctors think that the brain may not
Schizophrenia is a very complex disorder and people who suffer from this disorder suffer in different ways. Schizophrenia is a psychological
Schizophrenia is a brain disease; Schizophrenia’s main problem is with insanity. What is Insanity? Webster’s dictionary states it as “A deranged state of the mind occurring as a specific disorder (as Schizophrenia) (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 646).” The definition of insanity is closely related to schizophrenia described as a disorder. When having schizophrenia one's behavior and thinking change dramatically. One’s behavior might contain several signs as loss of personal contact, social withdrawal, diminution of appetite, depletion of hygiene, delusions and hallucinations are just to name a few. Individuals with schizophrenia many times have no outward appearance of looking ill. In another case, a paranoid schizophrenic would
I arrived at school, I heard Shly died in a plane crash and that one no survive, I felt depressed. First of all I was sad when I heard she died. I was in 4 grade in Buffalo ridge when this happened. I had a sad attitude when I heard her name. The plane crash hit a island and no one survived. Some people felt pity for me since she died. Even though, I was sad I still had the best memories of her. We bond together like we write secret notes to each other when we get bored. Me and Shly eat lunch together and laugh. We also help each other when one of us are left behind. In the end, I had to talk to people how I felt. I was involved with the counselor and I had to talk to them, they were positive I would get better. My teacher told