Holden Caulfield, age 17, has been psychoanalyzed today by some of our best psychologists. Interactions with Caulfield have been relatively unhampered, he presented his story in an acceptably complete form and manner. Several key behavioral traits from Holden’s retelling of his experience have been listed them here:
Cynical to everything, especially people
Very impulsive
Attached to people and things that remind him of people
Very provocative
Addicted to several agents
This list of characteristics developed from Holden’s story were formed into two conflicting diagnoses for Holden, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). While Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a substantially supported diagnosis, Borderline …show more content…
For example, he displays his intense reaction of anger when he picked a fight with Stradlater (Salinger 43-45). He also frequently told of his intense relationships with others, hating many for their ‘phoniness’ and loving Allie and Phoebe. This is seen when he enters D.B.’s room where Phoebe was sleeping, where he sees Phoebe and says, “I feel swell, for a change,” indicating how at ease and close he was to her (Salinger 159). One of the most noticeable symptom of this disorder, however, is Holden’s impulsiveness, such as when he meets Sally Hayes, “The funny part is,” he recalls, “I felt like marrying her the minute I saw her. I’m crazy,” (Salinger 124). Stress-related paranoid thoughts are also present in Holden, taking the form of “having a bullet in my guts” (Salinger 104). Suicidal thoughts are the only symptom to have occurred once in the recollection, which was when he was walking out in the cold and thinking of how he thought, “Probably I’d get pneumonia and die,” (Salinger 154). There are a few other symptoms that happen to appropriately describe Holden in some way through his experience, but this is enough evidence to correctly diagnose Holden with …show more content…
The main form of treatment for Caulfield would be psychotherapy, or personal interactions with a psychologist. Already, Holden is showing signs of progress in this treatment; he had openly and plainly retold his experience with us with more or less complete trust. The treatment’s primary concern would be controlling Holden’s impulses and work with his relationship-forming. He appears to have a solid enough will-to-live, so suicide prevention isn’t a priority, and his stress-related paranoia (‘bullet in my guts’) isn’t detrimental to his health, in fact, it’s speculated to help him cope. If you’d like to learn more about the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder, visit www.nimh.nih.gov. Holden Caulfield’s case was a particularly perplexing case to handle; his symptoms could have diagnosed several other disorders if we hadn’t considered Borderline Personality Disorder. Further testing may be required to fully support this diagnosis, but we’re confident this is an acceptable enough analysis. Be sure to check Holden Caulfield in at the scheduled date and time so that he may receive treatment for this
Cynical to everything, especially people
Very impulsive
Attached to people and things that remind him of people
Very provocative
Addicted to several agents
This list of characteristics developed from Holden’s story were formed into two conflicting diagnoses for Holden, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). While Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a substantially supported diagnosis, Borderline …show more content…
For example, he displays his intense reaction of anger when he picked a fight with Stradlater (Salinger 43-45). He also frequently told of his intense relationships with others, hating many for their ‘phoniness’ and loving Allie and Phoebe. This is seen when he enters D.B.’s room where Phoebe was sleeping, where he sees Phoebe and says, “I feel swell, for a change,” indicating how at ease and close he was to her (Salinger 159). One of the most noticeable symptom of this disorder, however, is Holden’s impulsiveness, such as when he meets Sally Hayes, “The funny part is,” he recalls, “I felt like marrying her the minute I saw her. I’m crazy,” (Salinger 124). Stress-related paranoid thoughts are also present in Holden, taking the form of “having a bullet in my guts” (Salinger 104). Suicidal thoughts are the only symptom to have occurred once in the recollection, which was when he was walking out in the cold and thinking of how he thought, “Probably I’d get pneumonia and die,” (Salinger 154). There are a few other symptoms that happen to appropriately describe Holden in some way through his experience, but this is enough evidence to correctly diagnose Holden with …show more content…
The main form of treatment for Caulfield would be psychotherapy, or personal interactions with a psychologist. Already, Holden is showing signs of progress in this treatment; he had openly and plainly retold his experience with us with more or less complete trust. The treatment’s primary concern would be controlling Holden’s impulses and work with his relationship-forming. He appears to have a solid enough will-to-live, so suicide prevention isn’t a priority, and his stress-related paranoia (‘bullet in my guts’) isn’t detrimental to his health, in fact, it’s speculated to help him cope. If you’d like to learn more about the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder, visit www.nimh.nih.gov. Holden Caulfield’s case was a particularly perplexing case to handle; his symptoms could have diagnosed several other disorders if we hadn’t considered Borderline Personality Disorder. Further testing may be required to fully support this diagnosis, but we’re confident this is an acceptable enough analysis. Be sure to check Holden Caulfield in at the scheduled date and time so that he may receive treatment for this