Holden Caulfield of J.D. Salinger’s, The Catcher in the Rye clearly suffered from a mental disorder known during his time, as psychosis. In this modern era, he could be classified more specifically as some who suffers from diseases like depression, schizophrenia, and potentially more. Why is there such a difference in diagnosis? The current definition of mental illness varies greatly from that of Holden’s time (the 1950’s) due to the advancements in societal views, knowledge of illnesses and treatment options. Society has conceived ever-changing opinions about mental illness throughout the years. During the 1950’s, “fearful and rejecting attitudes toward people with mental illness were common,” (Phelan 188). But even then, there were contradicting
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Those views of sickness during the 1950’s were relatively narrow and had little information on the matter. There was a “tendency for people to equate mental illness with psychosis and to view other kinds of emotional, behavior or personality in non-mental health terms… [or] ‘non-problematic’,” (Phelan 189). People of time essentially thought that the mentally unstable did not require assistance. Apparently, Holden’s parents are the outliers because they saw him as simply crazy after the death of his brother. “I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage,” (Salinger 44). The lack of knowledge is also clear because Holden makes it sound as though his parents did not know what to do. In general for the 1950s, symptoms of mental illness included anxiety/mood problems, social deviance and mental deficiency. These characteristics all describe Holden perfectly, yet in the 1950’s, they could not classify him as anything specific. Throughout the course of the novel, Holden also claims, “What I really felt like, though, was committing suicide,” (Salinger 116-117). In these modern times, people at least have a general idea of what mental disorder one might be suffering from. This could range from depression and bipolar disorder to schizophrenia or multiple personalities. People have some relative idea of common diseases because knowledge of mental health in popular culture has expanded. There a hundreds of different names, treatments and symptoms leading to overall better recovery. Advanced knowledge of mental illness has led to a change in definition and there is no argument in
Those views of sickness during the 1950’s were relatively narrow and had little information on the matter. There was a “tendency for people to equate mental illness with psychosis and to view other kinds of emotional, behavior or personality in non-mental health terms… [or] ‘non-problematic’,” (Phelan 189). People of time essentially thought that the mentally unstable did not require assistance. Apparently, Holden’s parents are the outliers because they saw him as simply crazy after the death of his brother. “I was only thirteen, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all the windows in the garage,” (Salinger 44). The lack of knowledge is also clear because Holden makes it sound as though his parents did not know what to do. In general for the 1950s, symptoms of mental illness included anxiety/mood problems, social deviance and mental deficiency. These characteristics all describe Holden perfectly, yet in the 1950’s, they could not classify him as anything specific. Throughout the course of the novel, Holden also claims, “What I really felt like, though, was committing suicide,” (Salinger 116-117). In these modern times, people at least have a general idea of what mental disorder one might be suffering from. This could range from depression and bipolar disorder to schizophrenia or multiple personalities. People have some relative idea of common diseases because knowledge of mental health in popular culture has expanded. There a hundreds of different names, treatments and symptoms leading to overall better recovery. Advanced knowledge of mental illness has led to a change in definition and there is no argument in