Mental Illness In Hamlet Essay

There are millions of people diagnosed with some sort of mental disorder every day, and many are misdiagnosed with the wrong disorder because there are thousands of different mental illnesses that have similar symptoms. In the play Hamlet written by William Shakespeare, the main character Hamlet was presumed to be suffering from madness, lunacy, or insanity. In 1602, when the play was written, people did not know about mental disorders. With today’s more advanced knowledge of psychological disorders, Hamlet would likely have been re-diagnosed with Bipolar I disorder. Bipolar I disorder is when an individual suffers from severe manic periods for seven or more days, and then goes into a depressive state mixed with manic symptoms for around two weeks. Symptoms of Bipolar I disorder include peculiar behavior and extreme emotions or mood swings, like being happy one minute, to turning mad or depressed the next. In this play, Hamlet’s behavior follows the symptoms and description of Bipolar I disorder. At the start of the play, Hamlet exhibits Bipolar I disorder through his many episodes of …show more content…
To be honest, as this world goes, is to be one/ man picked out of ten thousand.” (2.2.170-171). This suggest hamlet has little faith in man kind which is a sign of depression. In act two, scene 2 when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern arrive, Hamlet is happy, but not to long after their arrival, he starts to question them and starts to become aiguille again. After this, he becomes infuriated and asks “Were you not sent for? Is it your own inclining? Is it a free visitation? Come, come, deal justly with me. Come, come. Nay, speak.” (2.2.259-261). Hamlet has a tendency go from angry to depressed very fast, in this part of the scene, Hamlet has just figured out that Rosencrants and Guildenstern only came since they were sent for by Gertrude an Claudius. He then becomes more depressed and describes his lose of interest in his whole