The battle of a mental disorder is a tough fight that people tend to deal with on a daily basis with a tendency of being alone while trying to find a way out of that battle. Keeping a distance from those who will help, and rejecting help due to age, heritage, and even gender. Maggie Nelson illustrates the battle she faces with depression using the color blue as a tool to have control over her depression bringing the color blue to life as an ally to have a control over depression as well as targeting the gender differences for mental health is taken upon by society depending on the gender. Maggie Nelson is creating a comfort zone inside her walls with the use of the color blue to maintain a sense of power and control over her depression. Nelson …show more content…
In an article by Jennifer Soong she explains what Depression Traps are she explains that “rumination is a habit that a person creates a theme and seeing negative the negative aspects in a day …show more content…
While Nelson makes a statement about how when she tried to accept help she saw how all the help is target directly at women, and not to men or even general help for anyone that might grab that book. Nelson stated how when she grabbed that book Nelson felt ashamed about having a gender target book to fight depression “Having expected a chromatic treatise, I am embarrassed when I see the subtitle: How Women Face and Overcome Depression” instead of having a book that would not be a gender specific targeted book. Since females are the target gender since there’s more gender specific depression such as a postpartum, puberty, pregnancy and premenstrual depression according to the Mayo clinic staff “Women are nearly twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with depression.” At a medical point of view women are twice as likely to be diagnose with depression, but due to society women are more acceptable to look for help and acceptable to have depression. APA President Ronald Levant, EdD, dean of Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Akron use the term “normative male alexithymia to describe men's greater problems with expressing their emotions, a possible contributor to depression and barrier to treatment” (Men: A Different Depression) given this phenomenon the percentage of males receiving medical help, or even admitting that
Throughout the graphic memoir Marbles by Ellen Forney, she talks about and discusses her daily struggles with dealing with her recent, formal, diagnosis of bipolar I disorder. She, from the very beginning, explains her constant struggle with dealing her mental state and her constant high and lows. When she illustrates her daily life she intensely details her emotions and how she interacts with people and different places. She uses the illustrations to speak for her when there are no words to be said. These words, spoken and unspoken, account for some deep, meaningful thoughts and questions that arise about her and her daily life with bipolar I disorder. Afraid of and questioning her mental state, Forney’s initially uninformed life creates panic
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s "The Yellow Wall-Paper," does more than just tell the story of a woman who suffers at the hands of 19th century quack medicine. Gilman created a protagonist with real emotions and a real psych that can be examined and analyzed in the context of modern psychology. In fact, to understand the psychology of the unnamed protagonist is to be well on the way to understanding the story itself. "The Yellow Wall-Paper," written in first-person narrative, charts the psychological state of the protagonist as she slowly deteriorates into schizophrenia (a disintegration of the personality).
As the narrator presents a dangerous and startling view into the world of depression, Charlotte Perkins Gilman introduces a completely revitalized way of storytelling using the classic elements of fiction. Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” combines a multitude of story elements that cannot be replicated. Her vast use of adjectives and horrifying descriptions of the wallpaper bring together a story that is both frightening and intensely well told. Using the story’s few characters and remote setting, Charlotte Perkins Gilman presents the wallpaper itself as both a representation of the narrator and the story’s theme, as well as a symbol for her descent into the abyss of insanity.
Nolen-Hoeksema offers studies to prove that rumination leads to depression, and that, in addition, people suffering with depression are more likely to ruminate;
The theme of this story is feminism. Having gone through postpartum depression herself, Gilman?s story was strongly personal. During the time period that she wrote it, woman?s rights were limited. The character in this story felt she knew ways to recover herself from her depression, or ?baby blues?. Baby blues also known as postpartum depression is a form of severe depression after pregnancy delivery that requires treatment. Women may feel sadness, despair, anxiety, or irritability. The woman from the story wanted to get well and wanted to work. However, as a woman she was forbid by her husband to do this. Instead she was isolated from society, from being able to work, do the things she loved, or take care of her baby.
...o considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuff "offers a personal testimony of survival and spiritual health." P.29 Having attempted suicide four times; Shange writes with the deliberate full intensity of a survivor who places herself at the forefront in defense of `colored girls' who have or who may consider suicide. The defense is a collective effort to provide sustenance through guidance and supportive feeding of the `colored girls' desires to be loved, to be educated, to be actively identified, to be protected, and to know when these rights to life are abused and how to fight for themselves and their family.
If any woman had to answer if she ever had trouble accepting herself, the response would be yes. According to Susan David, “All healthy human beings have an inner stream of thoughts and feelings that include criticism, doubt, and fear” (125-128). Depending on the person Alice Walker has as the recipients of Celie’s and Nettie’s letters, the text alters. The Color Purple is about a girl named Celie, who grows up in the south during the early 1920’s, surrounded by racism, sexism, and abuse from her father and husband. Alice Walker wrote The Color Purple in epistolary style and it traces Celie’s journey of finding her identity and path of finally accepting herself. On her journey she encounters a couple of women including one named Shug Avery, who helps turn Celie’s life around. Throughout The Color Purple, Alice Walker uses the epistolary structure to demonstrate self-acceptance in women.
As we are all imperfect humans, we thrive and face a sense of self determination by the expectations of those around us, whether distinguished by close family or society, expectations molding us to conform to the roles that have been set forth for us to play. However, the view that society has on these roles that each gender is supposed to play is not always what society should expect from individuals. Throughout the book The Color Purple by Alice Walker, several characters do not follow these stereotypical roles that their genders are assigned; because of this, they break through the stereotypical walls that have traditionally been directed at their genders. Therefore, the attitudes and personalities that genders are labeled with are often
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a story that continues to transcend time with its’ themes of feminism and mental health issues. The narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper must struggle not only against her own mind, but the oppressive nature of her husband and her horribly inaccurate treatment plan, the combination of which destroys her sense of self. Throughout the story the narrator shares her experiences of her mental illness in a day to day basis until she completely loses her sanity. This just shows how serious it can be to ignore a type of mental illness for too long.
People around us have a significant impact on the way we live our life, whether consciously or subconsciously. In the novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker, the protagonist Celie’s life is greatly impacted by that of her friend, mentor, and lover, Shug Avery. The confident and independent Shug teaches her about equality, the way to be religious without being devoted to a figurehead, and how to respect and love herself. She teaches all of these qualities by living them herself in everyday life; the way she carries herself, speaks, acts, and even prays in ways that inspires Celie. If it was not for Shug’s assertiveness presence, Celie would have never had the opportunity to become a different person and her view on life would be more sheltered.
There are numerous works of literature that recount a story- a story from which inspiration flourishes, providing a source of liberating motivation to its audience, or a story that simply aspires to touch the hearts and souls of all of those who read it. One of the most prevalent themes in historical types of these kinds of literature is racism. In America specifically, African Americans endured racism heavily, especially in the South, and did not gain equal rights until the 1960s. In her renowned book The Color Purple, Alice Walker narrates the journey of an African American woman, Celie Johnson (Harris), who experiences racism, sexism, and enduring hardships throughout the course of her life; nonetheless, through the help of friends and family, she is able to overcome her obstacles and grow into a stronger, more self-assured individual. While there are numerous themes transpiring throughout the course of the novel, the symbolism is one of the strongest prospects for instigating the plot. In The Color Purple by Alice Walker, numerous symbols influence and drive the plot of the novel.
The Color Purple is an epistolary novel that tells the story of a young black girl, Celie, who is abused by her father and others, left with no other option but to confide in God and use writing as a way of journal therapy and to find her own sense of agency. In The Color Purple by Alice Walker, the author uses first person point of view to make evident to the reader Celie’s growth from an emotionally detached being who is not capable of making her own decisions to a full fledged person with her own sense of agency throughout the novel.
Shange, N. (1977). For colored girls who have considered suicide, when the rainbow is enuf: a choreopoem. New York: MacMillan.
To elaborate, society expects males to externalize their problems and females to internalize their problems (Arnett, 2018). Coupled with such assumptions may be the underlying motivations of socializing young boys to be aggressive and protective while young girls to be passive and obedient (LaMarre, 2018). Though this socialization is shifting, such traditional expectations have not disappeared (LaMarre, 2018). The Canadian Mental Health Association suggests that one barrier for males seeking help is the notion that mental health issues are weaknesses, and thus non-masculine (“Men and Mental Illness”). The Healthy Place termed this belief as one needing to “man up” (Barton, 2017). Nevertheless, such stigma has led to projects like the Good Men Project, with the hopes of changing the conversation. Moreover, they suggest that we think we know what it means to be a good man, when truly, we don’t (“The Good Men Project”). Having this conversation and providing males the space they need to simply be themselves, challenges what is considered normal for a man or woman and ultimately allows society to move
In turn, these expectations lead to men and women handling stress and negative situations differently, and the development of mental illness typically stems from there, with some genders being more prone to certain disorders than the other (“Gender and women’s health”). For example, common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety, are predominated by women, and are possibly brought on by socioeconomic disadvantage, income inequality, or a subordinate social rank. In comparison, males are more likely to be diagnosed with alcohol dependence and antisocial personality disorder, possibly due to pressure of being the prime provider for the family, or the expectation of internalizing any negative thoughts or emotions. However, not only are gender roles detrimental to mental health, they also have a negative effect on its diagnosis and treatment of men and women, further promoting the inequities. Gender bias has shown to be a strong factor in the treatment of psychological illnesses, and can often result in misdiagnoses. For example, according to the World Health Organization, even if both patients present identical symptoms, doctors are more likely to diagnose depression in a woman than a man (“Gender disparities in