ADOLESCENT DEPRESSION IN IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY BY NED VIZZINI
Almost everyone will experience sadness in their life. The death of a loved one, a lost friendship, or even a broken heart. Most people know that feeling of a heavy heart and mind. Now imagine feeling these sadness anchors drag you down every day. Adolescent depression is a serious mood disorder that can suck happiness out of a person’s life. It can be normal for a teen to experience unhappiness every once in a while, but depression is a more intense case of this. With all the pressure put on today’s adolescence, more and more teens have been suffering from this mind disease. It’s Kind Of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini is a clever fictional story from the perspective of a fifteen year old boy named Craig who has depression. Throughout a week spent at an adult psych unit he learns that his will to live might be stronger than he thought. In the novel, Vizzini accurately portrays adolescent depression by describing how depression is more than sadness, the symptoms of this problem, and how to recover from this disorder.
Depression is a more severe and longer lasting type of sadness and it’s more than just an occasional mood swing (“Depression” 1). Some illnesses such as cancer can take over one’s body in weeks, this however is not the case with depression. It’s never an overnight disease as told by Vizzini, “Depression starts slow” (Vizzini 90). Little by little, one begins to feel as though they are not themselves. It’s a constant fight to get out of bed and perform regular activities that average teens perform every day (“Depression” 1). Life itself becomes a struggle. This happens to Craig in Vizzini’s novel. Craig realizes that he no longer has “good days” (Viz...
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...erious disorder that affects one in every eight teens. Ned Vizzini sets a chilling and extremely honest tone in his book It’s Kind Of a Funny Story that accurately describes depression. It is much more than just sadness. There are symptoms and ways to treat it, but as time goes on, it affects more and more people each year. Ned Vizzini very accurately portrays depression in his book. Craig experiences many of the symptoms of the disorder and takes steps in the right direction to finally get control of his life and start to live and experience things full on. “Ski. Sled. Play basketball. Jog. Run. Run. Run. Run home and enjoy. Enjoy. Take these verbs and enjoy them. They’re yours, Craig. You deserve them because you chose them. You could have left them all behind but you chose to stay here. So now live for real, Craig. Live. Live. Live. Live. Live” (Vizzini 444).
The truth, something so highly coveted is somehow something no one really wants to deliver, in fear of offending someone or being disagreed with or for the shame of thinking, feeling, or knowing something that is not agreed upon. In light of this, some only share certain truths, hiding the ugly truths for only themselves, while others share a sugarcoated version. For Jenny Zhang, the truth about her depression is one that is raw, uncensored, and ugly and is presented in her work, “How It Feels”. Through the use of informal language, first person narrative, and a unique style of writing, Zhang’s thoughts, emotions, and stories become more relatable and understandable as she boldly illuminates truths that most people do not dare to speak of.
A smile has the incredible ability to hide anything. “The funny thing is, nobody ever really knows how much anybody else is hurting. We could be standing next to somebody who is completely broken and we wouldn’t even know it” (Anonymous). Many people in our world internally suffer. Some may say that “[t]he hardest years in life are those between ten and seventy” (Anonymous). During these years of life, people face an uncountable number of struggles and are exposed the true disfigurement of the world. When people undergo extreme or stressful situations that they cannot possibly handle and face the grief-stricken tragedies of the world, such as death, they normally fall into a dark hole called depression. Depression resides everywhere and it has existed for centuries. Throughout the years, however, it has progressively gotten worse. During the 1970s, depression constituted a less severe issue than it does in today’s society. In the 1970s, depression started to gain more attention as such an extensive problem, and began affecting humanity at a more youthful age as the years continued. The number of people suffering from depression today has nearly doubled since the 1970s. However, depression presents just as much of a concern today as it has in the past. In The Optimist's Daughter, Eudora Welty portrays depression through the juxtaposition of characters, her use of symbolism, and verbal irony portrayed throughout the novel.
Sharon Begley, author of “Happiness: Enough Already,” proclaims that dejection is not an unacceptable state of mind and there are experts that endorses gloomy feelings. This reading explicates that even though every-one should be happy there is no need to ignore sadness, as both emotions share key parts in everyone’s life. Sharon Begley and her team of specialists provides the information on why sadness is supplemental to a person’s life.
Depression affects teens everywhere, some teens are upset about home life, school life, or just personal issues in general. Jessica states, “Running aired out my soul. It made me feel alive. And now? I’m stuck in this bed, knowing I’ll never run again” (Van Draanen 6). Jessica is one of the most determined athletes on her track team, the one thing she wants to do most in the world is run, and she can’t do it anymore because of her leg. Jessica says, “So I am getting used to it, and I am gaining confidence but I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever race again. It almost doesn’t matter, though. I can run” (Van Draanen 279). The author makes it aware that Jessica is depressed, but eventually she becomes the happy girl who can run again. The author wants people to know that sometimes things are hard and you get upset, but everything will get better it just takes time. I know that depression is a very serious issue to deal with, and I think time really does fix all
Depression is a serious medical illness that negatively affects how a person conducts him/herself, and the way he/she think. Depression may include anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorders, manic depressions. People with a depressive illness cannot merely ‘pull themselves together’ and get better. About 5% of the population will have some form of a mental illness at some point in their lives. Half of these people will also have a substance abuse
Major mood disorders are characterized by emotional extremes. The person who only goes “down” emotionally suffers from a major depressive disorder. During major depressive episodes, everything looks bleak and hopeless. The person has feelings of failure, worthlessness, and total despair (Coon, 2013). Essentially it causes a constant sense of hopelessness and despair, and may be difficult to work, study, sleep, eat, and enjoy friends and activities. Depression indeed can be deadly.
Depression is an illness within itself that affects the “whole body”. (Staywell,1998) The body, feelings, thoughts, and behavior are all immensely altered when someone is depressed. It is not a sign of personal weakness, or a condition that can be wished or willed away. For some people depression is just temporary, but for others it can last for weeks, months and even years.
Depression is a serious mental health illness which affects an individuals’ mind, body and mood. It is a chronic and lifelong health condition (NICE, 2006) thought to be caused by a number of biological factors including neurotransmitter disturbances in the brain and an element of genetic vulnerability; these are often in addition to psychosocial factors such as the occurrence of undesirable life events, limited social network options, poor self esteem and the occurrence of any adverse life events during a persons’ lifetime (Bernstein, 2006). Depression can have an impact on a persons’ ability to do many things including working, engaging with others, participating fully in family life or maintaining relationships, and it can also impact on a person...
These words describe depression well. They show that depression is a battle; depression is a war against oneself. It is a war for one’s life. This war is full of ups and, even more so, downs; but the war can be won.
Depression is much more common than most people think. Because it is essentially an invisible illness and is largely in the mind, it is difficult to correctly diagnose it and most people suffer for months, years, or even decades with depression. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines depression as “a mood disorder marked especially by sadness, inactivity, difficulty with thinking and concentration, a significant increase or decrease in appetite and time spent sleeping, feelings of dejection and hopelessness, and sometimes suicidal thoughts or an attempt to commit suicide.” Most medical definitions are able to explain what happens and why it does, but after carefully examining this one, we only notice that it explains what happens, but not why. Usually, the symptoms of an illness are...
Depression is defined as "a state of despondency marked by feelings of powerlessness and hopelessness" (Coon, 2001). Some people can mix up depression with just having the blues because of a couple of bad days or even weeks. It is already said that depression affects about one sixth of the population or more (Doris, Ebmeier, Shajahan, 1999). Depression can happen in any age range from birth to death. The cause of depression is still obscure and becoming clear that a number of diverse factors are likely to be implicated, both genetic and environmental. Some causes are leading stressful lives, genetic factors, a previous depressive episode, and the personality trait neuroticism (Doris, et al., 1999).
This article illustrates a couple of real-life stories of teenagers who faced depression and had to somehow deal with it. One of the teenagers, Brianne, described how she tried to kill herself because she was so depressed. She described her mental state by saying: “It was like a cloud that followed me everywhere. I couldn’t get away from it.” She started drinking and experimenting with drugs. At a certain point, Brianne could not take it anymore. Once, she was caught shoplifting at a store and after her mother brought her home, Brianne swallowed every single Tylenol and Advil that there was in the house. She was rushed to the hospital and survived. Brianne has been treated for her depression and is now in college and leads a very healthy lifestyle. She is one of the lucky kids that survived, but a lot of times, when depression in kids goes unnoticed, the outcomes are very tragic.
“Real depression isn't being sad when something in your life goes wrong. Real depression is being sad when everything in your life is going right" (Kevin Breel). For nineteen-year-old Kevin Breel, this is what his life consisted of. Kevin lead a double life. The world saw a popular, enthusiastic star basketball player who laughed constantly, while he was seeing the truth; he was tortured by intense pain that kept thriving. Over 121 million people worldwide struggle with depression (Carroll). Adolescent depression is a growing problem in today’s society and is often a major contributing factor for a multitude of teenage problems.
Sam is a 60 year old, retired prison guard who was diagnosed with depression at the age of 56. Sam felt that all his life he struggled with hopelessness, but never felt the need to seek out any professional support other than his family. Sam stated, “I would feel down on myself, but never put much thought into it.” Sam’s first involvement with psychiatric services came shortly after the death of his son. Sam relayed that this was a difficult time for him. He was forced to retire due to a medical condition, his youngest daughter had started her own family and then tragedy stuck Sam’s oldest child and only son committed suicide. Sam stated that he felt that his world had just ended and he himself could not find any reason to live. Sam noted that he became angry and would avoid any contacts with his family. He even contemplated leaving his wife, whom he was happily married to for 35 years. Sam explained that he simply gave up, he stopped watching his diet, he started smoking again after giving it up for 10 years and he would often not get out of bed for days. One could surmise that Sam had entered a state of stagnation. He had lost so much that he isolated himself, gave up on his future and due to these feelings it placed him in a state of stagnation (Van Hiel, Mervielde, & de Fruyt, 2006). Sam’s medical doctor had noted several changes in his demeanor,
Depression is a murky pool of feelings and actions scientists have been trying to understand since the days of Hippocrates, who called it a "black bile." It has been called "the common cold of mental illness and, like the cold, it's difficult to quantify. If feelings of great sadness or agitation last for much more than two weeks, it may be depression. For a long time, people who were feeling depressed were told to "snap out of it." According to a study done by National Institute of Mental Health, half of all Americans still view depression as a personal weakness or character flaw. Depression, however, is considered a medical disorder and can affect thoughts, feelings, physical health, and behaviors. It interferes with daily life such as school, friends, and family. Clinical depression is the most incapacitating of all chronic c...