Holden Caulfield: Teenage Depression
Teenage depression can be defined as a serious mental health problem that causes persistent feelings of sadness and loss of interest in activities. It affects how your teenager thinks, feels and behaves, and it can cause emotional, functional and physical problems, according to the Mayo Clinic. Holden Caulfield, of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, has shown that he has many of the mentioned symptoms of teenage depression. In the story, Holden is being kicked out of his third boarding school because of his poor commitment to his academics. The whole story takes place over four days as he wonders New York City. While reading we learn a lot about Holden and we realize on our own that he has some sort
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It is also easy to see this after Holden starts revealing those events throughout the novel. Holden Caulfield is clearly a victim of teenage depression because of the traumatic and untimely death of his younger brother, Allie: along with a lack of a normal childhood with no help from any kind, from specialists or doctors, his two other siblings, and even his parents who sent him away rather than try to help him. Though there are a multitude of diagnostics that can be assigned to Holden, teenage depression fits the best. The whole novel gives us plenty of reasons to think this because Holden is constantly expressing his feelings to the reader time and time again. It is hard to spot a teen
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with depression just by looking at them. Some signs and symptoms to look for in teens of
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What they should have done from the beginning was be gentle and persistent, acknowledged the problem and give him the attention he deserved, and most importantly, make him a priority (Smith, Segal 4). Even though he wanted help he pushed people away, like his family, and they just gave up on him. Instead of sending him away, perhaps the better option should have been to keep him close, spend time with him. The next step should have been to give him some room to think and then let him come to you when he was ready. The reputation his father cared so much about would have survived easily if they addressed the problem at all. Any version of that would have been more effective than what they chose to do. “During the 1950s and 1960s, depression was considered to be a rare condition compared to it being a central component of the stress tradition since then” (Horwitz 1). A study done from the early 1950s to 1993, tested over 40,000 student anxiety levels and whether or not they showed signs of depression. The study showed that in the 1950s, over 28,000 causes of depression were from more environmental threats like fear of diseases such as AIDS (Twenge). Both of these articles prove that Holden’s condition was rare but there were case often seen during the time period. They also prove that Holden’s parents don’t have a reasonable excuse for abandoning their youngest son
Holden also has a negative perspective of life that makes things seem worse than they really are. In addition to Holden’s problems he is unable to accept the death of his brother at a young age. Holden’s immaturity, negative mentality, and inability to face reality hold him back from moving into adulthood. Holden’s immaturity causes him many problems throughout the story. Although he is physically mature, he acts more like a child.
Nineteen million American adults suffer from a major case of depression (Web MD). That is a staggering one in every fifteen people (2 in our classroom alone). Holden Caulfield is clearly one of those people. Depression is a disease that leads to death but is also preventable. Psychology, stressful events, and prescription drugs are causes of depression. Stressful events brought on Holden’s depression. Holden has been trying to withstand losing a brother, living with careless parents, and not having many friends. The Catcher in the Rye is a book that takes us through the frazzled life of Holden Caulfield, who appears to be just a regular teen. But by hearing his thoughts and through heart-wrenching events in the book, the reader learns that Holden is not the innocent boy that he once appeared. In his book, The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger shows that Holden’s depression is not only affecting him, but also the people around him through Sally, Phoebe, and Sunny.
To begin with, many of Holden’s physical and mental symptoms can be linked to events occurring during manic and depressive phases. According to Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance(DBSA), “Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, is a treatable illness involving extreme changes in mood, thought, energy, and behavior”. DBSA states that manic phases can include a decrease in sleep, reckless behavior or speech, flamboyant actions
Holden Caulfield is a typical depressive teenager that exhibits negative views about growing up. Depression is made up of many categories of symptoms, such as emotional, physical, behavioral, and how one perceives life. These symptoms, take over Holden, due to his lack of knowledge on how to control his feelings.
However, his feelings suggest that the true reason for his depression is his loss of Innocence. When he was 13 years old, he lost his little brother Allie to leukemia. Allie meant a lot to Holden. He even becomes a symbol in the book. Allie is the one who keeps Holden from falling of the cliff, he’s the reason that he hasn’t lost his innocence yet. “Every time I came to the end of a block and stepped off the goddam curb, I had this feeling that I'd never get to the other side of the street. I thought I'd just go down, down, down, and nobody'd ever see me again. Boy, did it scare me. You can't imagine. I started sweating like a bastard—my whole shirt and underwear and everything. Then I started doing something else. Every time I'd get to the end of a block I'd make believe I was talking to my brother Allie. I'd say to him, "Allie, don't let me disappear. Allie, don't let me disappear. Allie, don't let me disappear. Please, Allie." And then when I'd reach the other side of the street without disappearing, I'd thank him.” (Sallinger) In this part, Allie plays the role as the Catcher in the Rye and keeps Holden from falling of the cliff. This is why i believe that Holden wants to become a “ Catcher in the Rye”. He wants to help people like Allie has helped him. He feels that it's what he’d meant to do with his
I believe that Holden Caulfield is mentally disturbed and shows many signs of it throughout the novel. Problems in Holden’s life that have led him to this rest home are the death of his brother Allie, his multiple failures throughout his academic career, and his distress about moving on in life. Holden deals with these problems by drinking and smoking throughout the novel. He also shows depression throughout the novel by being kicked out of multiple schools and being over-critical of people when he describes them. I feel that he is very disturbed and had not been able to deal with his problems before. Unfortunately his feelings such as the loss of Allie ha...
It is a mental illness that can sometimes occur in teenagers as a response to a sudden traumatic experience or abandonment. Symptoms of depression that directly relate to Holden’s behaviour include: loss of appetite, depressed or irritable mood, failing relations with family and friends, faltering school performance, fatigue, feelings of worthlessness or self-hatred and obsessive fears or worry about death. Holden lost his younger brother Allie to cancer when he was only thirteen years old. An event such as this is can be traumatic to a young person and cause feelings of sadness and/or depression. Thoughts about suicide is another common symptom of depression. Holden expresses thoughts about committing suicide in Chapter 14 after Maurice assaults him: “What I really felt like, though, was committing suicide. I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would've done it, too, if I’d been sure somebody’d cover me up as soon as I landed. I didn't want a bunch of stupid rubbernecks looking at me when I was all gory” (Salinger,
Holden feels as if he is stuck in his 13 year old self. Although he is aging he isn’t necessarily maturing the way his classmates and other people are around him. This is due to the fact that he never received closure when Allie died. When he starts picturing his own funeral because he might get pneumonia and die, he remembers D.B. telling him about his brother's funeral. He stated, “I wasn’t there. I was still in the hospital. I had to go to the hospital and all after I hurt my hand” (Salinger 171). Since he never attended the funeral he never got to say his final goodbyes to the one person he truly loved. Holden feels as if he can’t connect with anyone else in the world like he did with Allie. If he did then he would most likely push them away, so he wouldn’t have to experience the trauma of loss again, because it greatly impacted his life the first time. The trauma Holden experienced when he was younger resulted in him not being able to form stronger relationships with people which made him more depressed and
Holden’s signs of depression a very strong and frequent thought out the book. The first major sign of Holden’s depression is the lack of sleep sleeping. Holden finds it hard to sleep even in the early morning hours let alone all night. “It took me a while to get to sleep I wasn’t even tired but finally I did.” (Pg. 104). During the story there were many times when Holden could not sleep. One of those times was when Holden left Pencey. Holden left Pencey so late he could not even take a cab. Other times are when Holden went to the bars and drank ...
He definitely suffers from more than five of the symptoms. Holden has said in the book that he hates saying goodbye to people and hates when people leave, which is an example of the first symptoms on the list. Holden is obsessed with Jane Gallagher yet he gets mad at her when she goes out on a date with Stradlater, Holden’s roommate, which is an example of the second symptoms on the list. As a seventeen year old kid, he smokes lots of cigarettes and drinks lots of alcohol, in essence making him a substance abuser, which is the fourth example on the symptoms list. Holden ponders the thought of suicide multiple times throughout the book, like when he was in Central Park and thought about what would happen if he were to die or when he claims that he will volunteer to sit on the top of the atomic bomb if there is another war. These are some examples that fit the criteria of the fifth symptom on the symptoms list. Holden is depressed the entire book and towards the end of the book his depression takes a physical toll on his body as he is nauseous, dizzy, has a headache and eventually passes out. This is an example of the sixth symptom on the symptoms list. Holden is very prone to violence that is overly intense. Some examples of his intensely violent outbreaks in the book are when he breaks all the garage windows the night he learned that his brother, Allie, had died or when Holden gets in a fight with Stradlater when he
Events in Holden's life lead him to become depressed. Holden's depression centers on Allie. The manner that Holden sees himself and how he sees others leads him to be expelled from school. The speaker expresses, "One thing about packing depressed me a little," (51). Holden expresses these feelings when he packs his bags after being notified that he is expelled. Holden leaves school and heads for New York City, where he finds himself to be more lonely and depressed than ever. He is all alone and he laments, " What I really felt like doing was committing suicide. I felt like jumping out of the window," (104). Holden says this while he is all alone in his motel room. He is too ashamed of himself to return home, he knows that his mother will be upset and his father will be angry with him. He also adds that " I wasn’t feeling sleepy or anything, but I was feeling sort of lousy. Depressed and all, I almost wished I was dead," (90). Holden states this during one of the first nights that he is staying in New York. Holden expresses many thoughts of depression.
Everybody feels depressed at some time or another in their lives. However, it becomes a problem when depression is so much a part of a person's life that he or she can no longer experience happiness. This happens to the young boy, Holden Caulfield in J.D Salinger's novel, The Catcher in the Rye. Mr. Antolini accurately views the cause of Holden's depression as his lack of personal motivation, his inability to self-reflect and his stubbornness to overlook the obvious which collectively results in him giving up on life before he ever really has a chance to get it started.
The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, portrays Holden Caulfield as a manic-depressive. Holden uses three techniques throughout the novel to cope with his depression. He smokes, drinks, and talks to Allie. Although they may not be positive, Holden finds comfort in these three things.
I recommend that Holden remain under my care at Happy Loons Hospital for the time being. I believe that participation in regular psychotherapy sessions will greatly benefit him as he negotiates his fears about adulthood. I also suggest that Holden initiate a course of Zylonconoff to stimulate the chemical production of his maturity gland. I believe that this combination of therapy and medication will result in Holden's acceptance of adulthood. Should he be able to do this, I believe the patient shall be able to attend the public high school his parents have chosen for him, as well as be able to make more mature relationships. The future looks bright for this patient.
Holden Caulfield suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder throughout the course of the novel. In fact, the root of all his problems come from Allie’s passing; he died from leukemia. Holden used to be extremely close with him and his imminent death changed his entire life and psyche. Holden seems to relive the event of his beloved little brother Allie’s death over and over. “What is clear, however, is that many of the symptoms Holden displays in the course of the novel mirror the classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. The death of his younger brother, Allie was a traumatic event in Holden Caulfield’s life and is perhaps at the root of the depression he battles in the novel. The death of a sibling can trigger post-traumati...