Holden Caulfield is a seventeen year old male who shows evidence of a possible diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD) and Borderline Personality Disorder(BPD). This possible diagnosis is due to sudden outbursts of anger,constant deceitfulness, feelings of emotional numbness, and many other symptoms. Some people who say that he’s just a spoiled child however, there is evidence to prove that there is a much deeper issue. Traumatic events such as abuse(emotional,mental,and sexual), neglect,death of a loved one,abandonment, feelings of emptiness, and suicidal thoughts can cause these mental illnesses. With his long list of symptoms, the evidence proves that he suffers from PTSD and BPD. Mr. Caulfield is being diagnosed with Post Traumatic …show more content…
(Being yellow, his gloves, movies) At the end of chapter fourteen, he talks about committing suicide. “ What i really felt like, though, was committing suicide. I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would have 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.” Holden maintains a negative attitude that makes him find fault in people, his parents, teachers, classmates, strangers even.(He especially negative toward adults) However, Holden’s negative attitude changes when it comes to children, nuns, etc. People of innocence. Holden likes children, and Jesus, because they are innocent, have not done any wrong. In chapter fourteen he talks of liking Jesus in the bible but not the disciples. Holden says “They were alright after Jesus was dead and all, but while he was alive, they were about as much use to Him as a hole in the head. All they did was keep letting Him down. I like almost anybody in the Bible better than the Disciples.” Holden also talks of another person in the Bible. “ If you want to know the truth, the guy I like best in the Bible, next to Jesus, was that …show more content…
Caulfield is being diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder due to the multiple symptoms that observed. BPD is not a common mental illness for males. There is a 1.6% chance for adults to obtain this mental disease, This is an intensively severe disease due to the symptoms that begins during adolescence. 70 percent of people with BPD are will attempt suicide or have suicidal thoughts.Mr.Caulfield meets 8 out of the 9 major symptoms that is pre-evident with this mental illness. Many things in Holden’s childhood that could lead him to be BPD. First and foremost, he lacks self awareness which consists of constantly getting kicked out of schools. He does impulsive and unsafe acts such as substance abuse,(smoking a pack of cigarettes), and almost engaging in sexual activity with a prostitute named Sunny in chapter thirteen and also engaged in a fight with Stradlater in chapter six and Maurice in chapter fourteen. From observations that has been occurred, evidence shows that he has been abused,neglected, and molested on numerous occasions throughout his childhood. Mr. Caulfield has instability such as constantly getting abandoned by his friend,and inability to have any positive type of relationship with people other than kids, for example chapter thirteen with Sally Hayes. Mr.Caulfield also has evidence of suicidal thoughts such as the one after the incident after with Maurice and Sunny in chapter fourteen. He has sudden outbursts of anger for instance after Allie
Holden is a very judgemental and immature character and often has vulgar language. Holden often criticizes everyone he comes in contact with and does not try to comprehend the mindset they may have. His childish nature and vocabulary are what make most of his comments laughable. “It was funny. You could tell the waiter didn’t like her much, you could tell even the Navy guy didn’t like her much, even though he was dating her.
This is the first psychiatric hospital admission of the patient, a 16 year-old male. The psychiatric patient admitted himself to care at 9:45 pm on November 21st, 1954. Holden Caulfield arrived at Seattle Grace Hospital with his parents, and younger sister Phoebe. When Caulfield arrived, Holden appeared to be exhausted and lost. He was wearing a beige jacket with a dark brown scarf and a red hunting hat.
Holden Caulfield is one messed up dude. He has so much going on in his life and nothing at all at the same time. He dramatizes the little problems and blatantly disregards his large and prominent issues. The boy has a drinking and a smoking problem at sixteen. He has social anxiety, he's clueless about women, he's a terrible student, and he's on a wild ride on a depressive roller coaster.
Much of the difficulty that Holden Caulfield faces throughout his life can be attributed to his family’s negligence and abandonment. “And what my lousy childhood was like, and how
Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, is a common mental disorder that is caused by genetics, the environment, brain structure, and chemistry. Bipolar disorder can often be misdiagnosed in teenagers since they are going through changes in their body and mind. One could see mood swings in a teenager and make the mistake of thinking he or she is going through normal changes. However, if one looks deeper into Holden’s character, one realizes that his mood swings, along with his excessive desire for sexual experiences, are actually symptoms of bipolar disorder. The first warning sign of his mental condition is when he buys Sunny, the prostitute, for the night.
The first cause of Holden 's mental illness that readers notice is that he lacks control over his actions. As Holden was 13 years old, his brother Allie died of leukemia. Holdens behavior in response to his brothers death was very violent. “I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it (Holden Caulfield 39).” Holden admits that he didn’t know he was doing it, but says it was a stupid thing to do.
Holden Caulfield is an extremely troubled individual with unparalleled depression. This all rooted from the slow and painful death of his younger brother, Allie Caulfield, to cancer at a young age. This has led him down a decreasing path in his life resulting in the expulsion of Holden from two boarding schools and the forming of an alcoholic addiction. After leaving his last boarding school, Pencey Prep, he went to New York where he went through a emotional rollercoaster. Overall his mental health is terrible and treatment is highly recommended with medication and therapy session's.
JD Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye is about a boy named Holden Caulfield and his struggle with life. As a teenager, he has one goal and that is to simply find his place in the world. Unlike an ordinary teenager he has a severe case of depression, and displays many signs to exhibit this mental illness. As we escalate through the novel, we notice that his depression seems to be getting worse and that he is feeling despondent more often.
A. Allie’s death causes Holden to become obsessed with death and this obsession makes him believe that growing up and becoming a “phonie” is like dying; this belief that is planted inside Holden’s head when Allie died is what sends him on a quest to preserve children’s innocence and save them from the “death” of growing up. B. Salinger includes the traumatic story of Allies death that happened years in advance to provide an explanation for Holden’s obsession with death and how he sees loss of innocence as equivalent to dying. Allie died with his innocence still intact, so Holden does not want other children to grow up and have their innocence “die”. C. Holden even admits to being mentally unstable after his brother’s traumatic death when he says, “I was only 13, and they were going to have me psychoanalyzed and all, because I broke all
Although Holden is a very intelligent character he finds the hypocrisy and ugliness in the world around him and quickly associates it with the adult world. Holden is a very introverted character who hesitates throughout the book to share information about his life . J.D Salinger makes sure to portray Holden that way to
Holden Caulfield is an irresponsible character and this can be proven time and again through his thoughts and actions toward himself and others. To start, Holden was proven to be careless with his schoolwork. He flunked out of several schools,
Holden struggles with growing up and facing reality. There are many examples of Holden’s immaturity that are displayed in many forms such as facing responsibilities, his speech, his actions, and etc. Holden’s outlook on adult life is that it is superficial and brimming with phonies, but childhood was all about looking pleasing and innocent. He wants everything to stay the same and for time to stop. As Holden progresses in age, he will discover more about becoming mature in the
The most discussed example of mental illness in the novel and film is depression. Stereotypically, a person suffering from this is depicted similarly to Charlie- an introverted and
Along with Holden’s many health problems, he is also mentally unstable in that he makes very erratic and irresponsible decisions, particularly when it comes
Throughout The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has abnormal tendencies. Although he could just be a typical teenager, dealing with difficult situations, after analyzing his behavior it is believed that he is suffering from a mental ailment of some sort. Events from Holden’s past are still currently haunting him and it is evident that he is struggling. He needs the guidance of those around him in order to help himself through these tough time.