Holden's Mental Battlefield

1065 Words5 Pages
Mental illness is major contributor in deciding how a persons’ whole life is going to play out, from the way they act down to the way they think. Mental illness does not discriminate between race, gender, or age and is the cause for many serious disorders (Mental illnesses). Mental illness is very common so it is very possible that everyone has experienced a mild version of this illness once in their life; and according to U.S. Surgeon General, ten percent of children in the United States suffer the serious cases. Based on NIMH’S information on the types and signs of mental illness, Holden Caulfield, in Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, can be checked for many of the disorders such as borderline personality, bipolar/sexual, and ADHD (NIMH). This text gives an inside look on the on-going war in Holden’s mind and shows just how mental illness can really jumble someone’s psychology. Even though it would be easy for us to blame Holden for being the cause of his own failure, we cannot condone the traumatizing past that Holden had to go through and the psychological problems that Holden has no control over. A person with borderline personality disorder is someone that is mentally unstable and shows symptoms of extreme reactions, disturbing and depressing thoughts (Borderline personality disorder/NIMH). Holden suffers this disorder because he ran away from school, has tarnished and broken views on the world, shows lack of self-determination, suicidal thoughts, and holds no real relationship with peers or parents. Holden has had a difficult childhood from the absence of his parents to his beloved brother, Allie’s death; both play a role for his lack of determination to succeed in life. Holden shows no motivation to show his full potential because he feels like he has nothing left for him to live up for anymore. Holden also has no one to rely on as an adviser and help
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