The Mental Illness Behind The Catcher in the Rye “I swear to God I’m crazy. I admit it.” Holden Caulfield, the narrator of J.D. Salinger’s novel, The Catcher in the Rye. A character with a need to split himself from the ordinary whose impulsive behaviors led to social withdrawal. And behind Salinger’s character is a mental illness that explains the changing mood, thoughts, energy, and behavior of the main character. Throughout the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is shown to have multiple manic and depressive episodes within the course of a few days, hinting at him having Manic Depression in ultradian cycling. To begin with, what is Manic Depression? According to Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance(DBSA), “Bipolar
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On page 139 of the novel, Holden shows an elevated mood whenever Sally shows up and is in this mood until after the matinee they attend. By page 144, Holden begins to go off on a digression about how he is fed up with his life. As the chapter comes to an end, Holden states that neither of them were pleased with the other and that he personally hate her at that moment. PsyCom’s discussion on Bipolar Disorder signs, symptoms, and treatments states that a manic phase includes but is not limited to action such as “long period of feeling ‘high’ - an overly elated, happy, and outgoing mood”, “jumping from one thought to another when talking”, and “feeling very irritable”. In addition, Holden has a flamboyant personality, mainly do to the fact that he views himself as an exhibitionist. As reported on SparkNotes article on themes, motifs, and symbols in The Catcher in the Rye, Holden uses his red hunting hat as a way to show that he is unique from those around him. Along with Holden having manic episodes, there are times when he has depressive episodes that include him regretting his prior …show more content…
However, this rapid cycling is what’s called ultradian cycling. For those who don’t know, DBSA describes ultradian cycling as “when several mood switches occur within a day, on several days during one week”. For Holden to have ultradian cycling, he would have to have multiple mood switches each day. And as reported in Shmoop’s analysis of the setting of The Catcher in the Rye, “Holden’s story takes place over only three days, from Saturday afternoon to Monday around 1pm”, further proving he has ultradian
On page 139 of the novel, Holden shows an elevated mood whenever Sally shows up and is in this mood until after the matinee they attend. By page 144, Holden begins to go off on a digression about how he is fed up with his life. As the chapter comes to an end, Holden states that neither of them were pleased with the other and that he personally hate her at that moment. PsyCom’s discussion on Bipolar Disorder signs, symptoms, and treatments states that a manic phase includes but is not limited to action such as “long period of feeling ‘high’ - an overly elated, happy, and outgoing mood”, “jumping from one thought to another when talking”, and “feeling very irritable”. In addition, Holden has a flamboyant personality, mainly do to the fact that he views himself as an exhibitionist. As reported on SparkNotes article on themes, motifs, and symbols in The Catcher in the Rye, Holden uses his red hunting hat as a way to show that he is unique from those around him. Along with Holden having manic episodes, there are times when he has depressive episodes that include him regretting his prior …show more content…
However, this rapid cycling is what’s called ultradian cycling. For those who don’t know, DBSA describes ultradian cycling as “when several mood switches occur within a day, on several days during one week”. For Holden to have ultradian cycling, he would have to have multiple mood switches each day. And as reported in Shmoop’s analysis of the setting of The Catcher in the Rye, “Holden’s story takes place over only three days, from Saturday afternoon to Monday around 1pm”, further proving he has ultradian