Depression In Judith Guest's Ordinary People

Based on Conrad’s character in the movie, he could be described as having more of an intuitive grieving style. This style of grieving utilizes more of the affective domain and uses little of the cognitive (Martin & Doka, 2011). For the intuitive griever, grief is characterized by the experience of painful feelings. The feelings of guilt and sadness were those that Conrad experienced the most. After

Regarding psychological functioning, Conrad is under the vicious cycle of depression. His brother’s death led him to adapt a negative explanatory style. This in turn resulted in his depressed mood and cognitive and behavioral changes. He also believes that he has disobeyed his parents and does not deserve their forgiveness or affection (1:09:38). Conrad lives with a sense of guilt, not only for attempting suicide, but for things he had no control over (ex. Karen’s death). From a socio-cultural approach, Conrad depression worsens due to his unstable relationship with his mother, along with other relationships in his life. Throughout the movie, we clearly see that Conrad’s mother does not understand the severity of Conrad’s mental state. She frequently believes that Conrad is fine and wants their lives to ‘get back to normal’ (0:24:37). She believes Conrad’s mental health is a phase that can be fixed by simply being harder on him. The movie also takes place in a time where discussing mental health is taboo. Mental illness was significantly less common and thought to be a touchy subject. Throughout the movie, we can see that people do not know how to approach the Jarretts about Conrad’s state and frequently stumble through conversations or do not understand the situation (0:22:14; 0:31:52; 0:48:05). This plays a part in Conrad’s depression because he feels he can’t talk to or relate to anyone

For Peter Cameron’s short story,“Homework”, Michael seeks an answer to the meaning of life. Michael is a depressed teenager, like Donny from Anne Tyler’s short story, “Teenage Wastelands”.

In the "The Yellow Wallpaper," Charlotte Perkins Gilman describes her postpartum depression through the character of Jane. Jane was locked up for bed rest and was not able to go outside to help alleviate her nervous condition. Jane develops an attachment to the wallpaper and discovers a woman in the wallpaper. This shows that her physical treatment is only leading her to madness. The background of postpartum depression can be summarized by the symptoms of postpartum depression, the current treatment, and its prevention. Many people ask themselves what happens if postpartum depression gets really bad or what increases their chances. Jane's treatment can show what can happen if it is

After reading the DSM-5 is was clear to me that Conrad was suffering from persistent depressive disorder. In order to be diagnosed with PDD you must have a depressed mood for most of the day, which in children and adolescents lasts for a year. Conrad’s problems have been going on for just over a year, as his brother died in early summer and the book takes place the next fall. His depressed mood is apparent from the very start of the book, as he mentions not having

The emotional agony that Conrad experienced following the death of his brother almost led to his end. The conflict inside of Conrad is only the beginning of his suffering. The emotions that engulf one's mind can swallow them up and eat them from the inside out. They demand to be felt, but the management of the emotional conflict has been just as important. For example, when the Jannett family is together to take family photos, including the grandparents, the disconnect between Conrad and his mother are clearly visible to the naked eye. After being asked to take a picture with her son, Beth hesitates, violently insisting a different photo to be taken in order to avoid accepting and showing the increasing disconnect between her and her son. Siting and watching, Conrad struggles internally to decode the intentions of the scene depicted in front of him before he burst into an outrage. Initially, Conrad practiced silence in the form of withdrawal. Thus, he situated himself in the isolated window chair. The actions of his mother spoke to him in the sense that she hated him, wishing to have nothing to do with him. The silence remained silent until he burst with rage, projecting the instructions of his father for the camera to be given to his emotionally silent mother. Conrad rested on the assumptions he formed based not only on his mother’s current action, but passed actions as well, to reveal what he

The novel translates our problems into real life by showing us how people can, without knowing it, emotionally abuse others because of their lack of knowledge or decisions they have made. The main character Kate, in her adulthood, sees Matt (her older brother) as an unhappy man - because he was unable to follow through with his university dreams. Kate, later attends university expanding her knowledge past that of her brother Matt’s making her feel as if she cannot speak to him in the same way that she used to. At one point in her adulthood Kate said “He was waiting for me to go on, to describe my work to him, but I could not bring myself to do that” (Lawson 275). This connects with the subject matter of emotional abuse because Kate is hurting her older brother Matt. She does not realize that he wants to speak with her and have a relationship with her - she feels that because of her university education she cannot interact with him any more. In the real world many people face emotional abuse. People are ostracized for many reasons including level of intellect or the decisions they have made. Family members and close friends have changed their loved one’s lives because of their opinions on them. In the article Nature vs. Nurture: Mental Illness Triggered By Life Events And Not Through Genetics it is stated that “despite the fact that genetics can potentially influence the individual's mental health, traumatic events are still considered as the most influential factor”. The traumatic event of their parent’s dying resulted in Matt making bad decisions and then later not going university as a result. This caused the greatest tragedy in the novel; the loss of the relationship between Kate and Matt. Kate began to speak less with Matt and when she came to visit him he suffered from anxiety, lack of sleep, etc.. Kate stopped talking to Matt even though

He was used to live in his brother’s shadow, but when the boat accident happened to them, he was the only one to survive. As he was always indentifying himself the less important one, he considered it was wrong that he was the one who would still have a life. As a result of nervous breakdown, he tried to kill himself with cutting his wrists in the bathroom, fortunately his father found out and save him. Then he went to the psychiatric for four months. When he comes back, there are still issues he needs to deal with.

The stages of grief are demonstrated in Conrad’s relationships with his family and friends. Conrad has experienced depression and a suicide attempt in response to his brother’s death. At the beginning of the book, Conrad is going through the first stage of grief, which is shock and denial. Conrad’s father, Cal, worries about Conrad’s mental health and gives him the name of a therapist. However, Conrad does not call him. Cal believes that Conrad, “ ought to stick with the plan --’” (13) However, Conrad “can’t [because he] is swimming every night…[He doesn’t] need to see anybody. [He] feels fine’ (13). Conrad is uncomfortable talking about the death, and seeing a therapist would require him to talk. Conrad is afraid to feel his emotions. He thinks if he just avoids thinking about his brother’s death, he will be okay. The second

The movie, Ordinary People, is about a family that is currently suffering the unexpected death of their son, Buck, due to a boating accident. Shortly after, their youngest son and now only child, Conrad, tries to committee suicide by slitting his wrists, but was saved by his father, Calvin, who found him in the bathroom. Conrad was with

The impact of mental health on today's population is widespread and immense, but is it possible to represent the hardships of depression and anxiety comedically? Various examples are displayed in Jenny Lawson’s biography, Furiously Happy. Currently, mental illness is portrayed in a rather sombre and grey light, especially, depression and social anxiety. This belief is actively challenged by Jenny Lawson, an author who suffers from depression and social anxiety. As discussed in Furiously Happy, Jenny Lawson portrays her mental illness’ by using real-life stories, where she explains why she shows these illness’ in this way.

Berger, "She loved my brother, too.  It's just me"(120).  He concluded that Beth could not love him because there was something wrong with him.  After the big fight that Conrad had with his parents, he revealed to his father his opinion of Beth's feelings for him. Conrad tells him, "All right, then.  She hates me"(114).  Because Conrad felt that there was something wrong with him, he did not know how to react to situations nor did he know when to express his feelings.  For his Christmas present, Conrad's parents and grandparents bought him a car.  His response to this extravagant present was, "Yeah, okay… Thank you both, it's beautiful really.  It's terrific"(126).  He was not overly excited, as one should be, on receiving such an extraordinary gift.  He was not quite sure how to act, so he repressed all of his feelings.  In an early conversation with Berger, Conrad said, "What I'm doing here is that I had to come"(41).  This proves that Conrad was in denial of his psychological state and foreshadows Conrad's severe state of depression.  Conrad repressed all of his feelings and emotions.  He told Berger, "I don't feel anything"(98). Later on in the conversation, Berger told Conrad that the "Only way you're ever gonna get to know him [the guy in the closet] is to let him out now and then."(100)  This alludes to the fact that Conrad repressed his feelings and was extremely depressed.  All of these factors led to

Chalk-faced, hair-hacked Conrad seems hell bent on continuing the family myth that all is well in the world. Their initial sessions together frustrate Dr. Berger because of Conrad's inability to express his feelings.

I mean he wasn’t telling me anything I couldn’t figure out for myself. Really, the only one who can help you is you. Well, you and God (Guest 55)”. This demonstrated that Karen was unwilling to receive help; since she had no one to lean on she decided to end her life. Conrad did not give up like Karen did because he got the social support he needed to cope with his grief. The decision Conrad made of continuing to see Dr. Berger was a very smart step because a lot of people like Karen give up, but he kept trying. This helped him avoid extreme measures and was a sign that he was starting to find his identity. Equally important, when Conrad went to Dr. Berger for support after Karen’s death he said this to Dr. Berger after they talked about it, “I don’t know what I would have done if I couldn’t have gotten you this morning. I feel so shaky”(Guest 227). This proved that Dr. Berger did hold Conrad back from not hurting himself, and helped him control his feelings. In short, Dr. Berger helped Conrad avoid suicide, which then gave Conrad the chance to realize he was a stronger person than he thought he was. With this, he found his confident identity at the end of the book, which he would not have gotten without Dr. Berger.

Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre” has captivated readers for generations. As with all coming of age novels, young adults can relate to the struggles and triumphs of Jane. Jane’s setting influences and parallel her emotions. A reader can see the novel through her eyes and perspective. In Bronte’s “Jane Eyre,” the location often parallels Jane’s emotional growth through the tone presented by the environment, resulting in the different places she lives revealing her journey through depression. Jane’s behavioral patterns and thoughts suggest clinical depression that affected her choices throughout the novel and her life at Gateshead, Lowood, Thornfield, Marsh End, and Ferdean.