Does Holden Have Ptsd In Catcher In The Rye

In The Catcher in the Rye, Holden is thought to be mentally ill. I believe Holden is only suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and is not in fact, that mentally ill. If Holden does have PTSD, could it be from one single traumatic event, or a series of traumas lasting at least a month? Holden shows signs of PTSD; he’s been expelled from schools for not applying himself, mismatching himself to other people, and he doesn’t see a future or career for himself. Holden also finds is difficult to fall asleep at night and find it hard to concentrate, he gets irritated, and also stays aware of phonies. We know that Holden’s brother’s death and his other brother going to fight in the Cold War, and coming back traumatized, changes the

Denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Holden is already a lonely individual. He adventures around New York City, which is highly populated, and he probably passes thousands of people, but does not understand the concept on socializing with people and respect. He often finds himself criticizing them, this keeps him isolated from everyone. Holden later finds himself trying to exempt the feeling of being lonely by calling people from his childhood, and eventually people he barely knew just so he had someone to talk to. After his brother Allie died, the first thing Holden did was punch out all the windows in his garage. He also attacked Stradlater after he refuses to use Holden’s essay because he felt Stradlater was dissing Allie. Most grievers bargain with God, but Holden is not religious so he bargains directly to Allie, praying to keep him from disappearing. Holden Begins to feel adulthood as he’s maturing from childhood. He does not only grieve for the death of Allie, but also for the death of his childhood. Toward the end of the book however, he begins to accept it all into reality and realize that he is growing up and it is all a part of life. This is apparent in his Catcher in the Rye speech, instead of him saying he still wants to be one of the kids in the field, he accepts that he has outgrown it and wants to be the Catcher, or the protector of