Examples Of Clinical Depression In Catcher In The Rye

Did you know, 3.3 million Americans suffer from clinical depression? This makes it no surprise that Holden Caulfield, protagonist in The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is suffering from this mental illness. The Catcher in the Rye follows a high school boy, Holden Caulfield, as he struggles through school, loneliness, friendships, and coping with the loss of his kid brother, Allie. Throughout the novel, Holden is perceived to be in a mental institution, but the cause of why is unknown. I believe Holden is suffering from clinical depression as evidenced by abnormalities in his cognitive behavior, issues with shifting moods, and his disruptive sleep patterns. The first clear evidence of Holden’s mental illness, is his behavior. A loss

The first sign is that Holden shows a lot of loneliness and sadness. Throughout the novel in multiple sections, Holden is seen saying, “I felt lonesome all of the sudden. I almost wished I was dead” (Salinger 54). Holden is also seen subjecting himself to social isolation. Holden gives a big ordeal of how when he grows older, he will pretend he is a deaf-mute so he does not have to communicate with anyone. He explains, “I’d pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes. That way I wouldn’t have to have any goddam stupid useless conversations with anybody … I’d meet this beautiful girl that was also deaf-mute and we’d get married, and if she wanted to say anything to me, she’d have to write it on a goddam piece of paper, like everybody else” (Salinger 218). Holden also experiences random bursts of aggression and anger. An example is when he was waiting in his old elementary school building writing a note for his sister and he saw an inappropriate comment marked into the steps that creates a very hostile response. He states, “Somebody’d written “F you” on the wall. It drove me damn near crazy … I kept wanting to kill whoever [had] written it … Id smash his head on the stone steps till he was good and goddam dead and bloody” (Salinger 221). Both his behavior and mood are large indicators of his illness, but there is yet another one that shows us keen

Depression is a common symptom in Aspergers, so his dis enjoyment of activities and his abnormal and alarming behaviors and feelings are clear indicators that support this theory of Aspergers. Social isolation is a popular symptom for Aspergers as well. Another example from the novel of his social isolation is during a football game while by himself when he says, “I remember around three o’clock that afternoon I was standing way the hell up on top of Thomsen Hill… you could see the whole field from there, and you could see the two teams bashing each other all over the place” (Salinger 4). He also says he had to ‘force’ himself to join a secret fraternity at his old boarding school because he was too coward not to. Though Aspergers has numerous supporting details to support it, Holden is not suffering or experiencing Aspergers. First of all, aspergers is seen as more of a socially awkward condition. Holden is not socially awkward. He is actually seen to communicate very well with others; his problem is that he has no one to communicate with that will communicate back, and that he occasionally subjects himself to the social isolation. Another symptom popular in aspergers is the all absorption of one activity. This is false for Holden as well, as Holden has slight interest in few things instead of an absorbing interest in one