Miss Havisham In Charles Dickens Great Expectations

Charles Dickens shows signs of many mental illnesses in his book Great Expectations. The one that stands out the most is Miss Havisham. Charles Dickens writes about a little boy named Pip and at a young age he is asked by Miss Havisham to attend her home and play with her adopted daughter Estella. What he doesn 't find out until later is that Miss Havisham was left at the altar leaving her hating all men. He finds out his real purpose there was for Estella to break his heart, which she succeeds at. Miss Havisham ends up seeing Pip as a son and wants Estella to marry him, only to realize she’s already too emotionally detached. She gives Pip advice on how to court her and eventually he is able to. Miss Havisham means a lot to Pip and Estella they

Miss Havisham had Post Traumatic Stress disorder because she has upsetting memories of the trauma. “Symptoms include nightmares, upsetting memories of the trauma. Patients have flashbacks that feel so real the person sees, smells, and hears the same sensations they experienced at the time of the trauma.” (Thomas 18). Insert book quote. Clearly Miss Havisham is suffering from ptsd by the way she acts. She hides herself away from people. “Avoidance behavior appear as the person consciously or unconsciously tries to avoid experiencing any situation reminds them of the traumatic event.”(Thomas 18) Insert book quote here. Miss Havisham shows signs of PTSD because of the way she acts in the book. There is treatment for PTSD. “If diagnosed, there are a number of effective approaches to PTSD treatment. Treatment can involve psychotherapy, medication, or a combination of both.Psychotherapeutic methods, such as cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessiong (EMDR), are highly effective in treating PTSD.” (Sidran) find book quote. Miss Havisham clearly has not had any treatment considering it was the 1800’s. Miss Havisham shows signs of PTSD in Dickens book Great

She has a fear of interacting with others. “Fear of situations in which you may be judged worrying about embarrassing or humiliating yourself, concern that you 'll offend someone intense fear of interacting or talking with strangers, fear that others will notice that you look anxious fear of physical symptoms that may cause you embarrassment, such as blushing, sweating, trembling or having a shaky voice avoiding doing things or speaking to people out of fear of embarrassment avoiding situations where you might be the center of attention having anxiety in anticipation of a feared activity or event spending time after a social situation analyzing your performance and identifying flaws in your interactions expecting the worst possible consequences from a negative experience during a social situation.”(Mayo clinic) book quote. Miss Havisham is clearly suffering from social anxiety disorder because Charles Dickens incorporates signs of it into his book. She has a fear of social situations. “Social anxiety is the fear of social situations that involve interaction with other people. You could say social anxiety is the fear and anxiety of being negatively judged and evaluated by other people. It is a pervasive disorder and causes anxiety and fear in most all areas of a person 's life. It is chronic because it does not go away on its own. Only direct cognitive-behavioral therapy can change the brain, and help people overcome