Teen Depression In Catcher In The Rye By Holden Caulfield

From what to wear to school the next day to the looming math test the following week, a teenager’s mind is an endless pit of thoughts and emotions. All young adults experience and readjust to changes they have at school or at home. As a consequence of these changes, adolescents tend to have bad days. Unfortunately for some adolescents, bad days are recurring, indicating depression, “a mood disorder causing a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest,” (“Teen Depression”). In the novel, Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield shows many symptoms of and suffers from depression, which changes the way he thinks and acts. Adolescents, like Holden Caulfield, are constantly going through not only changes in their bodies, but also changes in

Many victims of depression are directly related to someone else also diagnosed with depression. In fact, “...Depression is more common in people whose biological (blood) relatives also have the condition,” (“Teen Depression”). Adolescents are susceptible to depression because of the constant change in the balance of their hormones, and physical changes happening in their bodies. Early childhood trauma, the deaths of loved ones, and being witness to violence all put people at risk for developing symptoms of depression. Holden Caulfield, for example, was put in two, very high-stress situations which led to his condition. His first traumatizing encounter was when his young brother, Allie, died of leukemia. Holden talks about the first reaction he had, saying “ I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the goddam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it. I even tried to break all the windows on the station wagon we had that summer, but my hand was already broken and everything by that time, and I couldn't do it,” (Salinger 21). Holden’s second traumatizing encounter was when he witnessed six malicious boys bully another boy to a point where he jumped out of the window and committed suicide. Holden describes the gruesome scene, saying, “...and there was old James Castle laying right on the stone steps and all. He was

Signs of depression include grief, anger, isolation from friends and family, loss of interest in activities, lack of concentration, and suicidal thoughts (“Parent’s Guide to Teen Depression”). Holden showed his anger in a fit of rage, Holden lunged at Stradlater, saying, “This next part I don't remember so hot. All I know is I got up from the bed...and then I tried to sock him, with all my might,” (Salinger 24). Holden also isolated himself from his friends and family by not taking the many opportunities he had to call his friends, like Jane Gallagher for example. Holden also isolated himself from society by labelling the adult world as phony and fake. Instead of showing interest and cheering on the football team, he stands on the hill, watching from afar. Holden shows a lack of concentration when he lets down the fencing team by leaving the foils on the subway because he “had to keep getting up to look at this map,” (Salinger 2). Throughout the novel, Holden has many suicidal thoughts, like when he says, “ I felt like jumping out the window. I probably would've done it,” (Salinger 57). Although adult depression and adolescent depression are similar, they are not the same. For example, adolescents keep a few close friends and do not completely isolate themselves from society, whereas adults do. Hence, the reason Holden was still very close to his sister,