Over the last thirty years there has been an increase in mental health issues found in children. The movie “Where the Wild Things Are” is a good example of a child dealing with some mental issues and a popular cause. It is known that divorce and separation of parents influence the children that are involved. The movie gives an example of how a child in that situation copes by using various methods.
Many children who are dealing with mental health or behavioral issues tend to lash out various ways were shown in the movie. This behavior is common, as also stated in, Child and Adolescent Mental Health, “More children are anxious, depressed or stressed as more families and marriages are collapsing”. The first major depiction of this was when max started a snowball fight with his sister’s friends, while the attention that was received back was negative it still fulfilled the need for a child seeking attention. He went on to act out trashing his sisters room in a violent
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This is now a second time where she could have addressed the issue of his behavior with him but does not. Simply goes on to say that she would have stood up for him. This could also be a sign of emotional neglect for the mother. Emotional neglect is, for example, when a parent recognizes that their child’s behavior is not normal, but ignores the behavior and does not seek professional help often in fear of being the bad guy. Her ignoring the issue further leads to another outburst against her. She has one of her male friends over and it does not sit well with Max. Max acts out again, when max’s mother stands up to him and then he bites her. It is common for children who are dealing with depression, to lash out physically as shown in this case. This major spiral out of control, then continues with Max running