Critique Essay

Mental illness in literature has quite often been underrepresented and misrepresented. In fiction, mental illness is sometimes portrayed as wrong and evil. In the case where it may be portrayed positively, it is sometimes romanticised and glamorised.

Brief History

Throughout history, mental illness has often been seen as something unnatural and something that needs to be avoided instead of being fixed. Around the Victorian era [1837-1901] the field of mental illness was becoming more open to explore and investigate. Filson states that “Victorian literature reflects an increasing willingness to explore the mental state – a willingness that culminated, in the early twentieth century, with the birth of psychology as a field of study and science.”(Filson, 2020). This was the era where study in psychology had started to develop, thanks to that development we got literature that started exploring various themes revolving around mental illness. Maud and Other Poems written by Alfred Tennyson was one the first few books that had started introducing mental illness into fiction. Maud includes themes such as suicide and depression.

A further example would include Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. In Jane Eyre Mrs Rochester'sto learn about Mrs Rochester’s backstory. She is still quite often described through negative traits.

Another famous novel was He knew he was right by Anthony Trollope. In his work hysteria is presented in a much more sophisticated way compared to other victorian authors. (Beveridge &Renvioze, 2018).

1947 people were introduced to A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee William. This play has a character called Blanche Dubois, who happens to have post-traumatic stress disorder (Ali, 2017). William uses violence, alcohol and promiscuity to display factors of PTSD and schizophrenia in Blanche's character. While A Streetcar Named Desire may not accurately depict mental illness, it does accurately depict society's reaction towards mental illness during the 1940s.

Another example would be Alfred Hitchcock. Alfred Hitchcock was a filmmaker whose movies portrayed characters with Mental illness. One of his most popular movies was ‘Psycho’. It has a character called Norman Bates, Norman has Dissociative Identity Disorder (Wilhelm 2020). The movie shows that Norman is a killer because he has DID. It villainizes people with DID and creates a harmful stereotype and negative representation about DID.

Depiction of Mental Illness in Recent years.

Despite major growth in literature and awareness about Mental Illness. In recent years there hasn’t been much growth in writing a character with mental illness. One example of inaccurate representation would be Split by M. Night Shayamalan. Similar to Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock, M. Night Shayamalan gives people with DID a bad representation. It contributed to assumptions about DID through its inaccurate character is introduced as a wild animal, “It snatched and growled like some strange, wild animal but it was covered with clothing and a quality of dark grizzled hair, wild as mane hid its head and face” (Bronte, p.g. 247).

Bronte used pronouns like “it” and “that” to describe Mrs Rochester, who had an illness quite similar to Huntington's disease. (Coon & Hassan, 2015). While as readers we do get and exaggerated representation of how DID affects those who have it. (Parker, 2020) . This type of representation can create a negative image about DID and people that associate with DID.

13 Reasons Why created by Thomas Joseph Mc Carthy adapted from the book 13 Reasons Why written by Jay Asher . Romanticize mental illness (Arshad, 2022). The story has a character called Hannah Baker, who creates tapes explaining why she committed suicide), these tapes explain events that pushed her to commit suicide. Her suicide is glamorised to be portrayed as a revenge fantasy. In the Tv series. Hannah’s suicide is shown as a way to provide Justice to her character and form as a revenge to people, who caused her to feel this way. This type of messaging can cause a harmful impact on young impressionable audiences. A study also found that due to this show there was a 28.9% increases in suicides after the shows release (Asmelash, 2020)

Euphoria written by Sam Levinson is a more realistic representation of mental illness. Euphoria has a character named Rue Bennet who has Depression, Generalised Anxiety Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Attention Deficit Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (Turner 2019). Euphoria breaks negative stereotypes. The character Rue is shown having a panic attack and her problems aren’t glamorised. Instead it shows how without proper help her mental health actually deteriorates. It also shows the reality of going to the Rehab and getting professional help. When she first goes to Rehab, she doesn’t immediately get better. In the show she has to go back a second time to actually see an improvement in her mental health. This type of writing shows the audience a more realistic struggle of dealing with mental illness.

Good Examples

My Heart and Other Black Holes, a novel by Jasmine Warga, is a young adult novel that discusses mental illness in a more honest and upfront way. it is about a 16 year old who has thought about committing suicide and happens to met a boy online who also has the same thoughts as her. The book explores themes of depression in a more straightforward way. “Depression is like a heaviness that you can’t ever escape. It crushes down on you, making even the smallest things like tying your shoes or chewing on toast seem like a twenty-mile hike uphill. Depression is a part of you; it’s in your bones and your blood.” (Warga, pg 13). Warga describes depression like a “heaviness”, something that pulls you down and is hard to escape. This description of depression is actually quite accurate. Even medical journals like Medical News Today describe depression in a similar way, they state “Although many people with depression feel sadness, it feels much more severe than emotions that come and go in response to life events” (Berry & Ames , 2022). This novel also shows the importance of support, and how proper support can help people with depression. For example near the end by supporting each other both the protagonists end up helping each other and not going forward by their plans of suicide. It shows improvement in their mental health.

Another good example of mental illness being represented accurately is

Inside Out by Pete Docter. It is a Pixar movie about a girl called Riley. Riley seems to have adjustment disorder. Kristen Morgan states “Presently, adjustment disorder is characterised by emotional or behavioural symptoms that are instigated by an identifiable external stressor; the stressor must incur symptoms within three months of onset and last no longer than six months.” (Morgan, 2017). When Riley arrives in San Francisco, Riley’s symptoms of adjustment disorder start becoming visible within the first three months of the movie . In the movie Riley is shown to be feeling sad, anxious, and lacking appetite, feeling overwhelmed and losing interest in her favourite activities. The movie personifies emotions inside Riley’s mind. It shows the importance of expressing emotions and how forcing ourselves to only feel one emotion could actually lead to destruction. Travis Langley claims that “Many, actually, but perhaps the most important one is this – our emotions are all important, every single one of them. They all serve an important function and we cannot selectively feel some but not others. It’s an “all-or-none” deal. If we numb sadness, we also numb joy.” (Langley (PHD) , 2015).

In the movie Joy is Riley's main emotion that takes control of the other emotions. When Joy denies Sadness of any control, It leads to further problems. In the end Joy realises the importance of Sadness and how sometimes even Sadness is needed to create a Balance.

Turtles all the way down, by John Green is a book that discusses Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Germophobia. It’s about a 16 year old girl called Aza Holmes who has extensive OCD and Germophobia. It talks about how excessive OCD is actually quite harmful for Aza. “Once I start thinking about splitting the skin apart, I literally cannot not do it. I apologise for the double negative, but it’s a real double negative of a situation, a bind from which negating the negation is truly the only escape.” (Green, pg 11) in the novel Aza is actually aware that her obsessiveness is toxic but unfortunately she is unable to work through it. The novel shows how Azas' condition starts improving after she starts going to therapy for her OCD. She talks about how her regular sessions with ‘Dr Singh’ are actually helping her. “After the nervous-making car trip, my brain was revving up. I told myself that having a thought was not dangerous, that thoughts aren’t actions, that thoughts are just thoughts.Dr. Karen Singh liked to say that an unwanted thought was like a car driving past you when you’re standing on the side of the road, and I told myself I didn’t have to get into that car, that my moment of choice was not whether to have the thought, but whether to be carried away by it.” (Green, pg 297) She refers to her sessions and tries to improve herself. This book shows the positive impact of therapy and through Aza it shows realistic struggle with OCD and how therapy helps to deal with that struggle.

How personal experiences can provide better representation of Mental Illness in literature.

In literature mental illness is depicted more realistically when the writer has either experienced mental illness or has observed people near them with said mental illness. For example Stephan Chbosky who wrote Perks Of Being a Wallflower himself had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. In Perks Of Being a Wallflower, Charlie’s PTSD is shown through flashbacks, Charlie is often shown reliving the trauma, avoiding main issues, feeling anxious when sensitive topics are brought up and when Charlie starts banging his head on door and blames himself for his aunt's death. Radhya Sharma states “This is an obvious example of negative alterations in cognitive and mood where we see distorted blame on oneself” (Sharma 2011). As explained by Sharma this scene shows the breakdown of Charlie's mood, we see him reliving through his trauma and blaming himself for the said trauma.One thing Perks Of Being a Wallflower does well it shows the importance of proper medical attention given to the main character. Charlie is taken to the ‘Mayview Hospital’, Where the institution is shown to be attentive and dedicated. This is a rare book and movie that actually shows the positive side of therapy and medical help provided to the character . In the end Charlie talks about how he has been feeling better and how he doesn’t feel nervous about entering Sophomore year. “Tomorrow, I start my sophomore year of high school. And believe it or not, I’m really not that afraid of going. I’m not sure if I will have the time to write any more letters because I might be too busy trying to“participate.” (Chbosky, Pg 152)This quote shows the growth in Charlie's character and how he is able to move on from his trauma. He talks about how going to the hospital and attending therapy helped him overcome his fear and nervousness. “But the doctor has helped me work out a lot of things since then. About my aunt Helen. And about my family. And friends. And me. There are a lot of stages to these kinds of things, and she was really great through all of them.”

(Chbosky, Pg 149). This quote shows how therapy helped Charlie) open up and work through his trauma in a much more healthier and effective way.

Ned Vizzini was another writer who accurately portrayed depression in the novel, It's Kind Of a Funny Story. Ned shows Craigs struggle by using real life experiences. Ned himself had experienced depression as a teen. (Mc Cardle, 2018) He shows how therapy helps with Craigs depression and he even destigmatizes the harmful stereotypes revolving around psychiatric institutes. In his novel and the movie, the psychiatric institute is shown to be more realistic and less scary. “I entered. I look left. There's the dining room, painted blue, overlooked by a television, full of circular tables, separated from the hall by that glass with the square wire meshin it. Inside, the tables have been pushed aside, and a panoply of people sit in a loose circle.” (Vizzini, pg 206). Ned describes the hospital as a really simple setting, he doesn’t glamorise the hospital and also doesn’t portray it as a scary place. Reading this line helps us visualise the dining hall without creating an ill fitting image. He even describes Craigs bedroom in a more realistic way: “The bed in the far corner is made up for me, if you can call it that. It’s the sparsest bed I’ve ever seen: small and pale yellow with a sheet, a topsheet, and one pillow. No blanket, no stuffed animals, no drawers below, no patterns, no candles, no headboard. This reflects the style of the room, which basically has a window (encased blinds again), a radiator under panelling, two beds, a table between the two beds with two funny-shaped hospital pitchers of water on top,lights, closet, and a bathroom. There aren’t any patterns on the wall; only the ceiling has porous tiles that could be fun to look at. I check the closet”. (Vizzini,p.g. 214). This gives a more realistic look into Craigs room, Vizzini doesn’t over exaggerate or make the room seem like a luxury. Reading this line readers can interpret that the room is simple and has basic necessities for its patients. Vizzini uses simple language to provide a realistic look for the hospital. He presents the institute to be a helpful place, where people can heal and get better.

Another writer that handles mental health issues but in a lighter vein would be Tomohito Oda who wrote Komi Can’t Communicate. Komi Can’t Communicate is a Manga and Anime that depicts Communication Disorder and Anxiety, but in a more lighthearted way. While Komi’s anxiety is a bit exaggerated, it still shows the reality of living with anxiety and problems that come with anxiety. Tomohito himself didn’t have anxiety but he noticed anxiety amongst his peers and family. The main character Komi is heavily based on his wife. Through his observations and discussions hecreated Komi, who acts quite similar to his wife, (Taylor, 2020). In the series Komi uses a notebook to communicate with her classmates. While some people may find this unrealistic It is quite common for people with anxiety to use other means of communication to express themselves more clearly.

In conclusion, representation of mental illness in literature has improved a lot over the years. It may sometimes be misrepresented or glamorised but there are still examples that provide an accurate representation. End of the day we need to decide is this enough? Or do we require more research and awareness?

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