Significance of Mental Illness and Suicide - Free Essay Example

Mental illness and suicide is a prevalent thing in the society. In this essay there are three sources Its kind of a funny story, Excuses, and Another Breakdown. In the society, people have their own thoughts about mental illness and suicide and these three sources will go into further explanation of these topics. The book Its Kind Of a Funny Story and the poem Another Breakdown have similar viewpoints about mental illness while the short story Excuses has its own on suicide. In the book, Its Kind Of a Funny Story, Craig, the main character, is 15 years old, the story is about him overseeing his mental illness and being admitted into a physiatric ward. In his life he has sources of support called anchors, negative forces called tentacles, and a possibility of renewal called the shift. In the book it explains how Craig starts to feel down and is starting to act different Craig then explains, Its so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself. page: 3. Later in the book, the main character also goes to mention, The day I got those test results, a cold, plaintive, late fall New York day, was my last good day. Page:51. Craig feels as though he will not be able to make it through High School because of his depression. Craig then plans to kill himself, but he was able to get the help he needed by calling a HotLine. The author of this book is Ned Vizzini, In this book, he talks about dealing with depression. What the hell, I am in the hospital. I put all 4s down the line-there are about twenty prompts- except for the lines about self-mutilation, drinking and drug use (I am not putting down anything about pot, thats just the rule.)Page: 186. The novel addresses the influence of peer pressure, and how depression recovery can be attributed to being oneself and acceptance of who he is. In this novel he also addresses what it is like to be in a psychiatric hospital. In the book, Craig meets individuals whose past behavior would be unacceptable to society; Boby and Johnny, who were frequent drug users, became close friends with Craig in the hospital. One effect of these exposures is that Craig, at least until the later stages of his stay in the hospital, begins to question whether he himself is capable of existing within society at large. For a readers perspective, it shows how being in a hospital is not anything damaging on a persons reputation, but it helps those who need more support in that time of need. This book showed how it is okay to go through something and there is always a way to make things straightened out in life. Also school and stressors commonly are connected together throughout this book with Craig, many people when they have anxiety, depression, ect. they have a hard time dealing with school and things that stress them out. To conclude, Craig went through a hard time with mental illness but, was able to overcome it. In the second source, Excuses, the character Jack in this short story of his wife is looking back after her suicide is very devastated with losing his wife. He blames himself for his wifes suicide and is falling apart. She was your everything, and you let her die'(Jack). This quote explains how the character feels and pulls out emotion. You let her leave everything, abandon her family because she didnt even think she was good enough(Jack). The short story really showed how much suicide can impact close ones and those should get help. With the authors perspective, Sebastian Melbourne, she is showing the warning signs of suicide and is talking about her own. Countless years lead me to take deaths hand to my judgement(Sebastian). I laid there for days, before anyone began to notice I havent left the house. In the short story she shows the impact of suicide on people. Then it hit me, thousands and thousands of lost memories rushing around me, flashbacks popping back into my empties soul reminding me of my previous existence (Sebastian), There are warning signs of suicide and she explains them throughout the short story. But I am hanging here, helpless , reduced to nothing and yet, God hasnt said a word. The author is showing emotion of how helpless and defeated she was. But, for the readers perspective it shows how suicide is a huge problem in our society. This short story makes people realize the impact of suicide in families. Also, more people should look out for warnings of suicide and should be taught them through some social source. In the last source, Another Breakdown, a poem, the author Shaydee A. Ault explains how this poem is about how someone feels or experiences when they are going through a mental breakdown. She show how mental illness can be a very hard thing to deal with. For example she wrote, Its hard when youre always lying, Always hiding the way you feel. Though the temperature feels hot, Your heart and mind feel cold. And in the of the poem she made it shift as if there is a way to deal with mental illness You realize in that moment- youre just having another breakdown. She shows how it is okay to be this way and there are ways to deal with it. For a readers interpretation, it shows how mental illness is a difficult thing to deal with. And how more people than those realize deal with this issue and it is not talked about enough in society. But, people can get help with hotlines when they need help during a situation like this. People dealing with mental illness can go through very difficult times, as shown in this poem by Shaydee A. Ault. To compare these sources, Its Kind of A Funny Story and Another Breakdown they talk about what it is like to deal with mental illness and with the book it explains how there are ways to get help and you can get better. With the poem Excuses the author is looking back on what they have done, commit suicide, this brings on a whole different perspective of mental illness and what it can possible turn in to. But, to contrast these sources, they all focus on different parts of mental illness in a whole. For example, in Another Breakdown the author is exploring the thoughts and actions of someone going through a mental breakdown as for the short story, excuses it is showing the impact of suicide in peoples lives. To conclude, Suicide and mental illness is a important thing that is present in our society. people have their own thoughts about mental illness and suicide, this essay explained it in the three sources the poem Excuses, Its Kind of A Funny Story the novel and Another Breakdown the short story.