Literature That Features Characters Living With Mental Disorders

Mental disorders and mental health are not the taboo subjects they once were. Literature offers a rich setting to explore mental issues in novels, plays, poems and short stories for all ages. Consequently, stories narrating the struggles of young people and their friends, siblings, or parents who suffer from disorders make for engrossing, insightful reading. They help to build understanding and empathy. Some disorders explored in literature are depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), agoraphobia, eating disorders and schizophrenia.

Shakespeare’s Hamlet’s clinical depression is a result of his stepfather, Claudius, murdering his father. Emily Dickinson’s severe agoraphobia caused her to have debilitating anxiety and fear of leaving the family home. Similarly, Blanche in Tennessee William’s A Streetcar Named Desire displays manic and depressive behaviour. This is because she blames herself for the suicide of her homosexual husband and for the loss of Belle Reve. All these fictional characters can help readers connect with them if they themselves or know someone experiencing a similar mental illness. Additionally, readers can create empathy with them and feel less alone.