Isolation and depression can immediately be detected in the opening line: “But at the time I thought I was the worst – ugly, disgusting, unfit for the world”. These are Ottessa Moshfegh’s haunting words in the opening pages of Eileen. They pierce through a fog of self-doubt, isolation and depression, a powerful emotion that many young women only know too well. In our current era, women experience isolation and depression at twice the rate of men. Perhaps this is why Eileen’s dark journey through mental illness feels less like historical fiction and more like a mirror of our modern struggles.
Consider that familiar feeling: you’re scrolling through Instagram, surrounded by perfectly curated lives, yet completely alone. This is where we find Eileen drowning in the same sea of isolation and depression that many of us battle today. Working at a boys’ prison in 1960s New England, her days are filled with mind-numbing routine. After work, cheap gin and suffocating self-loathing fill her nights. It’s not a pretty picture, but then again, objective mental health struggles rarely are.
Yet, Eileen’s story is captivating – it isn’t just her descent into darkness. Moshfegh masterfully crafts a character whose mental health struggles transcend their 1960s setting. She is a character who speaks directly to our current crisis of loneliness and depression among young women. Through Eileen’s eyes, readers recognise their battles with body image and family trauma, along with the exhausting performance of ‘being okay’ when they’re anything but.
Eileen And Today’s Millennial Women
The parallels between Eileen’s experiences and readers today are striking. From her complicated relationship with her alcoholic father to her desperate need for escape, her story offers us a raw, unfiltered look at what it means to be young, female, and struggling with mental illness. As we journey with Eileen through her depression, trauma, and messy journey towards self-discovery, Eileen emerges as a powerful reflection of isolation and depression – one where we can recognise our struggles in someone else’s story, even across decades. For those who haven’t experienced it yet, I recommend reading the novel or listening to Alyssa Bresnahan’s beautiful audiobook reading.
Understanding Eileen’s Depression
From the outset, her depression manifests in ways that hit frighteningly close to home for many of us battling with mental health issues. Each morning, she performs her “death mask” routine in front of the mirror, meticulously scrutinising every perceptible flaw before concluding, “I looked like a girl you’d expect to see on a city bus”. The way she describes her appearance – plain, unremarkable, almost invisible – suggests a more profound truth about her depression. Consequently, Eileen isn’t merely feeling sad; she feels fundamentally wrong.
Depression and Eileen’s Physical Manifestations
The physical manifestations of Eileen’s depression are almost painfully relatable. To begin with, she wraps herself in her dead mother’s old coat. This is not just for warmth but as an armour against the world. Moreover, her relationship with food is complicated at best and destructive at worst. It oscillates between a rather unremarkable and sparse diet of canned soups, processed snacks, and occasional bread with margarine. Numbing the constant anxiety is mainly helped by her overindulgence in gin drinking. Survival mechanisms that many young women might recognise in their own coping strategies.
Within the prison where she works, Eileen’s isolation takes on a physical form. Despite being surrounded by guards, inmates, and administrators all day, she remains profoundly alone. Her secretarial job becomes both her escape and her prison. Have you noticed how depression has a way of making you feel simultaneously trapped and invisible? Eileen’s daily reality at X-ville Prison is one where she observes everything but participates in nothing, much like scrolling through social media without ever engaging, often leading to procrastination and addiction.
Father’s Influence On Depression
But it’s her relationship with her father that reveals the crushing weight of her depression. She is living with an alcoholic parent who constantly insults and belittles her. For example, one of the harshest things he says to her is when he calls her “a miserable little girl”, refers to her as “ugly’ and expresses disgust towards her physical appearance. These cruel words and her father’s frequent verbal abuse serve as an external voice confirming her internal doubts. This creates a toxic feedback loop that many readers might recognise from their own experiences with depression. The Guardian’s observation that “harsh language used against children can harm them for the rest of their lives” manifests vividly in Eileen’s story.
The cognitive distortions in Eileen’s thinking patterns reflect textbook depression. Yet Moshfegh writes them with such raw authenticity they feel more like confessions than symptoms. Eileen’s constant negative self-talk, catastrophising, and emotional reasoning aren’t mere character traits – they’re the familiar demons many young women battle daily. When she declares, “I was a shoplifter, a pervert, a liar”, she’s not just listing her flaws; she’s engaging in the kind of black-and-white thinking characteristic of depression. Psychologists consider this type of thinking as a cognitive disorder because the inability to see the middle ground leaves one feeling either right or like the “world’s biggest failure” (Mental Health: Black and White Thinking). In the following article in The Guardian, Mosfegh explains why she created such a vile and disaffected female character.
Attachment’s Influence on Eileen’s Mind
Have you ever felt trapped in the past? Many of us know too well how past trauma shapes our present reality. In Eileen’s case, her trauma is constantly whispering reminders of everything she’s endured.
Young Eileen watches her mother slowly fade away while her father descends into an alcoholic rage. Moshfegh crafts these scenes with such visceral detail that you can almost smell the neglect. Her mother’s death isn’t just a past event but an ongoing absence that echoes through every aspect of her life. Wearing her dead mother’s dowdy clothes and lacking maternal affection deepens Eileen’s feelings of neglect and inadequacy. These intensify Eileen’s feelings of isolation and depression.
And the relationship with her alcoholic father? That’s where things get messy. He’s there physically (usually passed out unconscious in his chair), but he’s emotionally absent. His pattern of alternating between ignoring and berating Eileen creates a perfect storm of attachment issues – complex PTSD material that would fascinate any therapist.
Eileen’s Trauma Responses
What’s fascinating about Eileen’s trauma responses is that they’re so deeply ingrained that she doesn’t even recognise them as unusual. More specifically, her compulsive behaviours, her emotional numbness, and her desperate need for control aren’t just quirky personality traits. They are survival mechanisms developed from her repeated childhood trauma of emotional neglect and abuse. Examples are her mother’s death, psychological trauma from her environment and her social isolation. When she meticulously plans her daily routine or obsesses over the most minute details of her appearance (like her lousy skin, thin colourless lips, and stringy hair), she’s not being peculiar. On the contrary, she’s trying to create order in a world that’s felt chaotic since childhood.
Abuse, Daily Life and Trauma
The patterns of abuse in Eileen’s life are like toxic wallpaper. They are so familiar that she barely notices them anymore. Her father’s emotional abuse becomes the template for how she expects all relationships to function. His cruel words, calling her worthless or ugly, aren’t just insults – they reinforce a narrative she’s already internalised. This is trauma’s insidious nature. It creates default settings in our brains that can take years, even decades, to rewire.
What’s striking is Eileen’s work at the prison reveals another layer of her trauma response. She’s drawn to observe the violence and dysfunction within it – her trauma is seeking familiarity. The prison becomes a metaphor for her psychological imprisonment, where she’s both a guard and inmate of her traumatic past.
One of the most heartbreaking aspects of Eileen’s trauma is how it’s normalised within her family system. Her daily ritual of checking on her father, cleaning his mess and enduring his verbal abuse becomes just another part of life. Readers familiar with family trauma will recognise these dysfunctional patterns, which are seemingly impossible to break.
Eileen’s Isolation
Modern trauma theory, as developed by John Bowlby, suggests Eileen’s state of mind, her hyper-vigilance, her dissociation and her emotional flashbacks aren’t just character traits but textbook responses to the lack of reciprocal relationships during childhood. Specifically, when she describes feeling disconnected from her own body or watching herself as if from a distance, she’s describing depersonalisation. This is a feeling of detachment from her thoughts, emotions and actions; this theme of disconnection threads throughout the novel. Initially, Eileen is trapped in a bleak, monotone existence and completely isolated from others. In the story’s final stages, Eileen’s disconnection takes on a more complex and dark quality. After Rebecca’s shocking actions of kidnapping Mrs Polk, one of the prison boy’s mothers, Eileen, becomes further distanced from the world around her. Consequently, when Eileen witnesses Rebecca’s violence and deception, they reinforce her disconnection.
Female Isolation in Modern Society
Social media has become our contemporary equivalent of Eileen’s prison watchtower. It’s where we observe others’ lives without fully participating in our own. We’re all guilty of it: mindlessly scrolling through perfectly filtered photos, comparing our messy reality to everyone else’s highlight reel. Eileen watches the prison inmates and guards from her administrative window like we watch our peers through the windows of our phones. In different decades, the same isolation and depression.
Today’s expectations have multiplied. Instead of only being pretty and pleasant secretaries, we’re now supposed to be successful, socially active, environmentally conscious, politically aware, physically fit, mentally well, and still find the time to craft the perfect dating app profile. This exhausting pressure leads many of us, like Eileen, to retreat inward.
Body Image and Isolation
Let’s take body image. This is where Eileen’s story feels strikingly contemporary. Her obsessive self-scrutiny- how she describes herself as “plain“ and “invisible“ – mirrors our relationship with smartphone cameras. And you’ve got a pretty accurate picture of how many young women feel today. The constant self-monitoring that Eileen engages in isn’t too different from our modern habit of checking ourselves in every reflective surface or front-facing camera we encounter.
The coping mechanisms bridge decades. The ones Eileen uses aren’t that different from what we see today. For example, she drinks gin and spies on her neighbours. Similarly, we binge-watch Netflix and stalk ex-partners on social media. The tools might have changed, but the underlying need to escape our isolation remains the same. Whether it’s the 1960s or the 2020s, loneliness prompts us to do strange things in our search for connection.
Eileen’s Escape From Isolation
Eileen’s dramatic escape from X-ville is more complex than a woman leaving town with a stolen car and her father’s gun. Through a therapeutic lens, we witness a radical act of self-preservation. However, it is one that psychologists wouldn’t recommend – running away with Rebecca, getting involved in a criminal act, and essentially ghosting her entire life. But here’s the thing, when you’re trapped in a cycle of trauma and depression, like Eileen, sometimes the most drastic solutions can feel like the only options of escape.
Viewing Eileen’s decision through a modern therapeutic framework, we can identify several key patterns that many young women might seemingly recognise in their lives – like finally leaving a toxic job or ending a draining relationship. The concept of ‘rock bottom‘ in mental health often precedes significant life changes, and Eileen’s breaking point comes after years of emotional suffocation. For example, it’s like when you finally quit that toxic job or end that draining relationship. Sometimes, change only becomes possible at the absolute limit.
The role of Rebecca in Eileen’s break for freedom is interesting from a mental health perspective. Rebecca serves as both a catalyst and a mirror – showing Eileen possibilities she never imagined for herself. It’s like that friend who finally makes you realise you’ve been settling for less. Except, in this case, that realisation comes with criminal conspiracy and complications.
Eileen’s healing steps are messy, chaotic, and not recommended by any mental health professional. Today, we have more resources: therapy, medication, support groups, and mental health apps. Yet that core desire to break free remains unchanged.
Conclusion
Eileen’s story follows her journey through depression, trauma, and isolation. Whilst the novel might be set in the 1960s, she could sit next to us. Eileen’s story isn’t just about a young woman’s dramatic escape from a suffocating life. Fundamentally, it’s about something much more universal – the struggle to break free from the mental prisons we build around ourselves. Whether it’s 1964 or 2024, that struggle remains painfully relevant. This struggle is especially appropriate for young women trying to navigate their mental health in an increasingly complex world. There’s something powerful about recognising our struggles in her story: that constant self-doubt, the feeling of being trapped by circumstances and our minds or the desperate need to be seen and understood.
What makes Moshfegh’s portrayal of isolation and depression so compelling is its rawness. Eileen’s depression isn’t aesthetic, her trauma isn’t trendy, and her isolation isn’t something that can be fixed with an inspirational quote. Yes, it’s messy, uncomfortable, and honest – just like real-life mental health struggles.
Feeling Isolated or Depressed?
If you’re struggling with similar feelings of isolation or depression, remember you’re not alone. Unlike Eileen, we’re fortunate to live in a time when mental health resources are more accessible than ever. There are various ways to reach out, including therapy, support groups, mental health apps, and online communities. Help is available without requiring elaborate escape plans. Your story matters – whether set in the 1960s or today. You don’t have to figure it all out alone like Eileen did. Reach out, speak up, and know that your story matters – whether it’s set in the 1960s or today. For help and support for isolation and depression, check out the following clinic or these support groups by the NHS or women and mental health.
Share your thoughts – have you found pieces of your story in Eileen’s journey? How do her experiences reflect or differ from modern mental health struggles? Please drop a comment, and let’s continue this conversation below. If there’s one thing Eileen’s story teaches us, it’s that breaking free from mental health struggles doesn’t have to be a solitary journey. Even if it sometimes feels that way!
For more blog posts on isolation, see The Magi’s Epic Journey into Alienation and Disillusionment?
More Novels Featuring Themes of Isolation and Depression:
Why are these novels important? These novels shed light on depression by offering windows into the human psyche across different eras and perspectives. Through their diverse perspectives, these novels help readers understand that depression manifests uniquely in each person while sharing common threads of isolation and internal struggle. They remind us that while mental health battles often feel solitary, literature provides a bridge to shared human experience.
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
In The Catcher in the Rye, sixteen-year-old Holden Caulfield emerges as a poignant portrait of teenage depression. His story begins with being expelled from his boarding school, leading to solitary wandering through New York City, where he grapples with profound emotional pain and disconnection.
The heart of the narrative reveals deep-seated mental health struggles stemming from unresolved grief over his younger brother Allie’s death. Holden’s depression manifests through intense isolation, persistent negative thinking, and an overwhelming sense of alienation. Through Holden’s raw, introspective journey, the novel offers a nuanced exploration of adolescent mental health. It reveals the internal landscape of a young person desperately seeking connection and meaning amid overwhelming emotional turmoil.
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
In Norwegian Wood, Toru Watanabe weaves a deeply melancholic landscape of love, loss, and mental health. The narrative unfolds in 1960s Tokyo, exploring the profound impact of depression through Toru’s relationships with two contrasting women. Naoko, who struggles with severe mental illness, and Midori, a vibrant counterpoint to Naoko’s fragility.
Toru’s depression stems from unresolved grief following his best friend’s suicide, casting a long shadow over his emotional landscape. His connection with Naoko, who battles severe mental illness from within a rural mental health facility, represents a profound exploration of psychological vulnerability. Ultimately, her eventual suicide intensifies Toru’s depressive state, highlighting the complex interplay between personal trauma and mental health.
A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby
This novel offers a darkly comedic yet compassionate exploration of depression. This is explored through four strangers who meet on a rooftop on New Year’s Eve. Each is planning to die by suicide. Martin, a disgraced TV host; Maureen, a lonely single mother; JJ, a musician battling hopelessness; and Topsy, a rebellious young woman, represent diverse experiences of mental health struggles. Their unexpected encounter transforms from a potential tragedy into a complex journey of connection and survival. Each character battles deep-rooted depression stemming from different life circumstances.
Furthermore, the novel brilliantly deconstructs depression not as a uniform experience but as a deeply personal, nuanced emotional landscape. Through dark humour and raw vulnerability, Hornby demonstrates how shared pain can create an unexpected community. Essentially, this community provides a lifeline when individual hope seems impossible.
Continue Your Journey: Personal Development, Isolation, and Depression
You’re not alone in this. These reads may help you explore, reflect, or take the next small step.
- Embrace the Sunlight: Strategies for Overcoming Depression (healing and self-recovery)
- Eliminate Negative Thinking: How to Overcome Negativity, Control Your Thoughts, And Stop Overthinking.
- Stop Overthinking: 23 Techniques to Relieve Stress, Stop Negative Spirals, Declutter Your Mind, and Focus on the Present (The Path to Calm)
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