Mental Illness In Speak By Laurie Halse Anderson
Mental Illness
‘Speak’ by Laurie Halse Anderson is an novel that explores a girl in high school who is raped at a party and she calls the cops and everyone hates her for it but she tells nobody about what happened which turns her to a very dark place and she ends up in a depressed state. Laurie Halse Anderson said herself "I've learned that Speak is not just a book about rape. Speak is a book about depression." Mental illnesses like depression are disorders that affect your behavior, mood and the way you think. Depression, anxiety and the bipolar disorder are some of the mental illnesses that people go through on a daily basis.
Depression is an mental illness it is classified as a mood disorder that causes continuous feeling of sadness. “
Depression is often triggered by a specific event or series of events” (Gelman 7) they are usually “stressful or painful events” (Gelman 10) but it can also be from “ an imbalance of chemicals in brain, chronic illness” or even “substance use, such as alcohol use.” ( What is Depression?) There are many different types of depression “major depressive disorder, seasonal depression, postpartum depression, and bereavement” ( What is Depression?) these all have differences and similarities and some are more severe than the others. The symptoms of depression are “ feeling of extreme sadness, hopelessness or worthlessness” (Gelman 8 ) also if you are extremely tired all the time or never tired (Gelman 8) and if you have “thoughts of suicide “ (Gelman 8) Now you know the basics about depression let's move on to our next topic.
Anxiety is an mental illness that causes nervousness , fear and worrying. Anxiety is caused by “childhood development issues, stressful or traumatic event, family history and alcohol, medication or illegal substances” ( Anxiety Disorders) Types of anxiety are “ specific phobia, panic disorders, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, selective mutism and separation anxiety disorder” ( Anxiety Disorder) symptoms of depression are “ irrational and excessive fear, apprehensive and tense feelings, anxious thoughts, predictions and beliefs, avoidance of feared situations and unable to work or study, socialize and manage daily tasks.” ( Anxiety Disorder ) Anxiety can take over someone's life and make them fear what they used to love.
The bipolar disease is a “brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy (and) activity levels.” (Bipolar Disease) “ Research suggest that for some people, even the slight changes in the brains balance might be linked to bipolar “ (Kwon) also some other causes are “ abuse, metal stress and significant loss or traumatic event “ Types of the bipolar disease include “ bipolar l disorder, bipolar ll disorder cyclothymic disorder” Symptoms of this mental illness is separated into two parts the happy and cheerful episodes are called manic while the unhappy and sad episodes are called depressive episodes. The bipolar disease has many ups and downs and is not controllable.
Laurie Halse Anderson in “Speak “ really showed us that mental illnesses like depression, anxiety and the bipolar disorder are not something we should be ashamed of and tells us to speak up and be heard because they will be around forever why not talk about them.
‘Speak’ by Laurie Halse Anderson is an novel that explores a girl in high school who is raped at a party and she calls the cops and everyone hates her for it but she tells nobody about what happened which turns her to a very dark place and she ends up in a depressed state. Laurie Halse Anderson said herself "I've learned that Speak is not just a book about rape. Speak is a book about depression." Mental illnesses like depression are disorders that affect your behavior, mood and the way you think. Depression, anxiety and the bipolar disorder are some of the mental illnesses that people go through on a daily basis.
Depression is an mental illness it is classified as a mood disorder that causes continuous feeling of sadness. “
Depression is often triggered by a specific event or series of events” (Gelman 7) they are usually “stressful or painful events” (Gelman 10) but it can also be from “ an imbalance of chemicals in brain, chronic illness” or even “substance use, such as alcohol use.” ( What is Depression?) There are many different types of depression “major depressive disorder, seasonal depression, postpartum depression, and bereavement” ( What is Depression?) these all have differences and similarities and some are more severe than the others. The symptoms of depression are “ feeling of extreme sadness, hopelessness or worthlessness” (Gelman 8 ) also if you are extremely tired all the time or never tired (Gelman 8) and if you have “thoughts of suicide “ (Gelman 8) Now you know the basics about depression let's move on to our next topic.
Anxiety is an mental illness that causes nervousness , fear and worrying. Anxiety is caused by “childhood development issues, stressful or traumatic event, family history and alcohol, medication or illegal substances” ( Anxiety Disorders) Types of anxiety are “ specific phobia, panic disorders, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety, selective mutism and separation anxiety disorder” ( Anxiety Disorder) symptoms of depression are “ irrational and excessive fear, apprehensive and tense feelings, anxious thoughts, predictions and beliefs, avoidance of feared situations and unable to work or study, socialize and manage daily tasks.” ( Anxiety Disorder ) Anxiety can take over someone's life and make them fear what they used to love.
The bipolar disease is a “brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy (and) activity levels.” (Bipolar Disease) “ Research suggest that for some people, even the slight changes in the brains balance might be linked to bipolar “ (Kwon) also some other causes are “ abuse, metal stress and significant loss or traumatic event “ Types of the bipolar disease include “ bipolar l disorder, bipolar ll disorder cyclothymic disorder” Symptoms of this mental illness is separated into two parts the happy and cheerful episodes are called manic while the unhappy and sad episodes are called depressive episodes. The bipolar disease has many ups and downs and is not controllable.
Laurie Halse Anderson in “Speak “ really showed us that mental illnesses like depression, anxiety and the bipolar disorder are not something we should be ashamed of and tells us to speak up and be heard because they will be around forever why not talk about them.