The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath

A study was done to examine the effect of quality of workplace relationships on the mental health of college students and it concluded that all relationships influence the mental health of a student. People are caught up in the life of homework and more focused on their grades than their mental health. College is supposed to be an unforgettable experience, yet for many students it comes in the form of depression. This onset depression may start before college, yet college has a great impact on the suicide rate of young adults. In The Bell Jar, written by Sylvia Plath, the main character, Esther Greenwood, struggles with suicidal depression on top of being a working college student, something Plath relates to entirely.

Many people
that attend college are also working a job, fulltime or part-time. A study done in 2011 had 170 working college students participating; they all concluded that a poor work relationship had a negative influence on their health. The students that reported having a bad relationship at work were affected mentally and showed more depression than the others with better relationships at their workplace. Work may not be something that everyone enjoys, yet it does have a huge impact on a person, inside and out. College and work combined has driven many students into a deep depression, which is why the number one cause of death in college students is suicide. Although, grades are important, health is by far the most important. Even though health should come first, unfortunately, it is put last. No one has the time with all the tests, essays, and projects students are asked to complete, so they bottle it up inside until they can't take it anymore. Although over half of the students with suicidal depression do not actually go through with it or even plan it. Even though, the novel, The Bell Jar, is a fictional book, it does have many events that occurred in the life of Sylvia Plath, the author.
Sylvia had no trouble writing this book due to her experiences with suicidal depression. Sylvia was first diagnosed with depression at the age of 20. This depression set in due to the fact she did not get into a writing class at Harvard and was overworking herself. She then proceeded to cut herself on her thighs in an attempt to commit suicide. She was later referred to a physiatrist and they decided to start her on ETM, electroconvulsive therapy. Although that did not take to her depression. So, Plath set out on a new method, swallowing sleeping pills. Upon doing so she went into a coma for two days and was found under her porch by her family after making noises. These events described were actually in the book due to Plath writing her thoughts into her work. Plath knew depression better than anything and though it was good too write her thoughts out. In doing so it helped her cope with her depression better. Yet Sylvia was also sad as a child because her father was not there and her mixed feelings for her mother. Plath later took one final attempt by putting her head in the oven. She was found dead with her head in the oven and the gas turned
on.