Download Holden Caulfield Patient File: Psychological Evaluation

Holden Caulfield Patient
File: Psychological
Evaluation
An overview of your Catcher Reading
Talking to the Text AND final essay
*this project does not include the essay you will be
doing after we finish this book
Things you need to know:
 You will read Catcher as if you are Holden’s chief
psychologist, as he tells his story following his
Christmas in 1949.
 As you read, you will use the notes you take from
this and keep track of symptoms.
 In the end you will write an essay ‘proving’
 What psychological disorder, if any,
does Holden exhibit symptoms of? If
you decide he does NOT have a
disorder you will prove what he IS
exhibiting.
Options for diagnosis:
 Clinical depression
 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
 Antisocial Personality Disorder
 Adjustment Disorder with
Anxiety/Depression
 GRIEF…not mental disorder
 Normal teenager !!??
Normal stages of
GRIEF
 1. Denial and Isolation
 2. Anger at the “universe” God, people, doctors, etc.
 3. Bargaining …guilt…”If only I’d been…”
 4. Depression
 5. Acceptance (not everyone reaches this
phase)
Grief symptoms
 Abnormal eating patterns
 Anger
 Confusion or feeling disoriented
 Physical aches and pains without cause
 Tight chest
 Isolation or great desire to be alone
 Exhaustion and sleeplessness or
excessive sleep
Clinical Depression
 Can be either genetic or caused by environmental
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factors
Can be made worse when there is stress, mentally
or financially
Sad mood/emptiness/hopelessness
Lack of enjoyment in activities that were once fun
Lack of energy & motivation
Difficulty paying attention/focusing
Suicidal thoughts
Anger outburst/short temper
Insomnia
Unintentional weight gain/loss
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD) symptoms
 A traumatic incident causes fear/
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helplessness afterwards
Nightmares/insomnia
Obsessive thoughts
Flashbacks (remembering the trauma)
Avoidance of situations that are similar to
the trauma experienced
Increased overall anxiety
Questioning safety
Antisocial Personality Disorder
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Anger towards/difficulty with authority
Social awkwardness or discomfort with peers
Cruelty to animals
Impulsiveness
Irresponsibility
Difficulty with conformity/following rules
History of lying/deceitfulness
Angry outbursts/irritation/physical violence
Inability to respond to or feel empathy others’
feelings
 High levels of judgmental opinions toward
others
Adjustment disorder with Anxiety or
with Depression
 A stressful event causes someone’s life to
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change in a way that is unhealthy
Some stressful events include divorce,
death, a move, break-up, etc.
Nervousness/worry/fear of the future
Depressed mood/fearfulness/loss of hope
Social withdrawal or ‘loner’ syndrome.
Lack of progress in school
Your task = what you will write an
essay on when we finish reading.
 As you read, imagine you are a psychologist in
therapy listening to what brought Holden to the
hospital for observation and testing…look for
symptoms of the disorders we took notes on.
 You’ll need to diagnose Holden at the end of the
book.
 Keep your notes in your packet each time your
read tracking behaviors/symptoms AND page #
of ‘proof’ or evidence.