Hamlet and his battle with depression Essay examples

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, a common theme of mania is spread throughout the play, and is most apparent in the main character, Hamlet. Shakespeare depicts both the emotions and feelings of the characters, allowing the audiance analyze their emotional state. It becomes obvious that Hamlet is struggling with both emotional stress and a mental illness, melancholic depression. In some parts of Hamlet, his emotions and melancholy seem to grade into each other primarily when contemplating his fathers death, whereas other moments the two remain distinctly different.

Bipolar disorder otherwise known as, manic-depression illness of the brain that causes two different types of bipolar. According to which disorder, each has the opposite effects both includes; extreme mood swings highs and lows. Symptoms for Bipolar I or rather Manic Bipolar, are little need for sleep, constantly hyper, too talkative, and mind races. Other times one diagnosed with this disorder may feel extremely sad, empty, worthless, and unsure of one’s self. Bipolar disorder II, known as depressant bipolar, the person may feel an unbearable

Fires of the Mind: Depression & Manic (Bipolar) was a rather interesting documentary that shed some light on the pain and suffering experienced by individuals affected by these conditions. Major depression causes a person to have distorted self image and experience unrelenting grief for no apparent reason. They may be indecisive and having reoccurring thoughts of death. Manic depression causes individuals to experience periods of extreme highs and lows. They may have manic periods, experiencing a state of euphoria, feel invincible, and lose their sense of judgement. Alternatively, they may then fall into a severe depression and barely be able to get out of bed. There are cases where a person will be irritable, paranoid, or hear voices, this is called psychotic mania.

Hamlet shows numerous symptoms and people wonder “why he’s acting so dazed and confused” (Shakespeare 135), but do not take initiative to get him treatment. Hamlet criticizes himself as a “low-life” (Shakespeare 129), a “lily-livered man…, and an uncourageous rascal” (Shakespeare 131), similar to Craig. Another parallel is that Hamlet sees “no future ahead for [himself]” (Shakespeare 179) and is fixated on “dying” (Shakespeare 139). Everyone around him just thinks he is insane; consequently, this “treatable disorder… goes unrecognized” ("Depression in Young People" 3), because the people in his life have failed decipher his symptoms of clinical depression. When Hamlet’s “depression [is] left untreated, [it] can be dangerous, even fatal” ("Morbidity" 1), which is shown to be true as he spirals into a further state of lunacy, leading to his death. Though Hamlet ‘lived’ 400 years ago, he had suicidal ideation, erratic behavior, self-hatred, anxiety, and a skewed reality just like present-day

Did you ever notice there are many characters in Hamlet that have mental disorders? Hamlet has a few characters that could possibly be diagnosed with a mental health disorder. At the beginning of the story, Hamlets dad is possibly murdered and Hamlet's uncle, Claudius, takes over the king spot. Hamlet's father's ghost arrives in the castle, it causes suspicions with the whole remarrying right after the death. He becomes very confused on how and why his father passed away. Due to the confusion and questions Hamlet wants answered, he could have developed a mental health disorder in the process of trying to figure things out.

Major depressive disorder is a condition when a person experiences two or more weeks of depressed mood or lack of interest in things that usually gave them pleasure not due to any drugs or other medical condition. For this condition to be present a person must show at least five signs of depression (classified as: depressed mood most of the day; diminished interest in activities; significant weight loss or weight gain when not dieting; insomnia or too much sleep; lethargy; fatigue; feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt; difficulty concentrating or thinking; and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide). Bipolar disorder on the other hand is when an individual alternates between hopelessness and an overexcited state of mania. Mood disorders run in families. Women are at twice the risk of having depression and today we find that depression is widespread. Although the majority of depressive episodes end on their own they are usually induced by a stressful event. The risk of suicide or self-injury is higher in individuals who are

It is true that Hamlet becomes emotionally depressed regarding his father, mother, and uncle. However, his depression does not force him to go insane. In the beginning of the play, when the ghost informs him about the death of King Hamlet and Claudius’s involvement, Hamlet is aware that he needs to avenge his father. His emotions are hurt badly, and he plans to dig down to know the truth behind his father’s death. There are instances where a couple of castle guards and Horatio witness the ghost in the castle. Only after being informed from Horatio, Hamlet was able to see the ghost and converse with it. Hamlet plans so well to pretend to be insane that he tells his friend not to worry about his behavior; he is only acting. As the play progress, he becomes more successful in fooling people to believe that he is indeed insane. Nevertheless, this act of madness did not go out of his hands. He has an intended purpose of everything he is doing throughout the play. Also, he wants to know whether his mother is aware of his uncle’s crime and married him in spite of it. He suspects his own mother. What Hamlet actually did is, urge his mother to repent choosing Claudius over his father. “Such an act That blurs the grace and blush of modesty. Calls virtue hypocrite, takes off the rose And sets a blister there, makes marriage vows As false as dicers’ oaths (3.4).” In this he tries to express his frustration and makes his mother realize that she has made a mistake by marrying Claudius. Furthermore, in one of the scenes in the play, Claudius confesses to killing King Hamlet. He says, “Oh, my offence is rank. It smells to heaven. It hath the primal eldest curse upon ‘t, A brother’s murder. Pray can I not. Though inclination be as sharp as will, My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent (3.3)”. This confession proves that what the ghost told Hamlet about his father’s death is true. Hamlet was not insane, he was however paranoid. In the article “Paranoid Personality Disorder”, it was mentioned that “people with paranoid personalities rarely confide in others, and tend to misinterpret harmless comments and behavior as malicious” (Paranoid Personality Disorder). This means that, when a person is emotionally

Bipolar disorder also known as manic depression that causes multiple unusual mood swings; dealing with manic highs and depressive lows. It may also affect their ability to do everyday tasks. When depressed, there is a sense of hopelessness and sad. Even in regular activities person with disorder will lose interest. Person will deal with low energy and low energy. Also, they may deal with a feeling of euphoria, full of energy. These patterns will cause the person to lose sleep, affecting their energy, way of thinking, and activity. Bipolar disorder is a serious brain illness.

In the play, Hamlet, Prince Hamlet endures the tragic loss of his father, the King of Denmark,  and the ultimate betrayal of his uncle, Claudius, who is throned king following his father’s death and marriage to Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude. Hamlet begins to show signs of depression and emotional instability from the beginning. As the play progresses, Hamlet becomes more and more mentally unstable until he begins to border insanity. Hamlet’s mental health is a recurring theme in the play and there are many signs of his suffering. Hamlet’s father’s death, betrayal of his uncle and resentment of his mother are causes for Hamlet’s troubled frame of mind and subsequent actions.

In Hamlet, Hamlet grieves the death of his father, while his step-father Claudius mocks him for showing his emotions. “But to persever In obstinate condolement is a course Of impious stubbornness” (Shakespeare 1.2.96-98). Claudius accuses Hamlet of acting out, using language such as obstinate, persevere, and stubbornness to emphasize his belief that Hamlet maintains control over his behavior. However, depression asserts its own control. It fills the mind and sequesters its victims.

Many who read Shakespeare’s Hamlet immediately dismiss the play’s protagonist as a traumatized young man whose sanity has been dashed away by the increasing intensity of the misfortune bombarding him in his early adult life. However, the play’s young Hamlet may have, in fact, been insane from the very beginning. Perhaps the story was not of his tragic battle with slowly diminishing psychological health, but, rather, his continuing struggle with an untreated illness that had long ago taken root in his life. While it is most commonly thought that Hamlet slowly descended into mental instability throughout the tale, it could be possible that he was struggling with a disorder known as schizophrenia long before the play’s beginning.

2). Depressive episodes also have distinct symptoms: “an overly long period of feeling sad or hopeless, loss of interest in activities once enjoyed, including sex, feeling overly tired or “slowed down,” having problems concentrating, remembering, and making decisions, being restless or irritable, changing eating, sleeping or other habits, thinking of death or suicide, or attempting suicide” (NIMH, 2012, p. 2). “Episodes of bipolar depression are often misdiagnosed as major depression, and in some cases bipolar disorder is not accurately diagnosed for years” (Pinto & Schub, 2014, para. 2).

In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Hamlet suffers from mental illness seen through his depressive episodes and mania. It is difficult to say where Hamlet went so wrong, where the cracks in his mental health became creators. Yet, one thing is for sure, that Hamlet was ill, the manic depression that took over his life cost many people their lives and that is the true tragedy of this play. Even with the clear symptoms of manic depression, Hamlet never stood a chance as his mind slowly betrayed him, till he lost all reason and hope. Hamlet stands as a hopeless tragedy, but a tragedy that would never be

As human beings we all have been exposed to emotional extremes. Some are worse than others. These emotional extremes are categorized into mood disorders. There are two different types of mood disorders, major depression disorder, and bipolar disorder. Major depressive disorder is a persistent state of hopeless depression (Myers 390). Bipolar disorder is an alternative between depression and overexcited hyperactivity (Myers 390). Providing more information and detail will give a better understanding of major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and understanding mood disorders.

Depression can present itself in many ways depending on the person it is effecting. The most commonly known symptoms of depression are persistent sad moods, loss of interest or pleasure in activities, change in weight or appetite, difficulty sleeping or oversleeping, agitation, loss of energy, feelings of worthlessness or unneeded guilt, difficulty thinking or concentrating, and thoughts of death or suicide. A common misconception is that all people with depression are suicidal. While there are many cases of suicidal thoughts in sufferers of depression, not every person with depression has suicidal thoughts. The type of depression one is diagnosed with depends on how many of the symptoms the person is showing. Major depressive disorder, also known as unipolar major depression, is diagnosed if the patient has five or more of the symptoms during a two-week period. Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is diagnosed through the symptoms of major depression episodes, abnormal and constant elevated moods or irritability. Bipolar disorder also presents in symptoms such as lack of need for sleep, increased talkativeness, racing thoughts, increased physical agitation, increased involvement in activities that have a high risk of painful consequences. Dysthymic disorder is the next most common depression disorder next