Mental conditions in fiction

The topic I have chosen might seem sulky or too depressive for some readers but sometimes it is highly essential to read something like that as such novels not only help to raise awareness and form a positive attitude towards people with mental issues, but also provide the reader with an emotional and memorable story definitely worth your time and patience.

In this list I have made an attempt to collect the novels of different forms and genres which at the same time discuss different conditions so that each reader could pick something to his/her liking.

1. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

“The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” gives the reader an insight into a life of a teen boy, Christopher, who has a condition of autistic spectrum, supposedly Asperger’s syndrome. Although the features of this disorder are described very accurately, the main aim of the author here is to describe the teen’s personality and make the character relatable for all the readers. The story begins as a detective novel: the boy finds a dead dog of his neighbour in the garden and decides to investigate into this case. Later it develops into a much more complicated plot touching upon such topics as coming-of-age, parents and children relationships, adultery and many others.

2. Tender is the Night by Frances Scott Fitzgerald

This semi-autobiographical fiction is loosely based on the complicated relations between Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda who suffered from schizophrenia. The novel tells about Dick Diver, a young and talented psychiatrist who, struggling to cope with the mental condition of his wife Nicole, meets a Hollywood starlet Rosemary, and with the development of the plot the links between the three of them get more and more confused. This novel is basically Fitzgerald’s atonement for his own mistakes in marriage and for inability to provide Zelda with the support she needed that is why the novel turned out to be very emotional and Nicole is one of the most likeable and beautifully written female characters of all his works.

3. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

This is an absolute classic of a psychological novel, which I couldn’t miss in the list. The main character, Esther Greenwood, steps out of college right onto the path to fulfilling her writing ambitions when she begins to feel that something strange is happening to her. Together with the character, the reader falls into the depth of depression, goes through the hell of a 20^th century mental clinic and then climbs up into the light again. This novel is perhaps the most difficult to read, yet also the most inspiring as the author shows us that however hard or frightening the depression may seem, you can always be stronger than it.

4. Waiting for Bojangles by Olivier Bourdeaut

Although this work deals rather with escapism and fear of responsibility, the description of a mental condition (supposedly schizophrenia) is also very profound here. This story is a little bit surrealistic and often involves stream of consciousness but such approach makes it even more emotional and gives us a better insight into a human psychic highlighting its complicated and often chaotic character. The novel is narrated by a boy and tells about his queer parents who live according to the rules of jazz age - drinking, having fun, enjoying their lives while they can, even though the world around them is breaking into pieces. When he and his father begin to realize that the mother begins to slip into madness, they face a difficult choice – either to put her into a mental clinic that will change her forever or try to cope with it themselves and have the most of their live notwithstanding all the difficulties.

5. Perfect by Rachel Joyce

While the previous novels deal with mental problems, which are often discuss in fiction, the books focusing on obsessive-compulsive disorder are rather few. This diagnosis results in obsessive thoughts and a great number of routines repeated over and over again. “Perfect” consists of interchanging chapters half of which tell about a middle-aged man Jim suffering from OCD and the other half presents the story of 12-year-old Byron Hemming and his mother. Byron’s story moves forward while Jim’s thoughts are turned to his past but notwithstanding such different directions at some point they are bound to intersect. With her outstanding novel, Rachel Joyce emphasises how many problems find their roots in childhood and family troubles.

6. The Fifth Sally by Daniel Keyes

Even though “The Minds of Billy Milligan” is the most famous novel telling about multiple personalities disorder this fiction by the same author is also worth considering. Daniel Keyes, being a professional psychologist, managed to create a lot of bright and detailed images of people with mental disorders, among which Sally Porter mentioned in the title. When Sally realises that she too often suffers from headache and blackouts and can’t remember some of her actions, she seeks for help from Dr. Roger Ash who discovers four other personalities within her body. The psychiatrist becomes interested in the case and starts his investigation into Sally’s memory trying to put the pieces of her consciousness together and discover who is the real Sally.

7. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Another great and extremely emotional novel written by Keyes, this time containing some elements of science fiction. Charlie Porter aged 32 is perfectly contended with his life. He has a small flat, a work in bakery and he devotes his free time to the reading and writing classes at the Beekman College Center for Retarded Adults. Due to genetic issues, his IQ has reached only 68 points but Charlie has decided that this fact won’t stand in his way. When his teacher recommends him for a scientific experiment, he willingly accepts the offer. Charlie and his fellow patient small white mouse Algernon undergo a life-changing operation to “make them smart”. Although the operation itself goes well and Charlie’s IQ begins to grow dramatically, the world, which the character sees with new eyes, turns out a much darker and more confusing place than he thought it to be…

8. The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry

It is not a secret that in previous centuries a mental hospital served not only as a place of treatment but also as a place of imprisonment for the people (especially women), which for some reason turned out to stand in someone’s way. Barry’s novel is a story of 100-year-old Roseanne McNulty who has spent half of her life in such hospital. The hospital is soon to be closed and the chief of it, Dr Green, making a list of patients who can already be released, is completely at loss with Roseanne’s case. He decides to investigate deeper into her story and help her to remember her past. While reading her tale both the doctor and the reader have to find out the truth – whether the woman really has a mental conditions or were there other reasons that made her family put Roseanne into the hospital? The novel is a captivating read that explores the issues of memory, family relations and gender while picturing Irish history and culture as a background.