Depression
Depression is a term that can be used to describe a variety of situations depending on the context of the application. The majority of the scholars define depression as the appearance of a person expressing sadness. The term can also refer to a disorder determined by clinical diagnosis or fleeting of a person mood. The doctors state that the disease is shared among the adults who affect their health functioning, personal and social relationships among other effects (Oyama). The American Psychiatric Association has listed clinical depression as a disorder that can quickly affect a person's psychic-emotional system, musculoskeletal system, the brain or heart. In the movie Carrie, we explore the character of Carrietta White experience of depression that leads to her death after various attempts to fit in society. The paper focuses on the characteristics of depression as expressed in the movie by the main character Carrie.
Isolation
The majority of the people suffering from depression always feel alienated from their families or friends thus creating a void in their lives. The person develops low self-esteem to the extent that she cannot engage in normal activities expected by the society. In the movie, Carrie sees herself as a different person from the others. Unlike other children, she did not have a perfect family as one would wish. She was a child born out of a rape incident, and the thought of that would make her feel she did not belong in the environment because religious persons viewed her as a bad seed. In the movie, Carrie says "Everyone is not bad, and everything is not sinning." She would feel tortured and humiliated.
The writer exposes Carrie's unique behavior through the powers she poses. Her upbringing influenced her behavior towards other children. While playing she finds Estelle sunbathing with only a bikini on, she points at her breasts and calls them dirty pillows. That is the term her mum used, and she grew up knowing right girls should not have them (Palma). The majority of the teenage children found Carrie's response to issues weird thus most of them avoided her. In isolation, Carrie often wondered what she did wrong when her mother abused her she caused a rain of hailstones only at their home. After that, more people stayed away from Carrie claiming that her mysterious powers were unbearable.
Suicidal Behaviors
The majority of the patients diagnosed with depression often develop suicidal attitudes because of the sense of not being worthy (Coleman). Carrie was growing into a woman, but at school, she was only identified as a nerd. The favorite classmates would single her out for the rest of the class to bully her and make fun every day. Being an outcast, most of the people neglected her thus making her feel not worthy. Carrie was born with telekinesis to mean that when she concentrates entirely on something she is capable of controlling and moving them just with the mind. She termed the telekinesis as flexing which she used to comfort her solitude. She practiced using these powers each day before sleeping. When she became mad or upset, Carrie would become wild. However, she did not have the courage to share her gift with anyone.
The movie leaves Carrie's death to be a mystery to the viewers. However, Carrie lived under a lot of pressure which could have made her exhausted. The telekinesis practice was too risky, and it might have caused brain hemorrhaging. Telekinesis is the only thing that soothed her, and she could have used it to shut herself. When Carrie realized how mysterious she was behaving, she might have developed depression with most of the people referring to her as a monster (Palma). The guilt conscious of killing her mother might have been overwhelming forcing her to end her life as a means of ending the pain and suffering. People suffering from depression often believe that nothing is worth living for and death seems to be the only solution. Even though Carrie was often viewed as a monster, it can be argued that most of the people only used her as a scapegoat because she was often found at the wrong place and time.
Anxiety
Anxiety is one of the standard symptoms of depression. The clinical description of anxiety states that depressed persons are likely to feel hopeless thus losing interest in life activities. From the movie, Carrie endures a lot of tormenting incidence whenever she interacts with people. Her physical appearance is what greatly influenced her anxiety. In the film, she is described as a frog among swans, and these occasionally lowered her self-esteem while in school. Some of the students were repulsive to look at her because she had too many flaws. Those who knew Carrie could say that she is suffering from post-traumatic stress or bipolar disorder which might have stimulated depression (Odle). In the film, Carrie is portrayed as a loner with no confidence. Nobody was willing to show her neither love nor support. Carrie had no friends, and it was hard for her to share her pain and suffering.
The writer uses religion to explore the anxiety symptoms expressed by Carrie. Occasionally, her mother would tell her to go and pray in the closet which she could be locked for days. Her mind was always tormented by which sin she committed; her life was like a prisoner trapped with no hope of something to make her happy. In the movie, she says that other children think she is weird, but she desires to have a healthy life before it's late (Palma). The closet is decorated with religious figures that Carrie is expected to read and pray. She was isolated from other children under the allegations that she would learn ungodly and provocative things. However, these are incidences when Carrie's level of depression was worsening because her life was not similar to that of typical teenagers.
Social withdrawal
Social withdrawal is a common characteristic of depression patients because most of them prefer being alone (Williams). Interacting with other people was an excellent challenge for Carrie. In the film, we see other classmates throwing tampons, towels, and napkins at her thus with a rational mind she would avoid interacting with the classmates. Having no friends, she practiced telekinesis thus she would isolate herself to have an easy time exploring her talent.
In the midst of Carrie's social withdrawal, she fumes up with the desire for vengeance of the nasty things her classmates had made her go through. During the prom night, she makes an unusual step that costs the lives of many people. On this day, she dressed up well and even felt she was pretty. Her hope to live as a typical teenage girl is shuttered by the humiliation of being elected as a prom queen and later showered with a smelly wet blanket. Everyone was laughing at her, and she used her telekinesis to bring chaos in the room (Palma). She looks at the people in the auditorium and opens the sprinkler system to wet them and destroy their clothes. Depression is known to make people make decisions that may cause harm to others just like Carrie did.
Conclusion
In conclusion, depression disorder has become common among the children and is mostly influenced by how people around view them. It is essential for the society to advocate for social awareness of the disorder not only at the community level but also at a personal level through counseling. At schools, there should be a counseling department that could help nurture children with depression symptoms. Carrie at school was often known as a weird child and assistance from counseling would have had a significant effect on her life.
Works Cited
Carrie. Dir. Brian De Palma. 1976.
Coleman, Lee H. Depression: A Guide for the Newly Diagnosed. . Oakland: New Barbinger, , 2012.
Odle, Teresa G. "Depression." The Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine. Ed. Laurie J. Fundukian. Vol. 2. 4th ed. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, (2014.): p728-733.
Oyama, Oliver PhD, Piotrowski, Nancy A., PhD. "Depression." Magill’s Medical Guide (Online Edition) (January 2017).
Williams, Mark, et al. , . The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness. New York: The Guilford Press, 2007.
