Group+7

Psychoanalytic Literary Criticism
====[|Psychoanalytic Criticism] builds on Freudian theories of psychology. Freud basically said that everything we do is driven by our unconscious thoughts, our dreams and our desires. Some critics believe that we can and should read psychoanalytically. Similar to new criticism psychoanalytical criticism is not concerned with what the author intended. It is more concerned with what the author never intended. They try to find out how the author’s past interfered with their writing. It seeks evidence of unresolved emotions, psychological conflicts, guilts, and so forth. The author’s own childhood traumas, family life, sexual conflicts, and fixations should be traceable of the characters and the situations in the literary work. ==== ====This video highlights the fact that patients dwell on their early traumatic childhood experiences; mostly involving sex. "Sex it seemed was at the root of neurotic sickness." It goes with our paper topics because each of our papers is about how early issues in life can affect an adult (in this case, author) later on.====

The Link Between Creativity and Psychological Disorders
====For years, the theory that there is a link between psychological disorders and creativity has been present. A psychological disorder in particular is the mental illness [|bipolar disorder]. The research behind bipolar disorder and creativity shows that the symptoms of those with bipolar disorder have tendencies to "think outside of the box" and have heightened emotions, feelings of immortality, and unrealistic perceptions of reality during their manic episodes. These symptoms fuel creativity and enable artists and authors to create extraordinary pieces of artwork and literature. An additional observation that supports the link between psychological disorders and creativity is the high suicide rates among authors, poets, composers, artists, comedians, etc. Earlier generations of artists have shown a suicidal tendency that is eighteen times higher than that of the "general public". This is relevant because those diagnosed with a psychological disorder have documented symptoms of suicidal thoughts. There is a plethora of artists, musicians, poets, etc. that have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder by analyses of their works.====

Compiled list from Wikipedia:
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-Environment. A child living in a home with bipolar parents may have issues dealing with mood swings of his or her parents, and the instability of the home life.
====-Heredity. A multitude of studies show that bipolar disorder runs in families, and that children with bipolar disorder are predisposed to bipolar disorder more so than children with parents that aren't diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Studies that observe cases of separated twins show that it is possible that environment plays no significant role in the development of bipolar disorder. Separated twins both have diagnosed cases of bipolar disorder, which proves that genetics are main culprits of bipolar disorder.==== ====-Stress. Though this ties in with environment, stress can also play a part in the development of bipolar disorder, stress factors brought on by anything ranging from the death of a family member to even the birth of a child can possibly lead to bipolar disorder. However due to the fact that everyone can tolerate different levels of stress it can be basically anything.==== ====-However even though these ideas haves been presented as possible causes of bipolar disorder. There is still no clear-cut defined answer to why somebody might develop bipolar disorder, as research continues to be done today.====

**Precious:**
====In the book, __Precious,__ Precious focuses on her past experiences of sexual abuse by the constant raping by her father. Throughout the whole book it focuses on how these experiences affected her, especially when she would describe the flashbacks she would have due to her post-traumatic syndrome. From a psychoanalytic perspective, it is highly plausible that Sapphire, the author of __Precious__, has had traumatic experiences and potential psychological disorders that have plagued her past and subconsciously contributed to the creation of the novel, __Precious.__ Sapphire also could have transferred her childhood issues into the novel by giving Precious' mother a type of disorder that causes her to accept the sexual abuse that her boyfriend gives to Precious and her mood swings towards Precious.====

Tietem Brown:
====Also in the book __Tietem Brown__ author Mick Foley writes about a truly traumatized boy named Antietam whose father is a very bipolar man, most of the book focused on his mood swings. Antietam's father is as a womanizer and he is seen as sexually and physically abusive to the women that he brings home. He is also very physically and verbally abusive to his son Tietam. However on other days his personality would be completly different he would also go through mood shifts where he would become very nice to Antietam. At the end of the book you see Antietam experience a manic episode common for those with bipolar disorder where he snaps and attempts to kill his father.====

**A Rose for Emily:**
====Another example is in the short story, "A Rose for Emily", by William Faulkner. Emily seems to focus all of her emotions on her loved ones closest to her. When her father passes, she has an awkward separation anxiety where she cannot let him go. It's almost as if she suffered from the [|electra complex], when a daughter has psychosexual emotions for her father and is jealous of the mother. Then later with her boyfriend, Homer, she has extreme paranoia to the point where she murders him so he cannot leave her. From analyses of Faulkner's works, it has been concluded that Faulkner has been diagnosed with a form of bipolar disorder,and he may have subconsciously transferred some disorders into Emily's character in different forms. Emily's psychological issues also may have been created because of the social tensions in the south, and the "craziness" that has been noted in older generations of her family.====

====media type="youtube" key="gt9i2QCp_lM?fs=1" height="385" width="480" align="left"This video is a reenactment of the ending of, "A Rose for Emily." This is where the reader finds out the dramatic twist of the death of Homer and where Emily's psychotic self is finally figured out.====

Sources:
===="Bipolar Disorder". National Institute of Mental Health. National Institutes of Health. 2008. Web. 17 Dec. 2010. < [|http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/complete-index.shtml#pub2]>.==== ====Delahoyde, Michael. "Psychoanalytic Criticism". WSU. Web. Dec. 2010. < [] >.====

Purdue Online Writing Lab: []
===="Psych Central: Manic Episode Symptoms." //Psych Central - Trusted Mental Health, Depression, Bipolar, ADHD and Psychology Information//. Web. 09 Dec. 2010. <[]>.==== ====Read, Kimberly. "What Causes Bipolar Disorder?" //Bipolar Disorder Symptoms, Diagnosis, Medications, Treatment - Coping With Bipolar Disorder//. 12 Apr. 2010. Web. 03 Dec. 2010. <[]>.====