The Glass Castle

Part 1 – Case Study

I. CHARACTER ANALYSIS: IN THIS SECTION, YOU SHOULD THOROUGHLY ANSWER AS MANY OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AS ARE RELEVANT TO YOUR CHARACTER.

• What is your character’s name?? -> Rose Mary Walls
• What is some background information about this person? -> Grew up with a very strict and judge-mental mother, always felt criticized growing up. Went to college to be a teacher, met Rex Walls and got married.
• What is this person’s socioeconomic background? -> Comes from a very wealthy family, but began living a life on the move, getting by on what they had.
• Where did this person grow up? -> With her mother in Phoenix, before running away
• What is this person’s likes and/or dislikes, strengths and/or weaknesses? -> She is an artist and if she could, she would spend all day painting. She resents her mother snd strives to be the opposite of her, and by doing so is against most of societies norms.
• Describe this person’s family and other significant relationships-> She is married to Rex Walls, an alcoholic and controlling husband. She has four children, who at times she cherishes for their company, but at other times resents them and blames them for not being a successful artist.
• Describe other personal characteristics-> She has intense mood swings and can be severely depressed for days and angry, then happy and relaxed the next morning. She has a very relaxed view on life, and does not believe in comforting her children when they are sad, or being a devoted mother, but rather let the children figure things out on their own.

 

II. STRESSORS: NOTE: YOU ARE EXPECTED TO LOCATE DIRECT QUOTES FROM THE NOVEL TO SUPPORT YOUR ARGUMENTS

• Describe this person’s unhealthy relationships, if any. -> She is married to an alcoholic, who is controlling. At times she enjoys this because she wants to be free and not responsible for anything, and Rex makes all the decisions, allowing her to be carefree. However, she left home to get away from a controlling mother, and tells her daughter “had no idea your father would be even worse” (27).
• Rose Mary Walls also has a troubled relationship with her children. “Mom ignored them when they cried, to not enforce negative behavior” (28). Although she believed the best approach to parenting was a relaxed one, her children often struggled with this and thought of her as selfish.
• Her mother and her had a very unhealthy relationship. Even though she strived to be the opposite of her mother, in many ways she is very similar.
  “But Mom hates teaching, mainly because her mother was a teacher and “lacked faith” in Mom’s artistic ability. She worries she is giving up on her dream.”. The family visits Rose’s mum every once in a while, but only until Rex and her mum get into big fights because she doesn’t believe he is taking care of their family properly, and then they leave again. Grandma was very focused on what she believed were important life skills; cooking, cleaning, and managing money. Rose hated these rules and beliefs, and chose to leave it all behind.

 

• Describe some of the problems in this person’s life, if any: economic, educational, personal, occupational, legal, etc.-> Rose Mary Walls had many problems in her life. Her judgments were all skewed, and even though she chose to live life this way, she always blamed others for her life and lack of success in her artist career. She is also very selfish. One example of this is when the children had eaten nothing but popcorn for a week, and they found their mother stashing chocolate bars under her bed and eating them. They demanded she share, and she blamed it on her sugar addiction. This also happened when the children found a wedding ring and wanted to sell it for food.“But Mom,” I said, “that ring could get us a lot of food.”
  “That’s true,” Mom said, “but it could also improve my self-esteem. And at times like these, self-esteem is even more vital than food.” In her mind her self-esteem is more important than feeding her children. Rex and Rose always seem to put their needs and wants before the children’s.
• Her other problem is with having a job. Even though she went to college to be a teacher, painting is her passion and would rather spend all the families money on art supplies, than work. When Rex goes off on one of his drinking benders ,the children finally convince her to become a teacher to help with the income. However, she is very intent on doing things her way, whether or not that is beneficial to the family. “The school principal, Miss Beatty, especially disapproves of Mom’s teaching tactics. Afraid Mom will be fired, Lori, Brian, and Jeannette start helping out with classroom tasks and homework grading.”. The children constantly have to step up to help there parents, and fill the roles of the responsible adults.

III.  SYMPTOMS: NOTE:  YOU ARE EXPECTED TO BE ABLE TO LOCATE QUOTES FROM THE NOVEL IN THIS SECTION TO BACK UP YOUR CLAIMS

• What are this person’s main symptoms? -> Rose’s main symptoms are immense mood swings. “She retreated to the sofa bed and stayed there for days on end, crying and occasionally throwing things at us. she could have been a famous artist by now, she yelled, if she hadn’t had children. The next day if the mood had passed shed be painting and humming as if nothing had happened”. This violent mood swing was normal for her and the children learned to accept it. “Mom could be as wise as a philosopher, but her moods were getting on my nerves.” (207). She is very childish with her mood swings and refuses to be responsible at all. “One morning toward the end of the school year, Mom had a complete meltdown. She was supposed to write of evaluations of her students progress, but shed spent every free minute painting and now the deadline was on her and the evaluations were unwritten. Mom lay wrapped up in blankets on the sofa bed, sobbing about how much she hated her life.” (207).
• When do these symptoms emerge?-> These symptoms emerge whenever she is not in the center of her own world, or forced to take responsibility. She wants to live carefree and do as she pleases. But when her children urge her to be a mother, or responsibilities begin to lurk, she shuts down and refuses to face it.
• What form do these stressors take? Can you give specific examples from the book?    -> She is in an unhealthy relationship with an alcoholic husband. She often feels that her children always forgive their father and he is able to live his life carefree, so why can’t she. When she is caught eating food while the children are starving her response is; “Mom starts crying and calling herself a sugar addict, and says they should forgive her like they forgive Dad for his addiction.”. The family is also living in extreme poverty. Rose comes from a wealthy family, and she grew up being given what she wants. She wishes only to paint and enjoy life, but with no family income she does not have the luxury to live that way. This is a big stressor for her, and she and Rex refuse to take any food stamps, or donations, as they are too proud for that. This is mostly damaging to the kids, as they are the ones suffering from their parents being to proud to accept donations, as they go weeks without proper meals.
• Although Rose Mary shows many symptoms of bipolar and depression, it is questionable if her depression ever got life threatening. At one point when Rose and Rex are fighting, she ends up hanging out a window. She claims Rex pushed her, and he swears he didnt. The truth is unknown to whether she jumped out or he pushed her out, but still is questionable.
• Rose also reflects a lack of remorse. She believes things happen, and continues to put her needs first rather then dwell or comfort others. When her second daughter died, she claims that Rex was “never the same” (28), yet describes no remorse or pain she felt, and seemed to move on relatively quick.

IV. OUTCOME OF CASE: IN THIS SECTION, YOU SHOULD THOROUGHLY ANSWER AS MANY OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS AS ARE RELEVANT TO YOUR CHARACTER

• Was there treatment for this person?-> This woman was anti doctors and people who would every try and tell her what to do, so never had treatment.
• If so, was this treatment effective?
• If there was no treatment in the book, what treatment would your recommend? (therapy, meds, etc.)-> I would definitely recommend both therapy and medication. She needs medication to stabilize her mood, but there are definitely some underlying issues with her lust for control, yet always finding herself in situations where she is being controlled. She can only get better if she is willing to talk about her past and hopefully a combination of the two would do the trick.
• What is the long-term prognosis for this person – have the stressors discussed above been reduced or eliminated? How? -> The stressors were eliminated, as when her children grew up they all left, and eventually she told her youngest daughter it was time for her too to leave. By removing any demand for responsibility, she is able to live selfishly. This in turn, leaves her where she would have been all along if it weren’t for her children protecting the family, on the streets. We do not know as much about her day to day life when she is older, as the narrator no longer lives with her, and doesn’t see her too often. However, Rose describes herself as content with her life “You want to help me change my life? mom asked. Im fine. You’re the one who needs help. Your values are all confused.” (5). Rose truly believes she is living the best life possible, as her wants and needs are the main priority, and she thinks her daughter caring about others opinions is ruining her values. Still, she is living on the streets, as she has never been able to be responsible for herself or others, and with medication she may be able to keep a job and build a life for herself.

Part 2 – Research on diagnosis

V. DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA – THIS CAN SIMPLY BE A PRINT OUT OF THE DSM-V RULES AND ESSENTIALLY ACT AS A CHECKLIST FOR YOU AND YOUR CLASSMATES TO FOLLOW.

• Does your patient meet the diagnostic criteria for a particular mental illness (See DSM-V)? -> In reading about bipolar disorder, Rose definitely has had manic, and/or major depressive episodes.
• What are the most common symptoms of this disorder?->The symptoms include manic episodes, with different criteria for each type, and denial of being ill or need for treatment. Antisocial behaviors also accompany these episodes. The most common symptom is a very rapid mood shift to anger or depression.
• What is a typical age of onset?-> First occurs between age 15-30, and average onset is age 25.
• Is this disorder more common in one gender?-> Females are more likely to experience rapid cycling and mixed states during bipolar. Females with bipolar I and II are also more likely to experience depressive symptoms than males.
• How well does your person’s symptoms match up with the overall symptoms of someone with this disorder?-> Rose Mary had many manic episodes during her lifetime, and her selfish and drastic mood changes are very evident. She would spend days in her bed angry and depressed, then be completely normal. I believe she is showing very classic symptoms of bipolar.

VI. TREATMENTS

• What are the most common treatments available? -> The most common treatments are; therapy, medication, and supportive care (hospitalization).
• How effective are the current treatments?->Many people with bipolar take more than one drug such as a mood stabilizer and an anti depressant, but doctors recommend to continue the course of therapy while on medication. There is no cure for Bipolar, but with continued support it can be treated and someone with bipolar can life a normal life.

VII. GENERAL RESEARCH: IN THIS SECTION, YOU SHOULD COMMENT ON RELEVANT INFORMATION NOT DISCUSSED UNDER OTHER HEADINGS. FOR EXAMPLE:

• Are there any controversies surrounding this disorder? -> Many are against the use of antidepressants in the treatment of bipolar disorder as the think it is ineffective and may increase rapid cycling (4 or more distinct episodes in one year). Where as others think they may help keep patients out of a manic episode.

Are there any new trends in diagnosis and/or treatments for this disorder?

“An international consortium of scientists has identified a stretch of chromosome that is associated with responsiveness to the mood-stabilizing medication lithium among patients with bipolar disorder. While the finding won’t have an immediate clinical application, it is a groundbreaking demonstration of the potential for identifying genetic information that can be used to inform personalized treatment decisions, even in genetically complex disorders. The genes identified are also an avenue for understanding the biology of the lithium response.” -National Institute of Mental Health January 28th 2016

 

VIII. CONCLUSION – EVALUATION OF CASE

In this final section, you should discuss the ease with which your client was diagnosed.  In other words did your client clearly suffer from a mental illness that is classified in the DSM-V, or was it a collection of symptoms that lent themselves to a variety of possible explanations?

Rose Mary Walls was a self absorbed woman, who suffered from Bipolar Disorder. Through her children’s observations, we can understand her manic episodes and there extent. Her violent mood swings, and manic episodes lasting for days are sure signs of BD. She also was in denial of ever receiving help from others, not just regarding her mental state, but in life at all. She put her needs and her life over her children’s repeatedly, and her waves of depression and hate for the world reflect on her disorder. I believe her childhood and the lack of control she feels plays a part in her depression, yet I believe she also has Bipolar Disorder, which leads the way for more depressive states.