Weebly



Understanding the Misunderstood: Dissecting The Bell JarLindsey M. KinchProfessor BearringerApril 18, 2013Summary of The Bell JarMental illness is seldom understood and nearly impossible to explain. Sylvia Plath, a poet from Massachusetts, attempted to do just that. Though purported to be a fictitious novel about a disturbed girl named Esther, The Bell Jar quite remarkably parallels the life of Sylvia Plath herself, who was known to have suffered from severe, debilitating depression, and likely schizophrenia (Hagstrom, 2009, p. 37).The scene is set in New York City in the 1950s. Esther began her summer by being thrown out of her comfort zone, into the bustling whirlwind that is New York City. On a scholarship to write for a prominent magazine, Esther found herself rubbing elbows with an elite crowd. Her life was privileged and of highest class for the summer, but to Esther, this was all quite trivial. During her stay, Esther recounted her disdain with the city, saying, “I guess I should have been excited the way most of the other girls were, but I couldn’t get myself to react. (I felt very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo” (Plath, 1998, p. 3).Esther’s unusual thinking became more pronounced as the summer wore on. After skipping out on several formal parties hosted by the magazine, those around her began to take notice. Her thoughts began to dwell on suicide, which she attempted several times by hanging, drowning, and overdosing on pills. She was subsequently committed for treatment and even underwent electroconvulsive shock therapy sessions. Despite her serious signs of mental illness, no one seemed to take her seriously. Upon abruptly leaving her job of handing out flowers to new mothers at the hospital, Esther fled to a cemetery where she encountered her father’s grave. This incident proved to be a significant element in her continually deteriorating mental status, because so very much of Esther’s life was already consumed with thoughts of death and dying. Her mother had never allowed her to grieve when he died, and Esther felt she owed her father some sort of grievance.After all was said and done, Esther found herself rather happily housed in an asylum. Though embarrassed by her status as an asylum patient, Esther made friends and was even allowed privileges to go to town during the day. The summation of the novel includes Esther’s awaiting a hearing to find out if she is to be allowed to leave the asylum, a prospect which Esther equates with a second chance at life, or rebirth. Much of her life, so closely paralleled with the life of Sylvia Plath, was wrought with depression and angst. Erikson’s Stages of Personality DevelopmentOne model clinical psychologists use to assess an individual’s psychosocial development level is “Erikson’s Stages of Personality Development” (Townsend, 2012, p. 38). Erikson began his work in 1963 by studying the way personality is influenced by social development (Townsend, 2012, p. 38). He outlined a series of age brackets with associated stages that an individual must complete in order to successfully progress to the next stage. He refers to these eight stages as “crises” (Townsend, 2012, p. 38).Sylvia Plath’s depiction of Esther in The Bell Jar most accurately places her within the crisis of identity versus role confusion. Successful completion of this stage results in an individual’s development of a secure sense of self, including emotional wellbeing, and the ability to perceive oneself as an individual (Townsend, 2012, p. 39). This stage, according to Erikson, is generally completed between the ages of twelve and twenty years old. In Plath’s book, Esther is twenty years old, so the stage is age-appropriate for her (Ames, 1998, p. 3-5).The stages preceding identity versus role confusion are: trust versus mistrust (completed between birth and 18 months of age), autonomy versus shame (completed between 18 months and 3 years of age), initiative versus guilt (completed between 3 to 6 years of age), and industry versus inferiority (completed between 6 to 12 years of age) (Townsend, 2012, p. 38-39). Based on Esther’s impaired mental functioning capability, she would have likely had difficulty in completing the stage of trust versus mistrust and the stage of industry versus inferiority. This means that based on Erikson’s model, Esther would have experienced self-consciousness, feelings of doubt, and uncertainty about her role in life (Townsend, 2012, p. 40). These are some of the very issues that plagued her in Plath’s book.Erikson’s model is significant in clinical practice, as it may be used as a tool for identifying social barriers experienced by an individual. However, current research abounds which claims that Erikson’s model not only identifies these potential barriers, but may also be useful as a predictor for an individual’s likelihood of unsuccessfully completing a future stage in Erikson’s model. Mackinnon, Nosko, Pratt, and Norris (2011) reported that, as intimacy in each of the first six stages of Erikson’s model increased, so did the likelihood that the individual would experience stagnation, rather than generativity, during the seventh stage (p. 587). For Esther, this would have meant that, between the allotted ages of thirty to sixty-five, she would have difficulty fulfilling life goals for herself, as well as having the inability to consider the welfare of generations following her (Townsend, 2012, p. 39).Though Esther was institutionalized and treated for her mental illness in the 1950s, there is a remarkable discord between the nurses she encountered and nurses who practice today. Esther’s time in the asylum was fraught with many nurses and psychiatrists, few of whom bothered to listen to Esther in a therapeutic manner. Peplau’s Nursing ModelIn 1991, Hildegard E. Peplau formed a model for nurses to utilize when communicating with patients (Townsend, 2012, p. 45). Peplau’s model combines interpersonal theory and nursing theory together as a means of therapeutic communication and nurse-client relationship development (Townsend, 2012, p. 45). Based on patient-centeredness, Peplau outlined all the roles a nurse must play in order to provide optimal patient care. Peplau defines the nursing “roles” as, “sets of values and behaviors that are specific to functional positions within social structures” (Townsend, 2012, p. 45).Peplau’s nursing roles include that of a resource person, a counselor, a teacher, a leader, a technical expert and a surrogate (Townsend, 2012, p. 45). Based on Esther’s symptoms of depression, she could have benefited from a nurse who exemplified each of these roles. The nurses who attended to Esther were generally very short with her, and did not involve her in her own plan of care. After attempting suicide and being found in the basement by her mother, Esther awoke in the hospital. She wished to see a mirror. Esther’s request was met with the nurse’s response of “…you don’t look very pretty” (Plath, 1998, p. 174). After Esther dropped and broke the mirror, two nurses at her bedside spoke negatively in front of her saying, “at you-know-where they’ll take care of her!” (Plath, 1998, p. 175).These types of communication on behalf of the nurses are examples of how Esther was treated disrespectfully. This creates a barrier in the nurse-patient relationship. Peplau’s role of counselor would have benefited Esther greatly. The counselor is responsible for listening to the client’s feelings and helping them to make decisions on their own behalf which pertain to their care (Townsend, 2012, p. 45). In today’s world, the role of the nurse as a counselor is carried out from the moment the nurse enters the room, to the moment patient contact ceases. Peplau’s role of the nurse as a teacher is fulfilled by engaging in nurse-client interaction led by the nurse, in an effort to provide information to the patient about ways to improve their current situation. Today, this is carried out by the nurse in the form of educating the patient on their diagnosis and empowering him or her to play an active role in their recovery process. According to Carpenito (2013) the nurse’s responsibilities in treating patient who experiences feelings of hopelessness are active listening, validation of feelings, providing encouragement, emphasizing strengths rather than weaknesses, and promoting motivation (p. 339). These are responsibilities that the leader, through empowerment, and the counselor, through active listening, must perform.ConclusionWhile Esther’s condition was extreme, nurses have the responsibility to think critically and quickly on their feet to provide what is best for each of their patients, regardless of how bizarre or hopeless they may seem. According to a 2012 gallup poll, nurses are still the number one most trusted profession after several years at the top (Nurses, 2012, p.1). There is a standard that is expected among nurses, with emphasis on care that is patient-centered. As a future nurse, this author hopes to employ a patient-centered approach to all care provided, unlike the care Esther received. Understanding the pain and isolation which comes from being trapped under the proverbial bell jar is the first step in this student’s quest to provide superior patient care. Esther did not receive the kind of respect or encouragement she deserved from her nurses in 1952. It is the hope of this author, that civility and humanity are not overlooked by the nurses of 2013. References:Ames, L. (1998). The bell jar and the life of Sylvia Plath: A biographical note. In S. Plath, The Bell Jar (pp. 3-5). New York, NY: Harper & Row.Carpenito, L. J. (2013). Nursing diagnosis: Application to clinical practice. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.Hagstr?m, A. J. (2009). Stasis in darkness: Sylvia Plath as a fictive character. English Studies, 90(1), 34-56. doi:10.1080/00138380802396136Mackinnon, S. P., Nosko, A., Pratt, M. W., & Norris, J. E. (2011). Intimacy in young adults’ narratives of romance and friendship predicts Eriksonian generativity: A mixed method analysis. Journal of Personality, 79, 587-617.Nurses still at top in trust. (2012). American Nurse, 44(1), 1.Plath, S. (1998). The bell jar. New York, NY: Harper & Row.Townsend, M. C. (2012). Psychiatric mental health nursing: Concepts of care in evidence-based practice. Philadelphia, PA: FA Davis Company. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download