Mental Illness In Fiction

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Mental Illness In Fiction

A starting list might include:

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath , a fictionalised account of her own struggles with depression

The Bird Of Paradise by R. D. Laing , often available with his non-fiction essay The Politics Of Experience about Schizophrenia and Hallucinogenic drugs

Regeneration by Pat Barker , based on the historical experiences of the poet Siegfried Sassoon , explores Shell-shock and other traumatic illnesses following World War I

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey is a classic, though arguably its subject is more Mental Institution s than illness itself, if the two can be separated.

More recently, The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time by Mark Haddon is written from the point of view of an Autistic child.