Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.
A Madmans Diary is a story written by a Chinese author in 1918. The story is divided into two parts the introduction written by the author serves as a short preface. The second part contains excerpts from the diary the authors friend led during the exacerbation of his mental disorder. The personalities of the author and of the narrator are clearly seen, and it is easy to figure out that they are not the same people. Throughout the whole story, the narrator is sure that his brother and other people who live in the village are cannibals and want to eat him. He is very suspicious and watchful, he does not trust anyone since he is convinced that everybody wish him harm (Xan VII). It is possible to trace that throughout the course of the story, the suspicions of the character only grow. In the beginning, he is concerned only about strange looks and facial expressions people around him have, while at the end, he is absolutely convinced that they are cannibals who want to eat him. In addition, the attitude of his neighbors towards him, when they considered him mad for his words represents the attitude towards people with mental health problems in the world in general.
A Madmans Diary is a story that is quite interesting to analyze from the psychological point of view. A narrator is a person with a clearly expressed mental disorder that is called persecution mania. His situation was quite difficult because mental disorders were not properly treated at the beginning of the XX century. Hence, the patient could not get either medical treatment or talk therapy which are the most effective and widespread ways of dealing with mental health issues (Rappenecker 1571). Due to the absence of adequate treatment, the mental state of the patient severely deteriorated, and the reader can observe the whole process throughout the story.
During the first two chapters, the narrator is suspicious about the strange looks and facial expressions of his neighbors and relatives. However, in the third chapter, after hearing the conversation between his brother and the tenant from Wolf Cub Village, he convinces himself that he is surrounded by cannibals (Xan III). Such a swift development of the mania and second thoughts might have been provoked by his personal thoughts and reflections. It is scientifically proven that in inappropriate conditions, self-reflection is destructive and can severely harm a persons mental health state (Yip 777). Hence, it is possible to see that the narrators thoughts in combination with developing persecution mania caused serious outcomes for his mental health that provoked changes in his behavior and personality.
Apart from that, the narrator may be considered a person susceptible to stereotyping since he makes conclusions about his neighbors nature taking into account only his own thoughts and parts of the conversations he overheard. Thus, he only boosts the deterioration of his health conditions by fostering more second thoughts (Määttä 166). Though it is clear from the authors remarks at the beginning of the story that the narrator recovered, it is still hard to understand whether he had later health issues provoked by the mania. It is scientifically proven that mental health issues may become a cause of emerging severe diseases such as cancer (Marrie et al. 12).
In conclusion, it is possible to state that the story A Madmans Diary by Lu Xan is an example of writing that clearly describes the thoughts and world perception of a person who has persecution mania. The work itself presents interest not only for literary critics but to the psychiatrists since it gives them the opportunity to study the disease from the inside.
Works Cited
Määttä, Tiina. Engaging Individuals Vulnerable to Stereotyping In Self-reflection Through Image Work: Valuing Hidden Experiences And Creating New Meanings. Journal of Social Work Practice, vol. 34, no. 2, 2020, pp. 163-176. Web.
Marrie, Ruth Ann, et al. Effect of Comorbid Mood and Anxiety Disorders on Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening in Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Disease. PLoS ONE, vol.16., 2021. Web.
Rappenecker, David L. Lost Causes? Why Iowans with Mental Illness Face an Uphill Battle for Social Security Disability Benefits. 2021
Xan, Lui. A Madmans Diary. Createspace Independent Pub, 2014.
Yip, Kim-Shing. Self-reflection in Reflective Practice: A Note of Caution British Journal of Social Work, vol. 36, 2006, pp. 777-788.
Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.