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Prozac Nation-- How did people react to this novel

This novel got more praise than expected. According to the New York Times review expresses how doctors might want to give the book out to patients instead of medication, to show what happens if you fall down the worm hole.

People appreciated the aspect that Wurtzel would still feel low even though she had many positive things happening in her life. The public would have a novel where they can really relate to the protagonist.

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The Bell Jar-- How did people react to this Novel

Differing from its companion novel, The Bell Jar was perceived differently. Instead of reviews talking about the mental health aspect, they see the novel as a girl that just simply goes crazy. "Camouflage and illness go together," (written in The New Yorker's 1971 issue) describing that Plath's novel does cover the full range of mental health, almost as if it failed as a novel.

It wasn't until recent years when people saw The Bell Jar as a successful novel because it expressed how mental health was treated and seen in the early 20th century.

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One of the most recent novels talking about mental health, Green gives a fresh perspective. As most novels talk about depression and anxiety and the main aspect of mental health, Green writes a novel where the main character have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (ODC). You can see where modern treatments have her on medication and in therapy.

She also has a supportive parent that hasn't been seen in many portrayals of literature. This allows for a more positive outlook for the protagonist at the end of the novel.

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Treatment for mental health has changed dramatically throughout the last century and even though it may not be perfect, our society is on the right track to helping people battling with mental health.

Treatments today include medication, therapy, meditation, and lifestyle changes.

Even though treatment is the most positive it has been, there is still a stigma around mental health. Many people who battle with it don't feel like they can get help and some states in the country don't have suitable facilities. With the public bringing mental health into the light, our society will be in a place where we can openly help people battling with mental health

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First discovered by accident during World War II, this drug is now one of the most popular medications for Americans to take. 1 in 10 people in the U.S take Antidepressants and 60%-80% feel relief from the drug.

One of the most popular kinds, Prozac, hit the market in 1987 with Zoloft in 1991, and Paxil in 1992. Because of the boom in popularity, antidepressants were as "familiar to the American Family as the Kleenex." (According to a 2010 Time article). This is the first time in history that depression starts to lose its stigma.

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Also referred to as Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), this therapy is now done under general anesthesia- but wasn't for most of the 20th century. It sends small electric currents through the brain causing a brief seizure. This process changes the brain's chemistry and has been thought to reverse symptoms of certain mental health conditions.

Without even testing, doctors know that ECT can cause brain damage, memory lose, cardiovascular complications, epilepsy, and sometimes death.

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Prozac Nation was written with the influence from The Bell Jar and gives and new perspective to its companion piece. Written in the 1990's, Wurtzel expresses her battle with depression and differing from Plath, gives a more "happy" ending to her story.

She spends much of the book explaining her life events showing how these have affected her in different ways. Giving the example that she didn’t just go crazy and there were aspects of her life that lead to where she was.

She also dives into the battle of recovery, she expresses what type of therapy options and came down to taking the new antidepressant Prozac. By putting this in the novel, it makes it clear that Wurtzel is trying to allow the public to see how you need to find what works for you and not everything will work.

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When Plath wrote this novel, women weren’t allowed to have a free will opinion. When she first published the book, it was under a different name in fear that people wouldn’t enjoy a poet writing a semi-fictional book. It wasn't published under her own name until years after her passing.

The public were analyzing the parallels between the fictional character and Plath rather than enjoying the novel itself. It shows the depth that mental health doesn’t show in the mid 20th century with the use of wards and electroshock therapy. People had seen her as crazy with no one thinking that she just needed help. She was also wrote the book in a passive way which did not help that case.

She didn’t have any flashbacks to show where her wave of depression came from. Seeing as there is no reason why she is like this and that she just gone “crazy”.

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Start of Mental Health- Early 20th Century

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Start of Mental Health- Early 20th Century

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This is the first time in history that scientists were trying to find out what made behave feel and behave in this way. It's the first time they started to find different cures with most being very harsh to the patient. Techniques include:

-Insulin-Induced comas
-Lobotomies
-Malarial Infections
-Electroshock Therapy

Most of the patients during this time where just considered mad and never had had their mental state looked into.