Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Depresion- True or false Essay Example

Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Depresion Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Depresion- True or false Essay Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Depresion- True or false Essay Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Depression- True or false? True This paper will explore whether Samuel Taylor Coleridge had suffered from depression or not. In order to explore the issue I will first explain what Depression is and its symptoms. Later on I will analyze four of the symptoms with reflection to two of Coleridges poems in order to see if I can find any hints to depression in them. Depression significantly affects a persons family and personal relationships, work or school life, sleeping and eating habits, and general health. Its impact on functioning and well-being has been compared to that of chronic medical conditions such as iabetes. A person having a major depressive episode usually exhibits a very low mood, which pervades all aspects of life, and an inability to experience pleasure in activities that were formerly enjoyed. Depressed people may be preoccupied with, or ruminate over, thoughts and feelings of worthlessness, inappropriate guilt or regret, helplessness, hopelessness, and self-hatred. Other symptoms of depression include poor concentration and memory, withdrawal from social situations and activities, reduced sex drive, and thoughts of death or suicide. Insomnia is common among the depressed. Hypersomnia, or oversleeping, can also happen. A depressed person may report multiple physical symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, or digestive problems; physical complaints are the most common presenting problem in developing countries, according to the World Health Organizations criteria for depression. Appetite often decreases, with resulting weight loss, although increased appetite and weight gain occasionally occur. Family and friends may notice that the persons behavior is either agitated or lethargic. Older depressed people may have cognitive symptoms of recent onset, such as forgetfulness, and a more noticeable slowing of movements. Depression often coexists with physical disorders common among the elderly, such as stroke, other cardiovascular diseases, Parkinsons disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Depressed children may often display an irritable mood rather than a depressed mood, and show varying symptoms depending on age and situation. Most lose interest in school and show a decline in academic performance. They may be described as clingy, demanding, dependent, or insecure. Diagnosis may be delayed or missed when symptoms are interpreted as normal moodiness. Depression may also coexist with attention-deficit hyperactivity isorder (ADHD), complicating the diagnosis and treatment of both. http:// en. wikipedia. rg/wiki/MaJor_depressive_disorder Now I will go over four symptoms of depression and will try to find evidences for them in Coleridge through two of his poems that we have read in class- This Lime -Tree Bower My Prison and Frost at Midnight. get from both poems is melancholy which can indicate low mood. Personal relationships- The poem This Lime -Tree Bower My Prison is all about his friend and his inability to Join them in a walk in nature. In the poem Coleridge relate s to his riends in general and to Charles in specific My gentle- hearted Charles! (1. 28), a line that shows us that Coleridge is capable of personal relationships. Regarding the poem Frost at Midnight, we know that the last stanza in the poem is a blessing to his infant boy so that could indicate that he is also capable of personal relationships with his family members, based on his reference to his child. Insomnia- based on the poems name Frost at Midnight and the line- Only that film, which fluttered on the grate, still flutters there, the sole unquiet thing (l. 15-16) we can understand that Coleridge is the only one awake at a late hour which could indicate that he had troubles sleeping. Thoughts and feelings of worthlessness, inappropriate guilt or regret, helplessness, hopelessness, and self-hatred- in the poem This Lime -Tree Bower My Prison the overall feeling we get is of worthlessness and helplessness by the fact that all his friends are out in nature and he had to stay in. The line that best describes that for me is the opening one- Well, they are gone, and here I most remain, This lime- tree bower my prison! (l. 1-2). As for the poem Frost at Midnight I get a feeling of oneliness from the description of the night and his school days. The lines How oft, at school, with most believing mind, Presageful have I gazed upon the bars, To watch that fluttering stranger! (l. 24-26) conveys, for me, his massage of being a child all alone. After analyzing the four symptoms, I think it is safe to say that Coleridge had suffered from depression in some degree. I think that his depression (or maybe melancholy) is what gave him the ability to see the world the way he did and also to express himself so well and to become the great writer that he is.