Definition:

IDEA Definition (Emotional Behavioral Disorder): "One or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked extent, which adversely affects educational performance":

• An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.

• An ability to build or maintain satisfactory relationships with peers or teachers.

• Inappropriate types of behaviors or feelings under normal circumstances.

• A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.

• A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. ("Behavior disorders," 2017)

Textbook Def: "A depressed child or youth might act sad, lonely, and apathetic; exhibit low self-esteem, excessive guilt, and pervasive pessimism; avoid tasks and social experiences and/or have physical complaints or problems in sleeping, eating, or eliminating [using the bathroom]. Sometimes depression is accompanied by such problems as bed-wetting (nocturnal enuresis), fecal soiling (encopresis), extreme fear or refusal to go to school, failure in school, or talk of suicide or suicide attempts. Depression also frequently occurs in combination with a conduct disorder." (Hallaman, 2015, p. 195)

Review

While the character of Charlie first appears in Perks of Being a Wallflower as an average, introverted freshman just starting to find his place in high school, it doesn't take the reader long to figure out there's something off about this fourteen year old boy. Though it is never stated outright in the novel, the reader can deduce that Charlie has some type of Post Traumatic Stress because of his aunt molesting him as a child, that has left him with Depression as a teenager. We are able to see this through his odd, unsocial, or awkward tendencies throughout the novel. For instance, while we can't help but be proud of the boy when he starts to become a part of Sam and Patrick's friend group, we can also see that, when put in normal teen situations where he should be happy, Charlie is a bit off key. The step-sibling's one friend, Bob, who admittedly was under the influence of illegal substances, points out that Charlie is a wallflower, meaning he watches, observes, but keeps quiet about what he sees. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, however, as Charlie travels through this novel, we can see that his attempts to keep everything to himself slowly become too much for him to handle.

This allows young adult readers to associate with Charlie as a character. Mental illness and personal issues have a rather bad representation among the public. The topic itself is still seen as a taboo, however this book allows the opportunity for other teenagers to see from Charlie's perspective and understand that they are not alone in feeling the way that they do. This can be beneficial to the overall stigma because the more society starts to understand that many people think this way, the more people will be able to come out about their troubles and try to get help, instead of dealing with it all themselves.

The reader can also see what happens to Charlie at the end of the novel, when all of this knowledge begins to overload him. After Sam leaves for college, all of Charlie's issues seem to collapse in on him at once. He begins remembering how his aunt molested him as a child, along with coming to terms with the fact that his friends are really leaving him this fall, and everything totally debilitates him until he ends up in the hospital. We actually can see this other times in the novel on a lesser scale as well, such as when he's particularly sad on New Year's about Sam being with Craig, which causes him to do drugs and wander around, under dressed, in the snow for several hours. This shows readers that keeping everything bottled up inside can only last so long, which is why people who don't go to get help sometimes resort to extreme actions, such as suicide. This is why it is important that we stress, to the younger generations especially, that it is not only okay, but it is encouraged to go and get help if they believe that they could possibly have an emotional disorder, such as depression.

With Charlie, we can actually identify some of the signs of major depression and suicidal thoughts or actions from early on in the novel, even though it may not seem like Charlie was planning on taking his own life. In an article written by Paula S. Berger, she analyzes the presence of suicide and possible other mental issues in several young adult novels from the 1980s. Though these novels are from 30 years ago, Berger was a promoter of the idea that suicide, in particular, has stepped out of its "taboo" label, which allows it to be "properly addressed" to the younger generations (Berger, 1986, p. 15). In her article "Suicide in Young Literature" she discusses three novels, Three Friends by Myron Levoy, Tunnel Vision by Fran Arrick, and Remembering the Good Times by Richard Peck, all of which contain characters that either attempt or commit suicide because of depression, and shows how each of the characters showed signs that lead to their decision (Berger, 1986, p. 15). This helps us to be able to identify those young adults that are in need of help so that we can get them the attention that they need. It also show the aftermath and effect that young adult suicide has on a population because these characters needed help for emotional disabilities and were not getting any.

Berger explains that, even though each character may have been living through different issues and stressors, such as being in a "constant state of hopelessness and despair", or feeling as though they have both no future and no past to rely on, each character showed the same symptoms that gave away that they were in need of help (1986, p. 15). These symptoms included expressing their true, darker feelings through another medium, such as writing or drawing, giving away their prized possessions, and displaying actions that would be considered "out of their character."

Naturally, the reader is also able to see these same signs in Perks of Being a Wallflower. The first thing we are able to notice about Charlie is that he has a strange attraction to writing in order to work out his feelings. The novel itself is written in letters that Charlie writes to an unnamed "friend" who doesn't know who he is. Charlie treats these letters as a diary of sorts. Within them, he is brutally honest about everything that is happening in his life, and his innocence to it all. Charlie depicts not only his good memories, but also everything he struggles with, such as his unrequited feelings for Sam, and his loneliness when his friends alienate him for breaking up with Mary Elizabeth. Whether or not these letters were actually meant to be sent, the reader is able to see Charlie try and fail to work through all of his issues through this writing, including when he fails and goes over the edge. We can also see Charlie's attraction to writing when he gifts Patrick a poem that he found, which turns out to actually be a suicide letter written by another teen. Charlie claims that he was naive as to what the poem actually meant, but it's quite possible that subconsciously, Charlie was trying to reach out to his friends about the depression and looming thoughts of loneliness and failure that clouded his mind.

Charlie also exhibits the second sign, which is giving away his prized possessions. Throughout the novel, Charlie states how much he adores the books that his English teacher gives him to write papers on, claiming that each one becomes his favorite after reading them. However, after graduation, he decides to split all of his books between Sam and Patrick, in order to give his "favorite books to his favorite two people." While this may seem endearing, this is also highly suspicious behavior, as these books were very important to Charlie, they were the memories of the bond he made with the teacher who simply wanted him to branch out as a person and do better things. It could symbolize Charlie giving up all of the progress he made this year when he became friends with these people.

The reader also gets plenty of evidence showing that Charlie exhibits behaviors far outside of his typical character range. Charlie begins the novel as a straight up kid, tries his best to do well in school, quiet, tries to keep his parents proud and happy; however, as the novel progresses, his friends appear to also have adverse effects on him. They introduce him to the world of lying to his parents, drugs, and alcohol. On top of the fact that Charlie begins chain smoking with Sam and Patrick, at their weekly parties, Charlie starts to dabble in marijuana, eventually leading to his use of LSD at New Year's, which gets him in the hospital. In between all this, Charlie is hiding his drug use from his parents, along with some of their other activities, such as sneaking out with Patrick.

Berger mentions that the other signs of depressive behavior and suicide can be a drastic change of appearance, and reaching out to a family member or authority figure ahead of time, though it may not come across in the right way (1986, p. 15-16). It is important for young readers to see and understand these signs, as they can look out for them in their peers and friends in order to get them help. It can also show them that if they are exhibiting some of these signs, it is important to look for help, because none of those things lead anywhere good, and Charlie stands as a good example of that fact. This book is evidence that the world is beginning to recognize that there are people who need help for depression and suicide. By writing about these topics, you can allow people going through these same problems to sympathize, and let others around them see the symptoms so that they know when someone is in need of help and not getting it.