Essential Question: What Affects A Person's Mental State?

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Brenna Melick Synthesis Essay Essential Question: What Affects A Person’s Mental State? According to dictionary.com a state of mind is “a temporary pshychological state”.
Something that changes frequently by someone's actions, moods, and personal thoughts. It could be affected by good or bad things that happen in someone's personal life. However, most of the time, you see someone's mental state change when an unfortunate thing happens. You may also see it alter if they are going through a hard time or can’t really find their way out of a bad place. In other words, a person’s mental state can be affected by tragedies, obstacles, or even a poor situation that they are stuck in.
A persons mental state could be affected by an event that may cause great suffering that they have to go through within their life. For example, death in the family, some kind of serious accident or any life changing tragedy. If someone is hurt, they may build up a wall so that they never feel pain again. In The Catcher in the Rye,
Holden explained to us that Allie, “was the most intelligent member of his family… also the nicest” (38). When Allie died, it really crushed Holden. After his death, Holden put up his own wall and never let anyone in, he became really negative and judged everybody.
In fact, Allie was one of the only people Holden talked highly about. Holden also really spoke poorly about himself, never trying to get good grades, simply because he didn’t think he was good enough. In the poem, “A Man Who Thinks He Can”, the author
Walter Wintle responds to Holden’s issues implying that you must believe in yourself, in

order to regain strength and succeed. Wintle states “If you think you’ll lose, you're lost.
For out in the world you’ll find, success begins with a fellow’s will. Its all in a state of mind.” (Stanza 2). Holden thought that with Allie’s death, he would never survive and wouldn’t be able to get close with anyone ever again. He also was so depressed he didn’t even try to achieve anything. However, the poem tells us if you have confidence in yourself, then you can make it through all issues happening within your life. In conclusion, when your mental state is affected by any past or present trauma, believe in yourself and you will eventually conquer all your troubles.
In addition to tragedies, overcoming obstacles could also affect someone's mental state. Any change that someone has to go through can take a huge toll on their life. In the story of “Peter Pan”, Peter didn’t want to grow up because he didn’t think he could take on the real world. He also didn’t want to go through all the challenges an older person may have to go through. Overall the thought of growing up just really frightened Peter. In the story, the narrator made it clear that “Peter didn’t want to live where grown­ups could tell him what to do” (2). Peter is stuck in a situation where he’s not letting himself grow up, however society is putting on the pressure that growing up is necessary. In response, the poem, “A Man Who Thinks He Can”, the author tells us that “life battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later, the man who wins, is the fellow who thinks he can” (Stanza 6). Overall kids like Peter Pan just need to trust them themselves and just because you may not be as strong mentally, that doesn’t mean you can’t succeed. The main idea in the story is that Peter Pan is a metaphor to teach kids that one day every child needs to grow up and every child is

capable of growing up. Even though its a scary thought of getting older and losing your innocence, everyone gets over the intimidating hurdle. All in all a person’s thoughts can change as they start to mature and face life’s challenges, however you need to trust yourself in order to move on with life.
If someone is in a tough situation their mind can definitely be affected. A person can become depressed, and may feel like
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