Vyoma Vijai
Blog Post 2
Blog Post 2
Marilyn Monroe –
known for her alluring charm in terms of her looks, was famously the most
prominent sex symbol Hollywood has ever created. Her story is one to tell
especially because of the mental illnesses she struggled with throughout her
lifetime. A successful actress on the screen and a struggling woman behind the
scenes is primarily what her story is about. She was known for her
relationships with multiple men but very little was spoken of her childhood
struggles particularly her relationship with her mother. This paper focuses on
Monroe’s relationship with her mother and the men in her life that provide a
mix of influences of both genetic and situational factors.
Starting very
early, Marilyn Monroe’s great- grandfather, Tilford Marion Hogan suffered from
mental illness and he committed suicide by hanging himself. Monroe’s
grandmother Della Monroe suffered from postpartum depression and was
institutionalized. She died at the age of 51. Aside from these two people
mentioned above the biggest impact on Monroe’s mental health was possibly due
to her mother Gladys Baker. Gladys suffered from schizophrenia and was
institutionalized for a decade until the year 1945. Having suffered from
schizophrenia Gladys was not around much and Monroe was forced to live in
multiple foster homes. The absence of a mother in early childhood is likely to
have affected Monroe’s emotional development and attachment patterns at an
early stage. The probability of transmission of depressive genes from the
maternal side of her family is extremely high and that coupled with situational
factors in Monroe’s childhood could likely be one of the reasons for Monroe’s
depressive tendencies in the future.
Marilyn had a
hard time in school and it was difficult for her to form any connections with
the children her age. She was really close to her dog Tippy who died after
being hit by a car. This was possibly a huge emotional blow to Monroe’s mental
health. In the later years Monroe pursued a career in the spotlight and the
stress and exhaustion that comes with a career like this possibly acted as a
catalyst in her developing mental illness. Her relationship with multiple men
and many failed marriages is a reflection of developing an insecure attachment
style because of her absent mother. This often led to Monroe having insecurities
about her. Due to these insecurities there developed a feeling of mistrust
between her and her partners, which led to multiple unsuccessful relationships.
After the death of her boyfriend Johnny Hyde, Monroe fell into deep depression and
according to her acting coach, Monroe even overdosed on sleeping pills. Monroe’s
third failed marriage to Arthur Miller left her devastated and resulted in
further decline in her mental health. Her psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Greenson
prescribed her three times the regular dosage of sleeping pills to treat her
insomnia.
In 1961, Monroe
was admitted to Payne Whitney Psychiatric Clinic in New York. She wrote a
six-page letter to her psychiatrist, Dr.Greenson, about her time at the clinic.
She spoke of her sleepless nights and the manner in which she spoke in the letter
made her sound very helpless and dejected. She sounded extremely lonely in her
letters and a sense of restlessness was there in her voice. On Auguest 5, 1962
Marylin Monroe died at the age of 36. Her death was ruled as a probable suicide
but the actual reason for her death is not known.
Monroe’s case
study is quite interesting as her life shows strong proponents of both
biological and situational factors. Selecting one factor is impossible as it is
most likely that both nature and nurture had a role to play in Monroe
developing mental health issues. A lot of Marylin’s mental health problems
pointed towards schizophrenia especially when she complained to her acting
coach, Natasha Lytess, about hearing voices. Although, there is no way to fully
ascertain this, but with Monroe’s mothers’ medical history of having
schizophrenia it cannot be completely ruled out that Monroe could have suffered
from an early stage of schizophrenia as well.
References
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