Re: Abnormal Psychology

[Beth Benoit]

Title: Re: Abnormal Psychology

What a creative idea!  They'll probably never forget Streetcar after that.

I'd guess histrionic personality disorder right off the bat.  But certainly some characteristics of narcissistic personality disorder too.  But...

This might be a good time to point out to the class that having personality traits, even those that may be quite objectionable, do not necessarily mean a person has a personality disorder.  (As the DSM-IV says, "Many highly successful individuals display personality traits that might be considered narcissistic.  Only when these traits are inflexible, maladaptive, and persisting and cause significant functional impairment or subjective distress do they constitute Narcissistic Personality disorder."  p. 661)

But certainly ol' Blanche had some disorder cooking, since she was carted off to a mental institution at the end of the play.  That could initiate some interesting discussion too - about post traumatic stress disorder (she's raped by Stanley), our cultural expectations that a woman must marry (or at least the cultural expectations when the play was written - late 1940's?) and her ensuing despair if she does not, and perhaps even that a personality disorder can  sometimes lead to psychosis.

Beth Benoit
Daniel Webster College
College for Lifelong Learning
Portsmouth NH

>They are currently reading A Streetcar Named Desire in English. It has been
> suggested (by the English teacher)that they could diagnose Blanche but I
> myself am a little confused as to which personality disorder, if any, would
> apply.
> Thank you in advance for any advice
> India Barrington
> International Baccalaureate High School
> Bartow, Florida