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Lance Samreth

Mr. Jason King

English 1

26 May 2017

Romeo is Suffering from a Mental Disorder

Throughout Romeo and Juliet the character Romeo has some odd behavior. Romeo seems

to be a normal person who just falls in love with the first beautiful woman he sees even to go as

far as marry her one or two days later. Even though he is in love he seems to be very emotional

about it which makes Romeo and Juliet a roller coaster of emotions throughout the play. He is

very similar to a child as he would cry and be sad about not being with Juliet. There is a large

amount of evidence backing up the claim that Romeo is crazy. This had led me to believe that

Romeo is suffering from a mental disorder known as separation anxiety disorder.

First piece of evidence that made me believe this is the final act. When Romeo gets news

about Juliets death he rushes to Verona to say his final goodbye to his love. That by itself

would be considered romantic however after he gives his final kiss he drinks a deadly potion to

kill himself right next to her. He did this because he could not stand being without Juliet. One of

the symptoms for separation anxiety disorder is suicide attempts. An argument against this is that

he was in love with her and could not live without her however they had met about 3 days before

his suicide and gotten married one day before his suicide. He could not live for one day without

Juliet.

The second piece of evidence is when he was exiled. After killing Tybalt for killing

Mercutio the Prince had exiled Romeo. When he finds out hes exiled he was crying and

screaming on the floor which was a emotional scene however it shows 2 symptoms. The main
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symptom present is avoiding travel because instead of heading out of Verona he is in the Friars

chambers. The other symptom is crying and screaming which is kind of obvious to explain as he

was having his tantrum because the highest authority had said that Romeo cannot be in the city

where Juliet resides in. Only to add onto the mountain of evidence in this scene when Romeo

gets a sign of Juliets love he is suddenly very happy and energetic.

The final piece of evidence is during Act 1 when Romeo isolated himself from those

closest to him because he was in love with Rosalia another Capulet. When he was isolated in his

room he had blocked all incoming lights which made the room dark which emulates a dream like

state, that makes it seem like he thinks he is living in a sort of dream like state. His emotions

when out the room are gloomy and sorrowful as he is being a pessimist which could mean he is

feeling depressed which is a symptom of separation anxiety. His isolation is also a symptom of

the disorder as if he can not be with Rosalia in this case he just should not be with anyone.

Many people can say that Romeo is just being romantic however killing yourself over a

girl you had met 3 days ago is not romantic it is just crazy. Those who believe that Romeo is

being romantic think that love at first sight is a real phenomenon but it is not, love takes time to

develop into true love that time is definitely longer than three days. Even though the romantic

idea sounds good the argument that Romeo has separation anxiety has more evidence than the

whole romance as he had this happen when he was in love with Rosalia. Romeo is suffering

from separation anxiety disorder and it is true. There is large amount of evidence backing it up

and Romeos behavior during the whole play is quite child like. People who suffer from

separation anxiety are mostly children, however it does not mean that people that are not children

cannot get it.

Works Cited
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"Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder." Anxiety, Panic & Health. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 June 2017.

<http://anxietypanichealth.com/reference/separation-anxiety-disorder-adult/>.

Dryden-Edwards, MD Roxanne. "What Is Separation Anxiety? Treatment, Symptoms."

MedicineNet. MedicineNet, n.d. Web. 01 June 2017.

<http://www.medicinenet.com/separation_anxiety/article.htm>.

Fritscher - Reviewed by a Board-certified Physician., Lisa. "How to Know When Separation

Anxiety Becomes a Mental Disorder." Verywell. Very Well, n.d. Web. 01 June 2017.

<https://www.verywell.com/separation-anxiety-2671784>.

"Separation Anxiety." Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, 18 Apr. 2017. Web. 01 June 2017.

<https://www.psychologytoday.com/conditions/separation-anxiety>.