Hamlet expresses that, “As I perchance hereafter shall think meet / to put an antic disposition on.” (I, v, 191-192) Hamlet proclaims that his madness will be feigned but his actions during the play contradict his statement, making the listeners wonder if he truly is non compos mentis. The play takes place in the royal household of Denmark, where Prince Hamlet’s father has just passed away and Hamlet is attempting to avenge his death. Hamlet’s apparent madness in the famous Shakespearean tragedy is a famed debate topic among the upper echelons of the scholarly, and a question that rings throughout the classroom in every high school reading and analyzation. A type of mental illness that Hamlet shows the most signs of is psychotic depression, which occurs when one has thoughts of suicide and experiences difficulty making decisions. Depression is brought on by the passing of a loved one, and psychosis describes conditions that affect the mind, “where there has been some loss of contact with reality” says the National Institute of Mental Health, and refers to visions of ghosts or spirits. Other symptoms of psychotic depression include bipolar actions, difficulty telling right from wrong, and irritability towards those around him/her. Hamlet can be diagnosed with psychotic depression because he shows signs of suicidal thoughts, he kills without any signs of regret, and he acts bipolar to those around him.

First, Hamlet contemplates suicide many times, an indication of severe depression as stated previously. The American Psychiatric Association defines one of the symptoms of depression as having “thoughts of death or suicide.” The first time Hamlet ponders seppuku is in the first scene of the show, during his first soliloquy when he declares, “O that this too too solid flesh would melt, / Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew!” (I, ii, 133-134) Hamlet’s statement about aspiring to cease to exist is troubling, as the thoughts are especially dark and gloomy. He again discusses the idea of harakiri in the third act of the play when he states his acclaimed lines, “To be, or not to be, that is the question.” (III, i, 64) Even though he has just discovered that his uncle poisoned his father in order to usurp the throne of Denmark, Hamlet’s notions of suicide are worrying and not at all correlating with his shocking discovery. Hamlet additionally exhibits a disregard for his own life and a certain impulsiveness in his actions that proves he does not value his own existence. According to Psychology Today, those with mental illnesses “are subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior.” When going off to chase the ghost of his dead father, a further sign of psychosis as he is hallucinating, his best friend Horatio asks him not to go chasing after the ghost since it could be the devil leading him into a trap. Hamlet replies, “I do not set my life at a pin’s fee.” (I, iv, 73), a shocking indication of the low bar at which Hamlet sets his own life. Though others may state that Hamlet’s suicidal thoughts are simply words and that he would never actually kill himself, Hamlet’s impulsive actions indicate that they are anything but.

Second, Hamlet kills those around him in his reckless quest for revenge without feeling any remorse or regret for the lives he has ruthlessly taken. Through this, he shows difficulty telling right from wrong and trouble making conscientious decisions, both of which are symptoms of psychotic depression. For starters, Hamlet kills Polonius without any regret, a sign that he cannot tell that murder is wrong. After stabbing the man he even utters, “Thou wretched, rash, intruding fool, farewell. / I took thee for thy better” (III, iv, 38). This shows a shocking lack of contrition on Hamlet’s part, heightened by the fact that he guts Polonius with his mother present. In the fifth act, he tells Horatio that he sentenced his old friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to death because they were leading him to his death on the king’s orders, and asserts, “They are not near my conscience.” (V, i, 65) The fact that he does not think twice about killing them, even though they were friends in their youth, further conveys the depth of Hamlet’s descent into psychotic depression. Last, the moment which the entire play centers around, Hamlet kills Claudius and plots for revenge without even contemplating the repercussions and the impact of his actions. Even after stabbing Claudius he says, “Here, thou incestuous, murd’rous, damned Dane, / Drink off this potion.” (V, ii, 336) Again, Hamlet kills Claudius in cold blood, and even though it is to get revenge, the lack of remorse shows a troubling deficiency in his moral compass. While others may say that Hamlet’s murder of Claudius is actually avenging his father’s death, it is unnatural for him to show no remorse at the victims he kills and reveals how he is unable to identify Claudius’ and others murders as wrong.

Third, Hamlet’s actions towards those around him are unfailingly bipolar, and he displays mood swings that are indicative of psychotic depression. He is equivalent to a divergent individual in every scene in regards to his actions towards those around him. When it comes to Ophelia, his former girlfriend, he originally tells her he loves her, but then in a pique of anger, he insults her and shouts, “Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be / a breeder of sinners?” (III, i, 131-132) Not a little while later, during a show, he acts friendly to her, and upon her demise, he cries that he always loved her. Towards Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, old friends who spy on him for the king, he also acts extremely capricious. At the beginning of the play he reveals his depressive feelings to them and treats them as friends, but later in the fourth act he tells them, “When he needs what you have / gleaned, it is but squeezing you and, sponge, you / shall be dry again.” (IV, ii, 19-21) Instead of treating them with respect like he did in the first act, he calls them sponges and disparages them. The most horrible of all the methods in which he acts bipolar is towards his loving mother Gertrude, at whom he lashes out in fury for her marriage with his uncle. In his soliloquy in the first act he cries, “O God! a beast that wants discourse of reason, / Would have mourn’d longer” (I, ii, 154-155) Hamlet calling his mother a beast is a serious issue, as his mother has not taken any actions to harm him. Critics could comment that his actions to Ophelia are brought on by her rejection of him; however, it still does not take into account the fact that even after rejection he acts kindly to her, and then proceeds to belittle her, all of which are spasmodic and bipolar actions.

Hamlet’s suicidal tendencies, inability to decipher correct from incorrect and bipolar actions make it certain that Hamlet is suffering from psychotic depression. Though opponents can say that Hamlet’s impulsiveness is not linked to suicide, but bravery, Hamlet talks about killing himself multiple times in the play and shows a disregard for his own life that cannot be ignored. They could also argue that the murders he commits are all for good cause, and part of his revenge, but it is unnatural for someone not to display any regret in cold-blooded murder unless they are unable to tell that their actions are wrong – a sign of psychotic depression. Yet another assertion that naysayers could make is that Hamlet’s actions are not disorderly, but “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.” (II, ii, 223-224), however, they do not see the ways in which Hamlet hurts those around him, and how he would never do that if he was sane. Hamlet may have stated that he would feign his nuttiness, but his actions throughout the Shakespearean tragedy demonstrate that Hamlet’s true place is in an asylum, providing an end to the never-ending debate.

Sources

What Is Depression?, http://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/depression/what-is-depression.

“The Definition of Insanity Is…” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, http://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-therapy/200907/the-definition-insanity-is.

Shakespeare, William, et al. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2009.

“What Is Psychosis?” National Institute of Mental Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/schizophrenia/raise/what-is-psychosis.shtml.