Annie Gonzalez

English 2010

Eric Robertson

April 25, 2018

Notes and Bibliography

Notes

The children’s story, The House is written within the hidden psyche to outline the

damaging effects of depression and treating it with prescription medication in order

to guide adolescent girls to prevent and manage depression through the use of

practicing self-awareness. I choose to use pathos as a rhetorical strategy to reach an

adolescent audience in order to explain through an anecdote the risk of taking

prescription medication before handling depression through learned tools such as

self-awareness that can be offered by professional psychotherapists.

Katie’s home represents the psyche. The mind is a home because it is the

house of all thoughts and feelings. To be comfortable in the mind is to be in a safe

home. The action of her genuine intent to clean the stove represents the genuine out

reach to better oneself. The use of rubbing alcohol to clean the stove is Katie’s

unawareness of the method used to better herself. Her lack of self-awareness proves

to be dangerous to the psyche. The fire is the effect of lack of awareness as the fire

represents depression. The act of Katie turning off the fire alarm thinking it will

cease the fire is to be compared to the use of prescription drugs to treat depression.

Margaret Maxwell writes, “The benefits of antidepressant or anxiolytic pharmaco-

therapy must be weighed against the increased risk of side-effects, adverse

reactions, and potential complications with alcohol- or drug-induced illnesses. As

for most depression-related conditions, psychological therapies are highly

recommended, and in the case of substance misuse ‘motivational interviewing’ and

‘CBT’ (cognitive-behavioral therapy) are the recommended forms.” I use this quote

in order to maximize the point that prescription medication should not be the relied

upon method to treat depression.

Katie’s action to turn the fire alarm off made the situation more dangerous. In

the House it states, “Katie fainted.” This represents how depression can cause

physically damaging effects to the body. This quote by Margaret Maxwell is used in

this part of the story, “The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that

depression is the leading cause of disability and the fourth leading contribution to

the global burden of disease.” Other authors such as Barley and Lawson write,

“Disorders such as depression and anxiety are common and associated with

psychological distress and poor health outcomes.” I use this quote to further explain

the correlation of effects from depression.

The characters of Katie and Muriel represent the immature inner child and

the mature executive awareness of an adult respectively. Izabela Jurewicz writes

“The peak age of onset of which mental illness occurs is adolescence and early

adulthood.” I choose this quote to highlight the character Katie’s age as an important

factor in the story. Muriel tends to Katie (the inner child) and observes that Katie’s

actions have put her in danger. Muriel consoles Katie and comforts Katie, as she

understands her consequences. In the beginning of the story, Muriel tends to her

garden; this is to represent the act of practicing self-awareness. She tends to the
mind. She is aware of her surroundings and acts with the executive function of her

brain.

The firemen represent the use of psychotherapy as a means for extinguishing

depression. Nimmi Hutnik writes within a psychiatric office to recount her work

with two Indian females while she offered psychotherapy during five years spent

in India in order to outline the effects and results of psychotherapy. “I also found a

diary that I recall now you had asked me to keep... a record of each therapy

session. As I was reading through it, it struck me how therapy and the whole

process had actually been received as something sacred by me. I don’t think I ever

took anything as seriously as I did you, and what we did together.” I choose this

quote written by Hutnik’s client to outline the benefits learned from

psychotherapy.

In the story, Katie reluctantly opens up to the firemen and tells them the

truth about how the fire started. This is to be compared to a discussion with a

psychotherapist with the intent to heal. “When girls participating in the group set

initial wellness goals, they tended to involve specific behavioral changes such as

to quit smoking or to lose weight. As the group sessions progressed, the girls'

wellness goals shifted to include interpersonal and emotion-focused goals. In later

group sessions, the girls' dialogue reflected a movement from a primarily physical

view of wellness to one that was more holistic and social-emotional.” Jennifer

Walker writes as a group leader for community therapy sessions among at-risk

teenage girls.
 The woman firefighter kneels by Katie’s side and says, “It is very important

to be aware to never turn the alarms off when the house is on fire.” I directly

incorporate the logos of emergency protocol in order to correlate the negative

effects of prescription medication.

When Katie leans into Muriel’s arms for comfort, as she understands the

firewoman’s message, she shows the relationship within the psyche between the

inner child and the aware function of the brain. Muriel (the awareness) guides

Katie (the inner child) to practice mindfulness as a tool for caring for her home

(which is the mind).

The skeleton of the story is essential to understanding the benefits of

practicing self-awareness as a means to prevent and manage depression. Through

the practice of self-awareness, adolescent girls can increase their mental and

physical health, in order to avoid the risk and negative consequences of

prescription medication.
 Bibliography

Barley, Elizabeth and Victoria Lawson. "Using Health Psychology to Help

Patients: Promoting Healthy Choices." British Journal of Nursing, vol. 25,
no. 21, 24 Nov. 2016, pp. 1172-1175. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=119694516&s
ite=ehost-live.
Dubiel, Robert K. Body Signals: Healing through Physical Intuition: a Manual.
Speakers Pub., 1995.
Hutnik, Nimmi. "Toward Holistic, Compassionate, Professional Care: Using a
Cultural Lens to Examine the Practice of Contemporary Psychotherapy in
the West*." Contemporary Family Therapy: An International Journal, vol.
27, no. 3, Sept. 2005, pp. 383-402. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s10591-005-
6216-7.
Jurewicz, Izabela. "Mental Health in Young Adults and Adolescents -Supporting
General Physicians to Provide Holistic Care." Clinical Medicine, vol. 15,
no. 2, Apr. 2015, pp. 151-154. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=102370330&s
ite=ehost-live.
Maxwell, Margaret and Rebekah Pratt. "Prevention and Management of
Depression in Primary Care in Europe: A Holistic Model of Care and
Interventions -- Position Paper of the European Forum for Primary
Care." Quality in Primary Care, vol. 16, no. 3, June 2008, pp. 187-196.
EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=32897809&sit
e=ehost-live.
Puddicombe, Andy. “All It Takes Is 10 Mindful Minutes.” TED: Ideas Worth
Spreading, TED.com, Nov. 2012,
www.ted.com/talks/andy_puddicombe_all_it_takes_is_10_mindful_minute
Smith-Adcock, Sondra, et al. "Benefits of a Holistic Group Counseling Model to
Promote Wellness for Girls at Risk for Delinquency: An Exploratory
Study." Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education & Development, vol.
47, no. 1, Spring2008, pp. 111-126. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=31598929&sit
e=ehost-live.
Zhu, Jessie. “Why Self-Awareness Matters and How You Can Be More Self-
Aware.” Positive Psychology Program - Your One-Stop PP Resource!,
Positivepsychologyprogram.com, 24 Feb. 2017,
positivepsychologyprogram.com/self-awareness-matters-how-you-can-be-
more-self-aware/.