"I can give you something for that": Exploring the medical paradigm in mental health through contemporary American literature

In this paper, I analyze two contemporary fiction novels, My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh and My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell, through the lens of the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Moshfegh satirically critiques diagnostic psychiatry as easily exploitable, and suggests that instead of seeking asylum from pain, we should remind ourselves that happiness and pain exist in harmony; that pain is a part of life. Russell suggests the DSM-5 is imperative to understanding traumatic experiences and the mental disorders which arise from them, such as PTSD. Russell utilizes her knowledge of modern psychiatric practices in order to demonstrate that Vanessa’s perspective is self-protective delusion. Ultimately, both novels highlight the benefit of turning to outside perspectives in order to navigate the moments when mental health and mental illness blend together and the line between the two becomes obfuscated.