Examples Of Mental Deterioration In Macbeth

All through the catastrophic play of Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the main character, Macbeth, makes countless poor choices. The three witches’, also referred to as the three weird sisters, prophecy is the event that tipped him over the edge and into mental deterioration. From Act 1 to the very ending of act 5, Macbeth suffers through the consequences of his actions and choices which are the ultimate cause of his mental deterioration and downfall, as well as the development of psychological disorders.
An encounter with the three weird sisters is the beginning of the end for Macbeth. The sisters foretell Macbeth the “Thane of Glamis” the he will become “Thane of Cawdor” and “King hereafter!” “whatever timetable the sister’s work by, this
He experiences visual hallucinations. He sees a dagger which he tries to grab but cannot and this makes him question whether it’s real or not. Whether it is his brain playing tricks on him because of his “heat-oppressèd brain” or not. This is Macbeth first response or reaction to the perception of the dagger and the treason of the mind itself. This goes to show the reader or viewer how guilt towards his the bad decision that he is to follow through with is taking its toll on him. The blood on the “daggers of the mind” signifies him going through with his decision and his oncoming extreme guilt. The blood he sees now covers both blades and the “dudgeon” a.k.a. the handle where his bloodied hand will stain. This is the first sign that something's not right with his ‘noggin.’ Based on the Encyclopedia of Mental Disorder website, Macbeth is experienced a mood-congruent hallucination. Basically, his excessive guilt for his decision to kill King Duncan has caused him to see the dagger. His guilt is messing with his mental health. He is not going to get any better from here on out. After initially murdering Duncan, Macbeth Starts hallucinating ultimately leading to gradual deterioration of his mind and health.
After Macbeth kills King Duncan he starts becoming and feeling more guilty, paranoid and even more greedy to keep his kinship and power. Immediately after killing Duncan,
One can infer that Macbeth suffers from Insomnia, anxiety, compulsion, psychosis and schizophrenia. Its is clearly stated in the book that he becomes sleepless and he also suffers from anxiety as a result of this. Personally, I believe that he suffers from compulsion because he tends to experience absurd fears and logic that edge him to repeatedly have people killed to protect his power and kingship. He also experiences a lot of anxiety. This is evident by his senseless fear of being overthrown by someone, which in result affect his daily functions as well as his overall mental health. The anxiety like i mentioned before is also affected by his insomnia. His psychosis and schizophrenia go hand in hand. Psychosis is a mental health illness or disorder in which a person loses contact with reality and their environment. This is also a symptom of schizophrenia. Other symptoms of schizophrenia are hallucinations, delusions, blunted affect, cognitive impairment, and paranoia. Macbeth exhibits signs of all these symptoms which is why I strongly believe that he is schizophrenic. For instance Macbeth is delusional. After his encounter with the three sisters in Act 4 scene 1, he believes that he is indestructible, invincible. All because they tell him that no one “born of woman” can kill him. Which he takes as nobody can kill him