Holden Caulfield is a strange character in the story The Catcher in the Rye. He is first seen this way when he is kicked out of a school called Pencey Prep. He is expelled for failing almost all of his classes. Holden then watches his school play a football game from afar and decides he wants to say goodbye to his teacher. After that, he decides to leave Pencey early and return home to New York. He goes out drinking and flirts with women while he's there, then goes to see his sister, Phoebe. He is very close to his younger sister and really gets attached to her. This disorder that Holden suffers from could be considered bipolar disorder; which he displays on different occasions throughout the novel. Bipolar disorder is defined as “a condition in which a person has periods of depression and periods of extreme happiness or being upset or irritable” (“Bipolar Disorder”). Mood swings can occur in patients with bipolar disorder in the form of triggers. Triggers cause factors that might induce some sort of mood change. In Holden Caulfield's case, his mood changes from happy and talkative to angry and upset. I believe Holden's trigger might be stress induced by someone disagreeing with him. This disorder is shown several times throughout the novel. The first situation in The Catcher in the Rye where Holden exhibits this disorder is when he visits his teacher, Mr. Spencer, to say goodbye. He speaks with Mr. Spencer about why he left Elkton Hills. Mr. Spencer asked because Holden failed at Pencey Prep and he heard that Holden didn't do well at that school either. Holden then goes on to explain that the reason he left Elkton Hills was because everyone was "fakes". Holden said, “I can’t stand that kind of thing. This motivates me...... middle of paper ...... and when he ventures home to talk to Phoebe. In each situation, Holden becomes angry or depressed. These types of mood swings are signs of bipolar disorder. Each scenario is also associated with what could be considered triggers that cause these dramatic mood swings. Holden Caulfield's trigger seems to be whenever he becomes too stressed about a situation. When this stress comes over him because of what someone says or what someone does, it causes Holden to have mood swings. These mood swings end either in a fight or depression. These are the reasons to believe that Holden Caulfield suffers from bipolar disorder. Works Cited “Bipolar Disorder”. NCBI. US National Library of Medicine, January 31, 2013. Web. November 10, 2013. Salinger, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. Print.