How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
She wasn’t about to let that get her down. She couldn’t let it get her down—that was what had happened to Momma. (1.2)
Worry doesn’t cause mental illness, but it can certainly make it worse if you have a genetic predisposition (like family history.) Lack of money can send you into a spiral of depression and anxiety, and it seems safe to say that’s what was happening to Momma.
Quote #2
But it wasn’t her momma’s own face she saw, it was the photograph the police in Bridgeport had shown her for identification, that faraway face lying back against a white pillow, with the golden hair cut short all around it. (1.163)
Momma’s hair may have been cut off because she was receiving electroconvulsive therapy, or shock treatment, or it could have just been because it was easier for staff to deal with. Either way, it's a haunting image.
Quote #3
"Some people, they’re always outsiders, wherever they are."
"So am I," Dicey told him, finally understanding what he was worrying about. (1.184-5)
It might not be such a big deal to be a weirdo if your mom wasn’t in a mental hospital, but the Tillerman kids are always aware of the possibility that it could happen to them, too. This might be why some people don’t want to know about the diseases that run in their families—it’s too easy to start interpreting everything as a sign of your impending doom.
Quote #4
Dicey knew what he was thinking, that Gram wasn’t like other people, she was different, an oddball. A lot of people in town thought she was just plain crazy. (2.145)
The major difference between being an "oddball" and mentally ill: one can be fun, while the other can be deadly.
Quote #5
Dicey knew what the woman was thinking, how the connections were made behind her eyes. But she was glad nobody was there to hear how Gram’s mind jumped around. (3.25)
Sometimes a mind that jumps around is a sign of genius, because you can make connections other people can’t. And often folks write that off as insanity because they don't have the brainpower to understand what's truly going on.
Quote #6
Dicey thought she knew what he was thinking—that Maybeth was like Momma. "Nothing’s wrong with her," she said quickly. "You know that and I know that, James." (5.20)
Now there are even TV shows about kids with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, most of who are taking lots of psychiatric medications. But back in the '80s, kids and mental illness didn't really mix. It seems that her family's taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to understanding Maybeth's difficulties.
Quote #7
Money worried at her the way waves worried at the shoreline, always nibbling away at the soft sand. Her money seemed to run out earlier each week. (7.26)
Money troubles and anxiety attacks are two things that can compound themselves quickly. Once you get behind financially, your money’s spent before you get it; thus, the running out earlier every week. And of course the lack of money causes anxiety. Sometimes it can really seem like troubles restart themselves.
Quote #8
Her eyes stopped smiling first, and then her mouth. The holes in her sweaters got bigger. Meanwhile, people talked and she didn’t know what to say so they could understand. (7.28)
This may be the most fundamental definition of mental illness: the feeling you can’t bridge the gap between you and the rest of the world; that every day, you are able to communicate with others less and less.
Quote #9
So Mrs. Liza did about the only thing left to her to do. She went away into the farthest place she could find. They cut her hair short. She didn’t notice that, lying there, nor when they fed her or changed the sheets. Her eyes never moved, as if what she was looking at was so far away small that if she looked off for a second, it would be gone. (7.29)
Although she never names her mother’s mental illness, what Dicey is describing sounds like catatonic schizophrenia, in which a person is physically immobilized by delusions. We wonder how this story would have ended if folks in the '80s had understood mental illness the way they do now.