Cather in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye, novel by J.D. Salinger published in 1951. The novel details two days in the life of 16-year-old Holden Caulfield after he has been expelled from prep school. Confused and disillusioned, Holden searches for truth and rails against the “phoniness” of the adult world. He ends up exhausted and emotionally unstable.

While Salinger never provides a specific diagnosis, references to Holden's mental instability are clear throughout the novel, and the reader could easily make the connection that Holden suffers from some combination of depression, anxiety, and/or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).