In the time that Tennessee Williams' Streetcar Named Desire transpires, depression is not recognized as a valid mental illness. People that were depressed, or suffered from various other chemical imbalances were called crazy and carted off to insane asylums by friendly strangers. Depression is now recognized as a valid mental illness worldwide, for the most part in countries that are developed. While poor countries suffer from ill physical health, struggling with meningitis and malaria, people in developed countries who have their physical needs attended to fall back onto a rickety mental structure, which doctors predict will lead to depression being the second highest cause of death in the world by the year 2020.
             In A Streetcar Named Desire several of the characters suffer from apparent mental illness or imbalances. These are obvious to our 21st century, but in the 1940's, the time that the play was written, would have simply passed for eccentricities. Mental illness went untreated to most people and those that were "treated" were simply locked away and not given effective care.
             Mitch is a character in the play who seems to be suffering from a form of depression and likely childhood trauma which has prevented him from progressing into normal adult life. He obsessively concerned about his mother, who perhaps was not even as sick as he let on. Mitch may have an Oedipus complex trailing him, despite the fact that his father is out of the picture, he simply wants love from a women and he sees his mother as someone who can do that unconditionally. Mitch could have used the help of a psychiatrist to guide him towards independence and self realization, but this was not available to him. He simply had bowling, poker-nights and a self-enforced curfew.
             Stanley, on the other hand does not suffer from the low energy, mildness that inflicts his friend. Stanley is obviously subject to the condition known as "super-male". He was
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