A story that mirrors what could happen in real life. Nick Joaquin's Candido's Apocalypse gives an interesting view of what goes on inside the mind of a 17 year-old boy belonging to a middle-class family during the 60's. The story focuses on the trials and tribulations of a teenage boy named Candido who is distraught and uncomfortable with his role in his family and in the society in general.
Many readers of the short story agree that Candido suffers from some sort of psychosis. The cause of this psychosis is numerous and depends on the point of view of the reader. However, it is unanimous that Candido indeed suffers from psychosis.
First let us define psychosis. According to PsychDirect, Psychosis is a set of symptoms that occur in many psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or drug-induced psychosis. Psychosis also means disorganization of thoughts, emotional responses, and ability to recognize reality. Also, PsychDirect said that psychosis usually starts during the teenage years when young people are developing skills for independence and career development.
Given this definition of psychosis, the conclusion that Candido is indeed suffering a mental disorder can be proved. In the story, Candido sees things and is clearly paranoid of the people around him. Given this, Candido's family should do some steps in order to help him go through his dilemma.
From a website that I have viewed, certain recommendations were made in order to remedy the psychosis of a teenager. First, the family must learn to detect the symptoms as early as possible. It was suggested in the PsychDirect article that when young people have long delays before receiving appropriate treatment they might not recover as well.
To detect psychosis, parents and family members must be more sensitive. They should not dismiss any continuous misbehaviour as the result of school problems or stress. Some common symptoms that a teenage psychotic may show are social isolation (withdrawal from family and friends), feelings of suspicion (people are staring and talking about him), unusual beliefs (belief that he possesses abilities), hearing voices and, seeing things.
