In this part of our assignment of our Character Profile Assignment, we were asked to do research based on the psychological disorder that we were able to identify in the character we decided to discuss about.
Gerardo Rosas Garcia
FIQWS 10108
Professor Nicholas Otte
Character Profile Assignment (Research)
The mental disorder known as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), is a disorder some individuals develop due to difficulties of recovering from experiencing a terrifying event. Those experiencing it may have flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety which at times can be difficult for some to cope with. Symptoms of PTSD, vary over time and affect how people deal with them. Some may avoid others and have some negative changes in mood and thinking. Additionally, people who suffer through PTSD may at times have reactions or respond to certain situations in such an unusual way that at times can raise the risk of suicidal behavior which can put the life at risk of some individuals. In such cases, we’re focusing on PTSD in individuals that have returned from war and are forced to experience it. In such a case, we’re describing the type of disorder Seymour was going through once he arrived back from returning from World War 2. Even though at the time “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” was written, PTSD was a disorder most individuals didn’t talk about and in most cases, unrecognized by the public. This would eventually lead to people such as Seymour to experience a mental disorder that was left untreated, which led to a greater impact on how they dealt with it. In the article “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Clinical Features, Pathophysiology, and Treatment” it stated that “PTSD is classified as an anxiety disorder. Disorders of anxiety are the most common forms of psychiatric illnesses” ” (Vieweg et al 383). Through this PTSD can cause anxiety, worry, and fear among those which can have much of a greater effect on those coming back from the war and developing PTSD. Also, post-traumatic stress disorder “compromises of an original traumatic event with the later emergence of a triad of symptom- behaviors that include reexperiencing, avoidance, numbing, and hyperarousal of sufficient severity to interfere with important aspects of the person’s life” (Vieweg et al 384). There are so many things involved in PTSD that can destroy an individual and lead them to find no way out. Also “Combat-related trauma is a common cause of PTSD among men, and rape is a common cause of PTSD among women” (Viewweg et al 389). As we can see through this specific line combat-war missions and rape are the most leading causes of why people develop PTSD. Although PTSD is involved with a range of factors, it can have an overall impact if left untreated.
Those coming from war, at times may experience some sort of stigma upon them which makes it hard for some to receive treatment, while others have different opinions from it. As seen in “Stigma Associated With PTSD: Perceptions of Treatment Seeking Combat Veterans”, we see this study being conducted that allowed for a better understanding of the stigma associated with treatment-seeking combat veterans (Mittal et al 86). Based on the study conducted, the people used “quantitative methods to explore and use different approaches in the research design” (Mittal et al 87). Through their use of such methods, their goal was to understand and have a better image of what is life for combatting veterans when returning from the war and the stigma implied to them when telling others about their situation and wanting to receive help. In other terms, based on the results of the study one was able to see that “veterans with combat-related PTSD believe that the public stigmatizes them. Such stereotypes included “dangerous, violent or crazy” (Mittal et al 90). We can deduct from this that many veterans that return from war would usually struggle to get back to their normal life since many people stigmatized them or rather ignore them. Many choose to ignore them due to reasons of fear and not wanting to have any relation to them. Having PTSD is a mental disorder that is hard to talk about, and many tend to characterize it as something that causes people to act in ways that could be considered abnormal or threatening.
Another point of PTSD is that it affects the relationships we have with others since many who go to war tend to lose this innocence and in some way lose their identity. Those that come from war, may have a hard time adjusting to the return world and leaving such hard times behind. This causes some to lose comfort and have problems adjusting back to their past lives and former relationships. In “PTSD symptoms, disclosure, and relationship distress: Explorations of mediation and associations over time” there is this mentioning about how “they’re various hypotheses as to why symptoms of emotional numbing are so consistently associated with distress in romantic relationships. One frequently discussed possibility is that increased levels of emotional numbing may be associated with decreases in emotion-focused, intimate communication” (Campbell and Renshaw 495). Through this, we see how returning soldiers from war tend to have a hard time communicating and allowing for intimate disclosure which hurts a relationship. Also, those in the article found that “PTSD symptoms have some sort of association with relationship adjustment” (Campbell and Renshaw 499) and through this one can conclude that PTSD affects people who suffer through it, since many see it difficult to share ideas and thoughts with others. In other terms, most of the time returning soldiers have it hard returning to such a world and adjusting to their past life, if they had to experience such horrific times when fighting in such a dark world, many soldiers would describe it as.
In “A Perfect Day for Bananafish”, one sees that Seymour is someone who likes being in his own isolated world. His wife, Muriel describes him as an individual who doesn’t speak to others and likes spending most of his time alone “In the Ocean Room, playing the piano” (Salinger). One should take into notice the difficult and broken relationship Seymour has with his wife Muriel. At most times Muriel ignores him and doesn’t do much to help him find treatment and tries to disregard his husband’s situation. Through the phone call Muriel had with her mother, Muriel reassures her mother that “Everything was fine” (Salinger) and that Seymour was doing well. Although we don’t see that much is being done to help Seymour, one can see that Seymour isn’t doing well because he acts in such an unusual way. He doesn’t feel as if he belongs to the current real world and in other terms feels like an outsider. This stigma put upon him, makes him feel strange and unwelcome. The fear of getting help and asking for help is something that can be seen that made Seymour’s condition worse. Through Sybil’s interaction, he was able to find peace and take away this pure image from her. Until the very last scene, where he interacted with the “women in the elevator” (Salinger) and noticed that such a world was unwelcoming. Although the very last scene was unusual, such experiences and feeling no hope of wanting to relive such experiences, led him to commit suicide, which is common for those suffering from PTSD and having to deal with the effects of it.
Works Cited:
- Salinger, J. D. “A Perfect Day For Bananafish.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 19 June 2017, www.newyorker.com/magazine/1948/01/31/a-perfect-day-for-bananafish.
- Campbell, Sarah B, and Keith D Renshaw. “PTSD Symptoms, Disclosure, and Relationship Distress: Explorations of Mediation and Associations over Time.” Journal of Anxiety Disorders, vol. 27, no. 5, 2013, pp. 494–502., doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2013.06.007.
- Mittal, Dinesh, et al. “Stigma Associated With PTSD: Perceptions of Treatment Seeking Combat Veterans.” Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, vol. 36, no. 2, 2013, pp. 86–92., doi:10.1037/h0094976.
- Vieweg, W Victor R et al. “Posttraumatic stress disorder: clinical features, pathophysiology, and treatment.” The American Journal of Medicine, vol. 119, no.5, 2006, pp. 383-390., doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2005.09.027
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