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Examples Of Ptsd In The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

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The Evidence of Charlie's PTSD in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” By Stephen Chbosky. In Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, the main character, Charlie, exhibits symptoms of PTSD. We see hints of possible PTSD that Charlie has during the middle of the story, and begin to get more confirmation and clues when nearing the end of the story. The clues to this PTSD in the middle of the story mention Charlie being uncomfortable in certain areas, to the end where this uneasiness within these areas are directly addressed. As we learn more about Charlie’s family and how he acts throughout the story, we can piece together how Charlie exhibits symptoms of PTSD. First off, we have to look at what Charlie’s family’s life was like. We see that a lot of Charlie’s family’s upbringing …show more content…

We see one of these clues in Charlie and Sam’s intimate interactions: "Please don't feel bad." It was very nice," I said. I was starting to get really upset. You're not ready to go? she asked. I nodded. But that wasn't it. I didn't know what it was. (Pg. 246) We can tell from this that Charlie is experiencing something he doesn't know/understand. We can infer from this that Charlie may be blocking something out, which judging by the context, the thing being blocked out may be sexual assault. Further confirmation of this is what Charlie begins experiencing afterwards in his dream: "I can't do that anymore. I'm sorry," I said. “It's okay, Charlie. Just go to sleep," Sam said. But I wasn't talking to Sam anymore. I was talking to someone else. When I fell asleep, I had this dream. My brother, my sister, and I were watching television with my Aunt Helen. Everything was in slow motion. The sound was thick and clear. And she was doing what Sam was doing. (Pg. 248) This practically confirms that Aunt Helen molested Charlie, and was the reason for this unease in intimate moments/Charlie’s

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Lastly, certain things trigger Charley to remember things about the war, such as coffee on page 99. It says, “The army ad taught him to like coffee, live on coffee, and he still drank it even though it knotted his guts.” Also, his injuries from the war make him seem and feel older than he really his. Charley states that he knows that it won’t be long for him and her wouldn’t mind dying.

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What it is though is PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Yes, I think that Charley Goddard at the end of the story has Soldier’s Heart. I think he has this because of the war. Ever since he came back home alive from the war, he has been having flashbacks.

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PTSD affects more than 3 million people a year and people can either forget about what happened to them that caused them PTSD or people can get serious symptoms. PTSD is when someone experiences or witnesses a horrifying accident that they can’t forget. PTSD is caused by physical and emotional feelings or thoughts. Some effects of PTSD can negatively affect your physical and mental health. All Quiet on the Western Front is a book that can relate to people nowadays that have PTSD by talking about a soldier named Paul that goes through terrifying experiences in World War 1.

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PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder occurs when a person has been through either emotional or physical trauma. Veterans often times develop PTSD due to the physical and emotional trauma that comes along with being in a war. Symptoms of this disorder can include; “depression, worry, intense guilt and feeling emotionally numb. People with PTSD also display impulsive or self-destructive behavior and changed beliefs or changed personality traits” (WebMD). Lastly, AboutHealth.com states that people with PTSD are also very likely to partake in substance abuse in order to numb out their internal turmoil.

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As a result It was then where Charlie slipped up and talked about his dead friend to Sam, who was making a milkshake for him. From this encounter, the audience can confirm that Sam has a kind, genuine heart. After opening up about his dead friend Michael, they accepted him into the group. It wasn’t long before Charlie adapted romantic feelings for Sam, but unfortunately Sam was into someone else. Under those circumstances Sam ends up dating that guy who she likes, and Charlie ends up dating Mary Elizabeth after her confession.

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Sometimes it’s good to give someone time to think by himself or herself a way of doing things especially when it comes to girls; you just have to give girls time to think of a new way of doing things. At first the sister never liked Charlie himself is a mystery. He has mental problems, gets angry, sees things and then passes out. Charlie is the main character and narrator who is fifteen years old and high school freshman

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In “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, details about Charlie’s relationships with people he works with are revealed and the first person point of view helps us understand what Charlie thinks.  For instance, in “Progress Report 8-Mar 25” Charlie writes, “Joe Carp said… what did they do Charlie put some brains in you. … Frank Riley said what did you do forget your key and open the door the hard way. … Their really my friends and they really like me,” on page 188.

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The most discussed example of mental illness in the novel and film is depression. Stereotypically, a person suffering from this is depicted similarly to Charlie- an introverted and

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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder develops in some people who have gone through distressing, dangerous, or startling events. According to Psychology Today, the symptoms of the disorder can range from mild to severe, but often include flashbacks to the event, nightmares, and or stressful thoughts. Furthermore, sexual assault accounts for the highest PTSD rates in both men and women, yet on screen, it is normally depicted as a war-driven disorder. In the film, Charlie suffers from PTSD due

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For example, on page 299, “I felt sick inside as I looked at his dull, vacuous smile, the wide bright eyes of a child, uncertain but easy to please. And I had been laughing at him too. Suddenly, I was furious at myself and all those who were laughing at him.” Here, Charlie was realizing that people were mean and rude to people who weren’t like them. That people looked down to people who were different than them or not as smart.

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Other instances include when Charlie walked in on his sister and her boyfriend having sex, when he watches his friend hook up with numerous men, and when he remembers that he was molested by his aunt as a child. Each of these situations are explained in detail, not sensitizing any of them in the least. These instances have caused many people to deem the entire book as inappropriate and even borderline

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This obviously upset both Mary Elizabeth and Sam because it became obvious that Charlie has feelings for Sam. This hurts Mary Elizabeth’s feelings and causes his friendship with Sam to take a few steps back. His friends don’t talk to him for a few weeks, causing Charlie’s depression and anxiety episodes to return; he also begins writing to his “friend” again. This is a common pattern throughout the film. His parents tell him to break up with her, but he doesn’t want to hurt her feelings by breaking it off.

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Charlie is clearly unstable when being alone, just like all people would be if they were in a situation where they felt this lonely. Another moment where we can see how exclusion negatively impacts Charlie when he was walking around the mall alone, and saw a girl he used to be friends with, and a group of friends she was with. He went up to her and asked her about Michael, their friend who committed suicide. This was undoubtedly an awkward situation that Charlie puts her in, and she thinks what he did was strange. As they walked away one of the guys whispered,

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Do you, Charlie?’ " Here, Frank explicitly states that he’s fine with doing this because his feelings won’t be hurt too badly, since he doesn’t know better. When Charlie is reflecting on his childhood, he recalls that he gave a valentine to a girl, and not being able to read or write, asked someone to write down something. They wrote something very dirty and offensive, and Charlie sent it. The girl’s big brother confronts him and says, “You keep away from my kid sister, you degenerate.

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It was the kind of kiss that I could never tell my friends about out loud. It was the kind of kiss that made me know that I was never so happy in my whole life” (75). In this quote, Charlie’s love for Sam is present. This quote has to do with experimentation because Charlie had his first kiss, which means he it

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