Cayden Carlson Ms. Geere 5/6A April 10th, 2024 Loung Ung’s Triumph Over Trauma “The lifetime prevalence of PTSD in adolescents ages 13-18 is 8%”. According to the American Psychiatry Association, 8% of adolescent teenagers between the ages of 13-18 experience some form of PTSD. In the book Lucky Child by Loung Ung, Loung experiences major PTSD when the political communist group called the Khmer Rouge invades Cambodia, causing the Killing Fields. This was a mass genocide of Cambodians who were either wealthy or intelligent. Loung and her family were part of the targeted group, and her family endured unimaginable suffering. This led her older brother Meng to flee the country with Loung and seek refuge in America to save his family. These …show more content…
Throughout her immigration to America, she was often bullied, which pushed her into a state of depression. When Loung goes to the bathroom, she decides that she no longer wants to deal with the pain and sorrow she has been feeling. She states, “‘I’m tired.’ Tired, tired, tired. I reach into the medicine cabinet and take out a bottle of Tylenol” (180). Loung starts overdosing on Tylenol, almost killing herself. Loung’s depression has affected her so deeply that she feels that the only way out is by taking her own life. However, later on in the story, Loung is able to get over her depressive thoughts and overcome her depression. Right before her high school graduation, she reflected on her old drawings and pages. She explains “After I’d written it and captured my demons down on paper, I shut them in this box and focused on my American life” (191). Loung vented the feelings and emotions she was feeling after her overdose. Doing this made her stop thinking about Cambodia and was therapeutic. Loung was able to overcome the obstacles of her depression through writing about her trauma and perseverance, which forever changed her life from almost killing herself. Lastly, the last obstacle Loung overcomes