Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder In The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls

Post-traumatic stress disorder is very common in those who have been in difficult situations. It sis a disorder that “develops in some people who have experienced [a] shocking, scary or dangerous events” (www.himb.hih.gov). In “The Glass Castle,” by Jeannette Walls, it appeared that Rex showed symptoms of PTSD, which resulted in hyperarousal, alcoholism, bipolar disorders. These symptoms explain why Rex did the things he did, and why he acted out so often. PTSD has many different symptoms, but there are various options to cure it. If Rex hadn’t been so inconsiderate, he might have taken better care of himself and his family. Because post-traumatic stress has so many symptoms, it can be difficult to cope with. The symptom that stood out the

Hyperarousal can be defined as one who’s “body suddenly kicks into high alert as a result of thinking about their trauma” (Health Line), and that could be the cause of why Rex thought the FBI was on to him. Near the beginning of the book Jeannette Walls talked about how they always did the “skedaddle” (Walls 19), because the “FBI agents who were after Dad for some dark episode that he never told us about because he didn’t want to put us in danger too” (Walls 19). It turned out that there was never FBI agents looking for Rex. It could have been another imaginative story, also a symptom related to PTSD. Some of the causes of hyperarousal can be physical and sexual assault, and it became a concern of whether Erma and Stanely sexually assaulted Rex when he was younger. When the whole family lived with Erma, Brian experienced Erma “grabbing at the crotch of his pants” (Walls 146), and that is when Lori and Jeannette put two and two together. Rex refused to go back to his hometown, and it was because of the traumatic events that he went through as a young kid. “ A heavy sense of guilt or shame” (Health Line) is a symptom as well, and Rex seems to deal with the guilt and shame. This situation was

All of the money that they ever got went to booze, and the imaginary glass castle. When it was Jeannette’s birthday, she had high hopes that Rex would quit drinking. She believed that if he could stop drinking that everything would go back to normal, but it made things worse. Rex began trying to stop, and only lasted a couple of days before he went right back to old habits. When Rose Mary became a teacher at the school, Rex would make her give him her check, so that he could cash it. Rex wanted everyone to believe that he was saving up to build this glass castle, and he had everyone fooled. Rex believed that he should handle everything, and he would show “up at the school on payday, waiting outside in the car, and taking us all straight to Winnemucca, where the bank was located” (Walls 78). He always had to have control, or it wouldn’t happen, and that’s what makes him bipolar. One day he is up and at it to get things done, and the next he is stuck in a bar wasting the money. Alcohol is a reoccurring problem and is “linked to a confused and disorderly life. This kind of life leads to less closeness and more conflict within a family. The confusion of a life with a drinking problem makes it harder to be a good parent” (PTSD.gov). Rex used alcohol as a mechanism to cope with the feelings that he didn’t want to show. With drinking so much, it made him become angry. Nobody looked at it differently when he would get