Ptsd In The Things They Carried

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War has become such a common entity to Americans that it is often overlooked and forgotten about. The sight of people being injured or killed has become so common that many Americans see death without thinking twice about it. Countries are constantly fighting over territory, political ideas, or they are simply protecting their faith, while all this violence changes the lives of countless Americans and many others around the world. Whether it be physical, mental, or emotional, all soldiers and veterans are affected differently by their time in war, and their depth of involvement could determine how they are affected. Although the effects can be experienced by nearly anyone outside the war, the soldiers who are involved in a past or present conflict …show more content…
The events they included in their novels can be easily compared to the stories shared by Keith Merrill, a veteran of the Army who served from 1987 to 1991. Stories told by soldiers are able to give a perspective of war that politicians and newspapers never can. War impacts the individuals who were personally affected by combat and most soldiers have long term effects on their physical and mental health. Hallucinations, paranoia, and suicide are just some of the many effects of PTSD suffered by veterans of war and even those who are still in combat. The chapter of The Things They Carried titled “How to Tell a True War Story” contains examples of soldiers affected by PTSD based on many of O’Brien’s personal experiences. A story of O'Brien's that impacts the story as a whole starts with six soldiers in the midst of Vietnam who are troubled by major hallucinations while on a mission. “This big swank gook cocktail party somewhere out there in the fog. Music and chit chat and stuff. It’s crazy, I know, but they hear the champagne corks. They hear the actual martini glasses. Real hoity-toity, all very civilized, except this isn’t civilization. This is Nam,” (O’Brien, 1998). This shows a very small amount of the effects of PTSD that overcame many soldiers of Vietnam.
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