Anxiety, suicidal thoughts, alienation, cynicism, distrust of authority, isolation, hypersensitivity to injustice, tendency to fits of rage, all-or-nothing thinking, fear of trauma returning these are only a few of the symptoms of PTSD as defined by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Complete Treatment Guide (Matsakis, Tilley 19). In Mockingjay, Katniss Everdeen displays each of these and more. She has suffered so much anguish throughout the series that by the end of the trilogy, the effects of the trauma culminate in the form of a complete mental breakdown. At this point, she has suffered through two Hunger Games, a bloody revolution, and most importantly, the death of her beloved sister, Prim. When placed in solitary confinement after shooting the new president of Panem, she is practically incapacitated by the fragileness of her sanity. At her breaking point, she goes through stages of PTSD similar to those of veterans who returned home from Vietnam. By looking at Katniss' psychological state after shooting President Coin, we can see that the accumulation of her trauma has left her with significant neurological damage, similar to the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder experienced by Vietnam Veterans; this is important because the similarities shared in their depression, alienation, and anger result from betrayal by their respective governments.
 
Suicide is the first thing on Katniss' mind after she is imprisoned. She is depressed and convinced that things will only continue to get worse. She's exhausted and the one person that always kept her going, Prim, is gone. After listing potential ways to actively kill herself, she resolves on just giving up completely, "What I can do is give up. I resolve to lie on the bed without eating, drinking, or taking my medications. I could do it, too. Just die" (Collins 375-376). Despite her complete lack of desire to carry on, Katniss manages to survive her imprisonment. Unfortunately, many sufferers of PTSD haven't been so lucky and the outcomes have been tragic. Vietnam Veterans underwent the same feelings of being hopeless, dejected, isolated, vulnerable, and emotionally constricted upon their return from service (Ochberg 235). In the midst of the former soldiers' search for meaning after the war, they lost their identities in their depression. Many succeeded in their attempts to escape their grief and distorted reality. By looking at Katniss' behavior in Mockingjay, I'm sure she would have done the same if she didn't have so many people working to keep her alive.
 
Even though there were so many people who continually supported Katniss during her imprisonment, she thought she was completely isolated and alone. She felt abandoned by all of her loved ones and alienated by the government that she had placed her trust in. When she realizes that her captors aren't going to let her die, she fears that they are planning to continue to use her when she eventually gets out. She mulls over this potential punishment, "And then a terrible thought hits me: What if they're not going to kill me? What if they have more plans for me? A new way to remake, train, and use me?" (Collins 377). To Katniss, this is a punishment worse than death. She is so blinded by her paranoia that she believes they want to continue to torture her rather than just execute her. She assumes that the government will continue to exploit her for their own agenda even though she has already been completely humiliated. Ochberg talks about the feelings of victimization in Vietnam Veterans in a similar way. He writes: 
The victim often feels diminished, pushed down in a hierarchy of dominance, exploited and invaded  Victimization should suggest a transient state of personal disequilibrium, beginning with unanticipated trauma and ending with survivor status or reequilibration (Ochberg 227).
 
Draftees could not have anticipated the horror that awaited them in Vietnam and were greeted upon their return with hatred from their society and rejection by their government (Ochberg 228). There is no greater betrayal than complete abandonment by those you were loyally fighting to protect. This in conjunction with the emotional scarring put on by the trauma itself contributes to the severity of PTSD.
Katniss has been taken advantage of throughout the Hunger Games trilogy. It has always upset her, but there was no way of foreseeing Katniss' anger by the end. She is not only furious at the authority figures that blatantly abused her, but also the people she felt she could trust. Her hatred doesn't stop at the people she knows. She expresses her disgust for the whole human race, "I no longer feel any allegiance to these monsters called human beings, despise being one myself" (Collins 377).  Her frustration is undeniable and is what fuels her thoughts and actions. After returning home from their service in Vietnam, soldiers were infuriated by the sense that they were used as a pawn (Ochberg 235). This rage is considered a symptom of PTSD that places blame on not only those who were involved, but those who chose not to act.
 
Denying the countless injustices in both the Hunger Games and Vietnam War is an impossible feat. The effects of the trauma on those who were involved caused unimaginable pain and realization of how terrible the world can be. In many cases, the damage to the minds of the young who endure the incredible suffering of war and death cannot be undone. The effects linger in ways that destroy the victims from the inside out. Katniss and Vietnam Veterans experienced these symptoms as they lost hope in everyone, including themselves.

