
Post-Traumatic Stress disorder was a prominent illness discovered after the Vietnam War. Post-Traumatic Stress disorder (PTSD) is stated as “a condition of persistent mental and emotional stress occurring as a result of injury or severe psychological shock, typically involving disturbance of sleep and constant vivid recall of the experience, with dulled responses to others and to the outside world.” It carried many names, such as “shell shock” in World War I, “battle fatigue” in World War II, and “Post-Vietnam syndrome” in the Vietnam War (Reisman). During “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien, the soldiers go throw a lot of difficult times and burdens during their journey. As an effect of this, many suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress disorder, as well as the writer himself, Tim O’Brien.

One Symptom of PTSD in the story “The Things They Carried” was the prominent use of drug abuse. It is found that other disorders can stem off of PTSD, such as Major Depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety and substance abuse (Reisman). This is evident in O’Brien’s story, specifically with Ted Lavender. Lavender carries tranquilizers with him throughout the war, as quoted in the book, “Ted Lavender, who was scared, carried tranquilizers until he was shot in the head outside the village of Than Khe in mid-April” (O’Brien 2016 328). We can suggest that he uses these to self-medicate himself and furthermore, to relieve his stress. Taking these drugs, Ted was able to relax and allow him to not face the agonizing events of the war. 

In addition to drug abuse, struggling with relationships was another symptom of PTSD. Veterans with PTSD would combat with relationships, making it very difficult to maintain it due to their stress (Reisman). In the story, “The Things They Carried”, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross has a very difficult time maintaining his relationship with Martha. He knows that she doesn’t love him and ultimately causing his stress to rise. An example states, “And suddenly, he was thinking about Martha. The stresses and fractures, the quick collapse, the two of them buried alive under all that weigh. Dense, crushing love” (O’Brien 2016 333). This can be a detrimental effect that leads to Post-Traumatic Stress disorder later after the war, as he thinks “what if it was different and I were still with Martha.” This is insight into a side-effect that allows one to see Lieutenant Jimmy Cross suffered from PTSD.

A Post-Traumatic disorder side-effect that was very common in Veterans was the risk of suicidal thoughts and self-harm, during and following the war. This was a way to cope with their stress and anxiety of the events during the war (Reisman). This is directly related to a particular scene in the “The Things They Carried”, specifically Norman Bowker becoming suicidal. A quote states, “[Norman] could not talk about it and never would. The evening was smooth and warm. If it had been possible, which it wasn't, he would have explained how his friend Kiowa slipped away that night beneath the dark swampy field. He was folded in with the war; he was part of the waste” (O’Brien 1990 123-124). This shows how much guilt lays inside of Norman and because he experienced Kiowa’s death, he physically and mentally cannot handle the traumatizing experience that he had to be a part of.

PTSD most prominently develops from witnessing a terrorist attack, violent abuse or crime, serious accidents, etc, which the Vietnam War was known for (Reisman). This is seen in the story with Ted Lavenders death. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross was distraught and really took it to heart during his death. This is most evident when Kiowa stated, “One thing for sure, he said. The lieutenant’s in some deep hurt. I mean that crying jag- the way he way carrying on- it wasn’t fake or anything, it was real heavy-duty hurt. The man cares” (O’Brien 2016 336). One can see that this will be a real emotional burden during, and most definitely after the war, possibly suffering from PTSD.

Therapeutic writing is very common among the Vietnam soldiers who suffered from PTSD. Most fiction was produced by soldier-writers, after the Vietnam War. This is because it was seen as remedial and relieves the wounds from the traumatizing experience of the war (Alsina Risquez). In “The Things They Carried,” the book is not about telling the truth. In fact, most of the war is a blur for O’Brien. He doesn’t remember the exact details but rather the broader scope. The book is memoirs of his journey and that is simply it. It is not a biography of his long journey but rather a way for him to cope with his past, dealing with traumatic memories in written form. 

In addition to O’Brien’s characters in the story, he as well suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress disorder. This can be effectively seen through the certain details he chooses, making inhumane things seen humane. For example, O’Brien describes some of the fear and battle that goes into war, but it is more about the therapeutic side. He doesn’t try to alienate Vietnam like most authors, but rather explains everything in great detail to convey his points and journey. This is especially shown when he goes into detail about what each character brings with them throughout the war. For example, “The things they carried were determined to some extent by superstition. Lieutenant Cross carried his good-luck pebble. Dave Jenson carried a rabbit’s foot. Norman Bower, otherwise a very gentle person, carried a thumb that had been presented to him as a gift by Mitchell Sander” (O’Brien 2016 334). All of these items had symbolic meaning, to each character, and carried emotion, even if they weren’t humane. For example, the pebble was a stone that Martha gave to Lieutenant Cross that he keeps with him at all times. This allows O’Brien to make his feelings clear and puts a discrete human quality on objects that wouldn’t hold that status normally. 

Another example of O’Brien suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder is he writes no definite thesis or argument throughout the story. It is said that “definite answers nor absolute definitions of war” are portrayed through the use of therapeutic writing (Kostova 107). As mentioned in the story, “And if anyone quarreled or complained, he would simply tighten his lips and arrange his shoulders in the correct command posture. He might give a curt little nod. Or he might not” (O’Brien 341). This snippet of the story allows one to see that there is not definite answers and is simply just and is still somewhat unclear. This gives the reader insight that the writer must be writing for pure pleasure. The story is moreover the depiction of O’Brien’s war experiences through the use of other characters; somewhat a diary of his life and the experiences he encountered. He is not trying to say that war is an awful place or that one should not go to help out the country. He is simply writing to write, letting us believe that it is for therapeutic reasons. In the last few pages of the book, O’Brien writes, “But this too is true: stories can save us” (O’Brien 1990 184). This directly tells us that by O’Brien writing this story it can hopefully save himself; save himself from distress; save himself from the traumatizing memories; save himself from relieving the past. 

Through the use of Tim O’Brien’s story “The Things They Carried”, it is quite literally the essence and insight into the condition of Post-Traumatic Stress disorder. PTSD is observed in two totally different, but connected ways throughout the story. For one, Post-Traumatic Stress disorder symptoms scattered throughout the story, portrayed by the characters. Secondly, O’Brien can use this story to relieve his stress, hence soften the symptoms of PTSD, to help him cope with the experiences he went through in the Vietnam war. The story doesn’t directly say that the character’s, along with Tim O’Brien, suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress disorder, but through O’Brien’s work, we can pick out the symptoms and certain elements of the story to confirm. One can say the real reason O’Brien wrote “The Things They Carried” is to help himself. We are just on the outside looking in. 
