Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried portrays the psychological damage and the lack of knowledge on that topic during the Vietnam War. The soldiers exhibit symptoms of PTSD that are described by Neurology and Personality dynamics. The trauma of their encounter with war overwhelmed the inexperienced soldiers causing their feelings of helplessness and distress. As the men attempt to comprehend the consternation surrounding them, the things they use to cope provides insight into the deficiency of awareness of psychological damage. The frequent jokes and lack of sympathy for the dead shows the soldiers failed attempt at adjusting to the harsh realities of war. However, their refusal to acknowledge the finality of death highlights the psychological problems in the soldiers, such as dissociation and depersonalization. The characters in this story demonstrate the lack of preparation soldiers had for the disturbing images of war and the disruption of healthy mental processes through the material things the soldiers decided to bring along, their reactions to trauma, and their denial of reality and death.

The Vietnam war, from 1954 to 1975, was a dark time for those who fought and experienced death around them. This war served as “a profound progression from innocence to experience involving some combination of fear, courage, brotherhood, sacrifice, and, at its most existential, an ultimate realization that one is a meaningless pawn in the larger game of history” (Carpenter 31). This existential crisis added to the psychological problems and the powerlessness that the soldiers felt. As the first war with media coverage, the sufferings of the war were expressed to all Americans, who began to feel as though they knew the extent of damage. However, this access only alienated the soldiers more because the people at home could never understand the true personal experiences of loss. This uncensored display of the war became “a significant contributing factor to the dissent, disillusionment, and radical skepticism” (Carpenter 35). This disagreement with the war in Vietnam led to the disrespect of the soldiers, although they were already suffering from paranoia with no sense of safety. The Vietnam War represented a time of misery for the soldiers.

During and after the Vietnam War, a great number of soldiers began to suffer from PTSD, posttraumatic stress disorder, because of the trauma of their dark experiences. During their time as soldiers, the men underwent “events that pose[d] an extreme psychological or physical threat or harm [which triggered] feelings of horror, terror, or helplessness” (Sperry 162). The overwhelming nature of these terrifying events engendered psychological distress in many soldiers. Factors such as longevity and severity increase the risk of developing PTSD; Because of the extreme conditions in Vietnam, PTSD became a common result. Evidence of PTSD is a reduced size of the hippocampus, which controls stress responses and memory, along with other brain functions. This remains obvious in soldiers who have a hard time feeling a sense of safety and controlling their stress. When the exposure to stress is early in life, the person is also more likely to develop PTSD. (Sperry 165). Since many of the soldiers were young men, age was another factor to play into their psychological problems. PTSD was a prevalent problem for Vietnam soldiers because of the great amount of trauma they went through at such a young age.

In the story, each of the soldiers carried defining objects that demonstrated their lack of knowledge on how to cope with the destruction happening around them. The title of the book provides a hint that the material things carried by the men serves as an important detail for their characters. One of the soldiers, Ted Lavender, “carried 6 or 7 ounces of premium dope, which for him was a necessity,” as well as tranquilizers, while the First Lieutenant, Jimmy Cross, “carried letters from a girl named Martha” (O’Brien 328). Whether through physical or emotional means, the men brought things to distract from their fear in any possible way. They were sent away with no recognition of reasonable ways to manage the stresses of war, so the soldiers turn to the use of drugs or the continuance of an illogical relationship. Some soldiers turned to religion, as “Kiowa always took along his New Testament and a pair of moccasins for silence,” while “Lee Strunk carried his slingshot” (332). As they remain in a dangerous war zone, the men must resort to their own individualistic ways of feeling safe. Some soldiers feel as though God is watching over them, while others have backup weapons if ammo runs out in order to protect themselves. All of the soldiers carry some sort of mementos in order to feel as if they have some control, ignoring the reality of their uncontrollable situation.

Secondly, the soldiers’ unconventional responses to the surrounding violence displays lack of preparedness for the harshness of war and the resulting mental problems. After the trauma has passed, “some carried themselves with a sort of wistful resignation, others with pride or stiff soldierly discipline or good humor or macho zeal” (338). The only way the men can survive the trauma without completely breaking down in the warzone is to joke about their misfortunes. This irregular manner of coping led to the emotional distress in the soldiers. As “they were waiting for Lavender’s chopper, [the men smoked] the dead man’s dope” (338). Instead of reflecting on their dead friend, they make use of his possessions that were left behind. By moving past their fellow soldiers’ deaths so quickly, they are unable to properly grieve and make sense of the deaths. Because of their dangerous positions, the soldiers are incapable of mourning their losses which leads to emotional problems.

Lastly, the denial of the reality of death with the use of euphemisms and attempts to continue on as though they have not encountered death exhibit the disruption of normal grief processes, a sign of psychological damage. As the soldiers witness death, like Ted Lavender’s, they do not acknowledge the finality. When one of the soldiers died, “it seemed scripted, and because they called it by other names, as if to encyst and destroy the reality of death itself” (338). With Ted Lavender, it is simply stated that a chopper took him away. The story of his death makes it seem as though he is merely leaving the warzone, and his death is not explicitly declared until much later. With the other stress, the men cannot handle accepting the deaths of their fellow soldiers. When the soldiers come across a dead boy covered in burns and flies, one of the men “was quiet for a time, as if counting a pulse, patted the stomach, almost affectionately, and used Kiowa’s hunting hatchet to remove the thumb” (334). His empathetic movements act as though the boy is still alive, as he seems to check for a pulse and handles him gently at first. By carrying the thumb with them, it is as though they are trying to get the boy to move on through life and still go on with the men. The death of such a young boy proves to be too solemn a fact for the soldiers to accept. The psychological distress of the soldiers’ progresses as they fail to concede to the conclusiveness of death.

In The Things They Carried, the soldiers indicate their psychological problems, such as PTSD, with their coping mechanisms, unusual manner of responding to difficult trauma, and refusals to accept the deaths of their fellow men. The symptoms of PTSD are manifested in the men as they become less and less able to handle the dark stresses of war. The setting they are in prevents the process of grieving so they are forced to turn to alternative ways of moving on from the death around them. Death becomes too abrupt of an end for the soldiers to acknowledge fully. The psychological difficulties of soldiers in this story portrays a less valorous story of war. 
