The Description of the Disorder
PTSD is a mental health condition that results in failure to recover after exposure to a petrifying scene. These events include accidents, childhood abuse, sexual or physical abuse, exposure to traumatic work events, and torture. In addition, losing a loved one, war and conflict, severe health condition, and tormenting childbirth experiences such as losing a baby also triggers PTSD. The symptoms include irritability, social isolation, sleep disturbance, loneliness, memories, and mistrust (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). These symptoms are common to people with past experiences of depression and anxiety or those who receive limited support from family and friends who are at risk of developing PTSD.
The Parts of the Movie That Relate to Symptoms of the Disorder
Dana, a reporter with the New York Post, feels irritated with her boss’s decision to add Rosenblum to the story she was working on; he cites a shortage of manpower for his decision. Although she claims to be competent and assured that everything about the story is going to be alright, her way of response shows how she was irritated by the move. Dana engages in a brief argument regarding the interview with Sandberg (Washington, 2021). Her mind got disturbed; she could not even notice her blouse was already soaking with breast milk. Considering the loss of her husband in the war, Dana had not recovered, and the expression of irate reaction is a symptom of PTSD (Lyons & Martin, 2019). She took management’s decision as an offensive act of undermining her, yet it was a healthy move to enhance efficiency.
While Dana was in her office expressing milk for Jordan, her son, her colleagues came to tell her about how Rosenblum was telling everybody she was on her story. This does not settle well with her, and she vows to keep him off her story. Rosenblum was equally qualified as a journalist, but Dana was not convinced he could do the story; she believed he would mess her up. This was an expression of mistrust, a common symptom associated with PTSD.
Still in the office, Dana’s friend asks her if anything is disturbing her. She denies claiming everything was well and she was not in any trouble. Her friend was worried about the latest behavior of Dana isolating herself from her fellow workmates; she wanted to know whether there was any problem or if she could help. Dana uses the excuse of being a single mother for her routine reporting to work and leaving without talking to anyone (Washington, 2021). The friend insists something is not fine and advises her to find someone to confide in and open up. Social isolation, as seen in Dana’s behavior in the office, is a symptom of PTSD.
Loneliness is a symptom of PTSD, and this is reflected in Dana’s life. Kaleisha, her house assistant, always leaves whenever Dana gets home from work. She is left with only her little son, Jordan, for the night. Dana had no one to talk to, laugh or even have fun with; she was in her own world of thoughts. She felt her heart and home were empty; even the presents of Jordan could not suppress her loneliness. Dana had nothing that could fill the space her late loving husband left. However, s discussed in class, there are treatments for traumas, including exposure therapies, CBT, stress management, and antidepressants; Dana ought to have sought help.
During the night, she had weird dreams about her husband talking to her, Charles King, talking to her. On one of the nights, he asked her to tell him everything. Dana wakes up, picks up the journal Charles had written to his son, and reads part of it to him (Washington, 2021). She reads the part where Charles had written telling his son there was nothing wrong with crying since it was a way of releasing pain and stress and had nothing to do with his manhood. People suffering from PSTD sometimes experience weird dreams related to the terrifying events they have encountered (Lyons & Martin, 2019). Dana had such experiences at night; this forced her to spend nights figuring out how she would disclose her husband’s tragic demise to her son.
Dana could stay awake some nights, figuring out and typing how she could tell her son how they had survived sorrowful years without Charles. She writes about how he met him for the first time on her father’s birthday. The two men had met in the military and became close family friends. Dana describes she and Charles became fond of each other, fell in love, dated, and how Jordan was conceived. Dana had PSTD symptoms of sleep disturbance that compelled her to be typing at night instead of being in bed.
Dana had a lot of things surrounding her that brought memories of her late husband. The journal Charles left his son was a constant trigger for Dana to flashback about the past when her husband was still alive. While celebrating her son’s birthday, Jordan utters the words “peek-a-boo, Daddy.” Charles spoke the words while having fun at the park. These words reminded Dana about her late husband, their love, and their beautiful moments together. Her memories of Charles and imagining that he was no more and there would be no other similar amazing moments tormented her. As discussed in class, such memories ending in pain are symptoms of PTSD, indicating Dana has not recovered from the unprecedented loss of her husband.
Jordan and the things he used to do ignited memories of his father, making Dana a little uneasy. He asked many questions about his father based on what he read in the journal. It was not an easy experience for his mother to explain to him; the questions rekindled the past sweet memories that were no more. On the day of visiting the cemetery, Dana found his son working out in his room. This reminded her of Charles’ passion for working out to enhance his fitness. Later that day, Jordan wore a pair of suits that resembled the one Dana bought for his dad. She was amazed by her son’s stunning look but equally disturbed. The two scenes where her son resembles the father made her uneasy; they rekindled the old gone memories. It made her feel the loss of an amazing husband who meant a lot to their world.
The Portrayal of the Disorder Symptoms in Comparison to Real-Life Manifestations
Dana shows exemplary performance in her role as a PSTD victim. Her role elaborates on life before and after developing this mental disorder, as well as how it transforms someone’s life. Dana met Charles when she was a cheerful young lady who loved her work as a journalist and was ready to fall in love. They got to know each, became friends, and finally fell in love. All this while, she was doing well psychologically; nothing was disturbing her, and thus behaving normally. This is a true reflection of the life of a person whose who has not experienced or witnessed a terrifying event.
Once people experience or witness a terrifying experience in their lives, the events change them. They start experiencing mental issues that affect their behavior, productivity, and how they perceive things. When Dana lost her husband, she became vulnerable and easily irritated. She could not view things from different perspectives as she used to before. When Rosenblum was assigned to assist her, she did not look at it as teamwork; instead, she got irritated and vowed to fight him. People sometimes perceive the introduction of changes as competition or undermining them.
Dana suddenly developed mistrust in her workplace, withdrew from social life with colleagues, and experienced loneliness. She had no idea that these were the results of psychological issues. Her grieving had taken a long time and affected her everyday life at home and work, but Dana did not seem to notice or seek help. When her colleague asked whether something was wrong, she claimed to be fine. Like Dana, people do not take such abnormal changes seriously and thus do not attempt to seek professional redress. They end up suffering, without knowing, with issues that can be addressed and resume back to normal life routines.
In addition, Dana had sleeping disturbances and frequently encountered memories of her past. Ordinarily, people perceive sleeping disorders as a result of their experiences during the day, such as fatigue. Some cultures believe nightmares are a regular occurrence originating from the spirit world. People believe in memories of attachment with the people involved, as Dana did, but they do not understand that these bonds should be cut off at some point since they affect their mental well-being and even productivity at the workplace.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5 (5th ed.). CBS Publishers & Distributors, Pvt. Ltd.
Lyons, C. A., & Martin, B. (2019). Abnormal psychology: Clinical and scientific perspectives (6th ed.). BVT Publishing.
Washington, D. (2021). A Journal for Jordan [Film]. Sony Pictures Entertainment