Ptsd In Catcher In The Rye

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Holden exhibits his recurring habits of smoking and drinking which is an effect of PTSD. Holden smokes and drinks constantly throughout this book. At school, outside, inside, and even with his sister; Phoebe. A cause of his constant habits is from his PTSD. Drinking and smoking makes the stress a little bit less for him to deal with. For example, “I was smoking… hardly any wind.” (Salinger 176). In this part he shows that he is out of breath from dancing with Phoebe. He tells that he had been smoking so much he barely had any time to get breath. His constant smoking is from his failure to adopt a good habit instead of the bad habit he came to have after the traumatic event. He enjoys smoking and drinking because it relaxes him and distracts

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