American Sniper Psychology

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The major motion picture American Sniper was released December 24, 2014. It is based on the true story of the life of the United States Navy Seal Chris Kyle. Based on symptoms shown in the movie and the criteria set by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition, Chris Kyle would be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, which the movie accurately displays. Various forms of treatments were presented in the movie and more exist outside of those for individuals who suffer from PTSD. While the movie succeeds in sending a positive message about helping veterans with mental disorders, there is still stigmas that surround individuals with these disorders. Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder According to the …show more content…

The psychiatrist suggested that he try Shooting Therapy. This form of treatment allowed Chris Kyle to take others veterans out to the shooting range and help teach them how to shoot or help them to shoot his guns. Since Kyle has extensive experience as a sniper he had the skills to do this (Cooper et al., 2015). However, this exposes him and the veterans he is working with to a trigger of their traumatic experience. Hearing the gun being fired could trigger unwanted memories or experiences. Shoot Therapy is a type of prolonged exposure therapy that involved real life exposure to trauma-related cues (Sue, Sue, & Sue, 2016). In the movie, this seemed to be helping both Chris Kyle and the veterans who he was working with. However, on February 2, 2013 Chris Kyle was shot and killed by Eddie Routh, a veteran who he was trying to help via Shooting Therapy. While, this form of therapy could benefit many individuals it could also be harmful to others. Another type of treatment that could benefit individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder is trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy (TF-CBT). This form of therapy works to change dysfunctional thinking that involve guilt and self-blame. This could have benefitted Chris Kyle since he experienced survivor’s guilt. The last form of treatment is eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). This is a nontraditional approach and it works on the individual visualizing the trauma while moving their eyes side to side and replacing the negative situation with positive cognitions (Sue, Sue, & Sue, 2016). This allows the intense negative emotions associated with the trauma to become detached and this can decrease

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