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…
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th Edition (DSM-5), post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental disorder characterized by symptoms of flashbacks, hypervigilance, and avoidance that last for more than one month and that occur as a result of exposure to extreme trauma (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Post-traumatic stress disorder was not recognized as an official mental disorder diagnosis until 1980. However, trauma has been occurring all throughout world history. For instance, shell shock during World War I was documented as well as battle fatigue in World War II (Pizarro, Silver, & Prause, 2006). The DSM-5 also distinguishes post-traumatic stress disorder from a similar condition, acute stress disorder, by the type of trauma that was experienced as well as the extent of the exposure to the experience and the magnitude of the event. Acute-stress disorder also will persist for at least three days, but will last no longer than one month. There are also a four main clusters of symptom types that are used to diagnose these two disorders. These clusters include: intrusion symptoms, avoidance, negative alterations in mood or cognition, and arousal and changes in reactivity. Individuals with at least nine symptoms from any one of these major cluster categories can be diagnosed with acute-stress disorder. However, an individual diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder will display one or two symptoms from each of these major categories. The first of the major cluster symptom categories is intrusion symptoms. These include: intrusive thoughts, such as nightmares or flashbacks of the traumatic experiences. As well as psychological distress triggered by external or internal reminders of the trauma. This can cause physiological symptoms to manifest in the individual such as increased heart rate and sweating. The next major category is avoidance. These symptoms cause the individual to avoid thoughts, feelings, or physical reminders of the traumatic event. Individuals with these symptoms can avoid seeing people, going to certain places or participating in specific activities they associate with the trauma. The next symptom cluster are negative alterations in mood or cognition. Symptoms like negative views of oneself or the world, frequent negative emotions, self-blame and blaming others, becoming emotionally numb, developing an inability to experience positive emotions, and difficulty remembering details of the trauma fall into this category. The final symptom cluster includes arousal and changes in reactivity. Within this category is hypervigilance which occurs in a large number of soldiers returning from war who experience difficulty shutting off their high alert from being under attack. Also within this category are the symptoms of engaging in reckless or self-destructive behavior, heightened physiological reactivity such as exaggerated startle response, difficulty focusing and sleeping (Sue, Sue, & Sue, 2016). Symptomology Parallels of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in American Sniper The 2014 film America Sniper was directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Jason Hall. It details the life of Navy S.E.A.L veteran sniper Chris Kyle. He serves four tours overseas in Iraq protecting his country. His role as a sniper is to protect the other military personnel, this put an immense amount of stress on him to always perform. By the end of his service he was credited with 160 confirmed kills. This however, took its toll on his mental health. During combat he was forced to shoot and kill a young child and woman who were carrying a grenade toward United States soldiers. Kyle continually had to leave his wife and children at home when he would go overseas, this also put stress on him. After returning from war he did not seem like himself. He would often experience nightmares or flashbacks of the trauma he experienced in Iraq. These intrusive thoughts occur without warning and occurred almost constantly. One scene in the movie shows him looking at a television that is off, but he stares intently at it while hearing gun fire and seeing images of traumatic memories. He also experiences avoidance as another symptom. While state side Kyle is approached by a veteran who he saved overseas. Kyle seems bothered by the conversation and wants to leave. The veteran mentions to Kyle that he should come by the VA (Veterans Affairs) sometime to talk to some of the other veterans and tell stories. Kyle rejects the idea and does not want to think or talk about what happened while overseas. Chris Kyle also experiences negative alterations in mood and cognition. He experiences survivor’s guilt and blames himself when one of his comrades is shot and killed. He also becomes unable to experience positive emotions and goes emotionally numb. His wife describes him as a zombie and says that he never really returned from war. Chris Kyle also experiences arousal and changes in reactivity. He becomes hypervigilant and has a heightened physiological reactivity. During a medical checkup at the doctor’s office his blood pressure is measured to be 170/110 which is extremely high. While relaxing in the backyard he hears a lawnmower and the noise startles him and causes him to remember a similar noise he heard while in Iraq. Finally during a backyard barbecue with his family and friends he suddenly attacks the family dog because he was triggered by a memory and sound that caused a physiological response. These symptoms began immediately following returning from serving overseas and they persisted for years after (Cooper et al., 2015). Due to the persistence of the symptoms and that Chris Kyle experienced at least one symptom from each of the four major symptom categories for trauma related disorders, he could be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder by the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder In the film, American Sniper, Chris Kyle speaks with a VA psychiatrist about the symptoms that he is experiencing.
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
hyperarousal. Prognosis of Chris Kyle If it had not been for his untimely death, Chris Kyle might have had an optimal prognosis. This is because he showed promising changes in his symptomology after starting Shooting Therapy. However, many physiological medical conditions can arise due to trauma related mental disorders. Post-traumatic stress disorder can lead to tissue damage and coronary heart disease (Sue, Sue, & Sue, 2016). Chris Kyle already displayed signs on hypertension, or high blood pressure, this can lead to other cardiovascular health problems such as aneurysms, myocardial infarction, mitral valve prolapse, and congestive heart failure. Since Chris Kyle was an overall physiologically healthy individual and he was showing signs of progress with treatment his prognosis could have allowed him to live a long and healthy life.
PBS’ Frontline film “The Wounded Platoon” reviews the effects the Iraq war has had on soldiers as they return home and transition back into civilian life, focusing particularly on the rise in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among American military members from Fort Carson Army base (Edge, 2010). Incidents of PTSD have risen dramatically in the military since the beginning of the Iraq war and military mental health policies and treatment procedures have adapted to manage this increase (Edge, 2010). In “The Wounded Platoon,” many military personnel discuss how PTSD, and other mental health struggles, have been inadequately treated (if at all) by military mental health services. Reasons and Perdue’s definition of a social problem allows us to see inadequate treatment of PTSD among returning United States military members as a social problem because it is a condition affecting a significant number of people in undesirable ways that can be remedied through collective action (Reasons & Perdue, 1981).
Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition, similar to an anxiety disorder, that is triggered by trauma and other extremely stressful circumstances. Throughout the book, Junger talks about PTSD in a wide range:from PTSD rates in natural disaster victims to PTSD rates in veterans. The latter is explained on a deeper perspective. While Junger gave many examples of why PTSD rates in America were so high, the most captivating was:
American Sniper is the movie that I chose to analyze because it is full of moral and ethical decisions that have to be made. The movie starts off with a boy at school that has to go pull a bully off of his little brother and he ends up beating the bully up so bad that blood is all over his face. The boys name is Chris Kyle. The film then skips forward to when he is in his twenties and is riding a bronco at the rodeo since that is his passion. He then decides to join the Navy and become a SEAL after he feels like his purpose was to serve his country. He gets deployed to Iraq and the mental part is hard on him especially when he has to shoot a women and a kid when he sees them trying to throw a grenade at a group of Marines. He tries to help
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is not something to think lightly of, and affects several people in society, not just soldiers. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is best known as a mental health condition that many soldiers experience after the war, but it’s a problem that stretches far beyond the military. PTSD affects 5%-10% of all men and 7%-14% of all women in this country(Charles, PTSD). In Chris Kyle’s autobiography American Sniper he touches on many subjects involving PTSD, and talks about the challenge of being a good father, husband, and soldier while stationed overseas. In American Sniper Chris Kyle is a very talented long ranged sniper for the United States Navy Seals, during his tour in Iraq, Chris tallies up several kills.
One in five veterans from Afghanistan and Iraqi wars have been diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition triggered by a terrifying event and mostly effects military veterans. The book Lone Survivor, written by Marcus Luttrell, is an eye witness account of the 2005 operation Red Wing that tells the harrowing story of SEAL Team 10. Throughout the book, Marcus hears voices in his head of his fallen teammates. Even today, Marcus wakes up in the middle of the night because of the terrible nightmares, which are symptoms of PTSD. There are a lot of ways to combat PTSD so our troops do not have to endure this hardship. Some of the ways to combat the disorder is to understand PTSD, detect it early, having family support and preventing it.
The mood of the story is dark and weary. In this scene the sky is gloomy and there are Republican and Free Starter soldiers fighting in the Irish Civil war, “The long June twilight faded into the night. Dublin lay enveloped in darkness but for the dim light of the moon that shone through the fleecy clouds.. machine guns and rifles broke the silence of the night, spasmodically” (O’Flaherty 1). Although the mood of the story is creepy and dim for the most part, it is silent with the sudden sounds of guns firing. As the story progresses, the sniper’s emotions begin reflecting on his actions. He begins to feel guilt and remorse for killing someone and the mood shifts to tension and violence.
"There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful thananything that bleeds. Don 't wait until you break. - Laurell Hamilton" This is oftentimes the sentiment felt by soldiers who have served in active duty and have been witnesses to tragedies that leave them emotionally scarred. The Clint Eastwood directed film, American Sniper is amovie that features the real life tragedy of American soldier, Chris Kyle, who served in theUnited States military as a Navy Seal, which is an elite group (Kenny, 2014 and Treitschke,2015). His story is unique in that he himself suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD), but as he worked to recover, he valiantly served again by helping fellow soldiers withPTSD ("Chris Kyle," 2013), and was senselessly gunned
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD is a psychological disorder that’s brought about after encountering a traumatic experience. This disorder can vary between mild and extreme severity in symptoms and effect on the suffering patient. It’s caused by a hyper-aroused state in the brain, using a magnetoencephalography machine “We could see heightened arousal that was maintained in the PTSD-afflicted men and not in the men who don’t suffer from the illness” (The Globe and Mail, Image of PTSD). Therefore, most commonly the individual will present with suicidal tendencies, making this condition a danger to anyone who is
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, also known as PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop after a traumatic event (Riley). A more in depth definition of the disorder is given by Doctor’s Nancy Piotrowski and Lillian Range, “A maladaptive condition resulting from exposure to events beyond the realm of normal human experience and characterized by persistent difficulties involving emotional numbing, intense fear, helplessness, horror, re-experiencing of trauma, avoidance, and arousal.” People who suffer from this disease have been a part of or seen an upsetting event that haunts them after the event, and sometimes the rest of their lives. There are nicknames for this disorder such as “shell shock”, “combat neurosis”, and “battle fatigue” (Piotrowski and Range). “Battle fatigue” and “combat neurosis” refer to soldiers who have been overseas and seen disturbing scenes that cause them anxiety they will continue to have when they remember their time spent in war. It is common for a lot of soldiers to be diagnosed with PTSD when returning from battle. Throughout the history of wars American soldiers have been involved in, each war had a different nickname for what is now PTSD (Pitman et al. 769). At first, PTSD was recognized and diagnosed as a personality disorder until after the Vietnam Veterans brought more attention to the disorder, and in 1980 it became a recognized anxiety disorder (Piotrowski and Range). There is not one lone cause of PTSD, and symptoms can vary from hallucinations to detachment of friends and family, making a diagnosis more difficult than normal. To treat and in hopes to prevent those who have this disorder, the doctor may suggest different types of therapy and also prescribe medication to help subside the sympt...
In the crosshairs of, US Navy Seal, Chris Kyle’s scope, sits a woman and a young boy who appear to be attempting to hide something. Seconds pass, and the woman passes the item to the boy, revealing to Kyle and anyone around just what they have, a deadly grenade. After talking to his partner and his general on his radio, he has to make a choice, to kill or not to kill. His partner makes the decision harder by telling him “They’ll fry you if you’re wrong,” regarding if the child in question is actually a threat or simply a misunderstanding. This is the opening scene in the 2015 film, “American Sniper” which is based on the real life events experienced by Chris Kyle in Iraq (Eastwood, 2015).
Isabel says, “If Dr. Nelson is right and he’s suffering from delayed shock surely new surroundings and new interests will cure him, and when he’s got his balance again he’ll come back to Chicago and go into business like everybody else” (48-49). Isabel’s statement though lacks understanding of what kinds of treatments are beneficial for treating PTSD. New surroundings and new interests won’t help treat PTSD because people who suffer from PTSD “tend to avoid places, people, or other things that remind them of the event” (Edwards). In order to understand what helps treat PTSD, we must come to understand that PTSD can never be fully cured. According to ptsd.about.com, “Treatments for PTSD will never take away the fact that a traumatic event occurred. Treatments for PTSD cannot erase your memory of those events,” (Tull) and, “That said, it is important to remember that symptoms of PTSD can come back again” (Tull). Even though it cannot be cured, it can be treated effectively with treatment. According to mayoclinc.org, “The primary treatment is psychotherapy, but often includes medication” (None). With the help of psychotherapy and medication, people who suffer from PTSD can begin to regain their life from anxiety and
In the stories liberty, dangerous game and sniper they have many similarities and differences in them even though they are different stories. Here are the reasons for these stories.
The author of “The Sniper” is James Riordan. James Riordan created a name for himself as a respected Russianist, and children’s author and translator. Riordan is relatively qualified to write a story based on the snipers of Stalingrad, for he spent an amount of time researching the topic in Russia. In Moscow, Riordan studied Russian politics and history, becoming well versed on the rising of The Communist Party (Riley). Much of Riordan’s life was spent studying and debating Russian politics and history, making him relatively qualified to write “The Sniper.” One could argue that Riordan held extreme political opinions, which could cause a story to fall towards subjectivity. However, the story has remained extremely politically neutral, and “The Sniper” is fictional; a subjective fictional
“It’s not about how many I killed it’s about how many I could’ve saved.” These were the words spoken by Chief Petty Officer Chris Kyle a U.S. Navy SEAL and the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history. The 2015 action film “American Sniper” tells the story of Kyle’s heroism and willingness to return to battle despite his struggles with PTSD and his failing marriage. “American Sniper” stars Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle, Jake McDorman as Ryan “Biggles” Job, and Sienna Miller as Taya Kyle. “American Sniper” was written and produced by Clint Eastwood and released by Paramount Pictures.
National Institute of Mental Health 2009, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), viewed 18 August 2011, .