PTSD In Bless Me, Ultima

In the novel Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, Antonio Maréz’s three older brothers return from the war, they are plagued by grief. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a common illness among surviving soldiers. An illness that, unfortunately, has no cure. They three brothers have to pay the price of going through a traumatic event.
Although I’ve never gone to war, I’ve had to deal with grief caused by a traumatic event, much like Antonio’s brothers.
When I was twelve years old, a close friend of mine passed away. At first, I didn’t know how to process what was happening. How can someone I’ve known for the majority of my life be gone? But then it finally hit me. My friend was really gone. There would be no more days challenging

each other to play advanced piano pieces faster than the composer intended, no more singing contests and horrible rapping battles, no more days spent outside flinging worms at our siblings to make them mad. My shoulder to lean on, my best friend in the whole entire world, was truly gone. It was like a piece of me was missing, like someone punched a hole in my heart that no one will ever be able to fill.
After my friend’s death I had nightmares every night, I stopped eating, and eventually I became a shell of what I used to be, much like Tony’s brothers did after the war. I slept a lot and started fighting more frequently with my family about little things, a behavior that nearly mimics that of the Maréz brothers. This behavior lasted for about two years, and it not only affected my family and I, but it also affected my relationships with my friends.
Grief is a difficult thing to go through and it can affect anyone in any situation. Whether you experience grief from being in a war zone or from having a loved one die, it is truly a struggle that can takes years to fully overcome.