Perks Of Being A Wallflower Essay

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, based on Stephen Chbosky's New York Time's bestselling novel, follows introverted Charlie through his first year of high school in the early 1990s. Shortly after the film begins, it is revealed that Charlie spent time in the hospital-implied to be a psychiatric hospital-over the summer but has improved. However, no other information about his condition is revealed until much later in the film.
Charlie is portrayed as quiet and a bit of an outsider, only befriending his English teacher on his first day of class and sitting alone at lunch. He eventually finds companionship in a group of unusual and comedic seniors, spearheaded by Sam and Patrick, whom he bonds with over music. With his new friend group, Charlie

learns a lot about teenage life-from love to drugs- and finds a sense of stability. However, when things begin to go awry after Charlie's disastrous relationship with one of the group's members, his stability is jeopardized. Without the support of his friends, Charlie gets "bad" again and begins to have incessant flashbacks of his Aunt Helen, who died in a car accident during his childhood. Charlie eventually regains his friends after he experiences a blackout, beats up three guys, and saves Patrick from serious injury. Charlie grows close with Sam, eventually kissing her before she goes off to college. Once Sam leaves, Charlie's flashbacks worsen, and he begins to blame himself for his Aunt Helen's death. He calls his sister, incredibly upset by his supposed realization, and she is able to get the police to the family's home just in time to prevent Charlie from committing suicide. Charlie then spends time in a psychiatric hospital, uncovering repressed memories of being sexually abused by his Aunt Helen and eventually improving enough to return home.
Though it is clear from the film that Charlie has a mental disorder-between his time in the psychiatric hospital, his flashbacks, and his references to "bad" times-the specific disorder was never named. However, Charlie's primary disorder appears to be Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
PTSD is "a mental health problem that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a life-threatening event" ("What is PTSD?). To be diagnosed with PTSD, one must have, at minimum, all of the following for at least 1 month: one re-experiencing symptom, one avoidance symptom, two arousal and reactivity symptoms, and two cognition and mood symptoms ("Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder").
Re-experiencing symptoms include flashbacks, bad dreams, and frightening thoughts ("Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder"). One of Charlie's most notable symptoms is the recurrence of flashbacks. Throughout the film, the audience is able to participate in Charlie's flashbacks, witnessing as he relieves moments he spent with his aunt, whom he desperately misses. His flashbacks do not include the occurrence of sexual assault-memories that the audience later learns that Charlie has suppressed-but still appear to cause Charlie considerable distress.
Avoidance symptoms include staying away from places, events, and objects that are reminders of the traumatic event and avoiding thoughts or feelings related to the traumatic event ("Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder").

As the name of the film suggests, Charlie is a "wallflower." For much of the film, he is socially isolated, his only friends being his English teacher and two eccentric seniors. Later in the film, the audience learns that Charlie's best friend committed suicide the previous summer, contributing to this isolation. Charlie also worries that none of the kids who knew him prior to high school would want to befriend him after he spent time in the hospital. Charlie also turns to drugs and alcohol at some points during the film, presumably both to escape his thoughts and for typical teenage reasons. Charlie's most profound enactment of avoidance symptoms occurs at the end of the film when he nearly commits suicide after realizing what his aunt had done to

him.
Arousal and reactivity symptoms include being easily startled, feeling tense, having difficulty sleeping, and experiencing angry outbursts ("Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder"). For the majority of the film, Charlie is genial, especially for a teenage boy. However, as the severity of his symptoms increases, he becomes more irritable. He is agitated by all of his girlfriend's behavior and eventually ruins his relationship by announcing (in front of his girlfriend) that he thought Sam was the prettiest girl in the group. As a result of this event, Charlie experiences social isolation, further increasing the intensity of his symptoms. At the peak of his arousal, Charlie loses control and beats up three of his classmates who were attacking Patrick, though he has no recollection of these events.
Cognition and mood symptoms include trouble remembering the traumatic event, negative thoughts about oneself or the world, distorted feelings like guilt or blame, and loss of interest in enjoyable activities ("Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder"). Charlie exhibits many symptoms from this area. First, Charlie had suppressed his memories of his aunt's abuse. It is not until Sam touches his thigh one night that Charlie has even a vague recollection of the abuse. Charlie furthermore blames himself for his aunt's death, fearing that he wanted her to die because of what she had done to him. Once at the psychiatric hospital, Charlie reveals to his psychiatrist that all he can see in the world is everyone else's pain, revealing how profoundly trauma had impacted his perception of the world.
Throughout the film, Charlie does not face stigmatization from his friends or family. Though he is not forthcoming about the details of his symptoms with his family, they still frequently check in with him. At the end of the film, when Charlie is contemplating suicide, he reaches out to his sister, who gets help for him. When Charlie is hospitalized, Sam and Patrick come to visit him frequently, as does his family. It is clear that receiving support from those around him helped Charlie to recover.
Though Charlie's disorder is never named, aspects of his treatment are shown.

Charlie's treatment was based on the ___ model. The audience is aware that Charlie spent time in a psychiatric hospital both prior to the start of the film and at the end of this film. During this time, Charlie undergoes psychotherapy. Though details of this therapy are not shown, it is revealed that Charlie's therapist helps him to remember the details of his sexual abuse; the uncovering of repressed memories suggests the use of psychodynamic treatment methods. Charlie also takes medication for his disorder throughout the film, though the specific type of medication is not revealed. The treatments Charlie undergoes are effective in helping him to manage his disorder. At the end of the film, Charlie is able to leave the hospital and seems to be much more stable. He shares that he is not "picturing things" anymore and on the rare occasion that he does, he is able to turn it

off.
Treatment methods such as psychotherapy and the use of medication are still employed in the treatment of PTSD today. Recommended treatments include trauma-focused psychotherapies, such as prolonged exposure therapy, cognitive processing therapy, and eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin-norepinephrine inhibitors have been found to be particularly helpful in the treatment of PTSD symptoms. ("Treatment of PTSD")
This film provided me with a different perspective on PTSD. In the media, PTSD is typically portrayed as a disorder that only affects veterans. It was insightful to see that PTSD truly impacts people of all ages and backgrounds. I also felt like portraying PTSD from a teenage perspective was particularly valuable, as teenage mental illness tends to be underrepresented in the media.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower provides a genuine and accurate portrayal of youth mental illness. This film, among others, helps those with mental illnesses to feel less alienated and shows the benefits of seeking professional help.