Post Traumatic Stress Disorder In The Kite Runner

The Invisible Scars of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

The sharp glass-coated string of the kite wound Amir’s hands, but a traumatic event wounds his life. Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD is a mental health condition caused by experiencing or being a victim of a terrifying event. It can be solved with extensive therapy, including psychoanalysis. In Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, the protagonist Amir commits an unforgettable act of betrayal on his loyal friend Hassan which causes Amir to undergo a severe case of post traumatic stress disorder, which occurs following the experience of a traumatic event and can be treated through psychological means, including Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder occurs after the victim suffers from a

traumatic experience, and also has many symptoms. According to David Riggs at Mental Health America, "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of a traumatic event”. A traumatic event could be anything from a fatal event such as war and “military combat”, terrorism, “natural disasters”, or any other serious incidents or accidents. In addition, someone who suffers from PTSD could be a survivor rape or a victim of assault, both physical and sexual in their adulthood or childhood. Of the many symptoms, the most common are repeatedly thinking about the trauma and sleep disorders (Peters 2014). A victim may have several vivid nightmares of the event, and also suffer from insomnia. In addition, the victim may also be” constantly alert” or “on guard” and avoiding reminders of the trauma (Peters 2014). The victim may be anxious and obsessive with staying safe, and also become detached from friends and family, and avoid people or events that remind them of the trauma. As a treatment, there is a variety of psychotherapy, Exposure therapy, Psychoanalysis and Cognitive processing therapy (Maher, Asnis and Rego 2006). Exposure therapy allows the patient to confront the memories that account for their distress. Psychoanalysis allows the therapist to determine the interaction between the unconscious and conscious mind in order to bring back restrained thoughts. Cognitive processing therapy helps the patient to properly process emotions about the unforgettable event and allows them to learn how to control their thinking patterns. Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD is a very common disorder that can occur after many events.
Sigmund Freud, the founding father of psychoanalysis, a psychological method for treating mental illness and also a theory which explains human behavior (McLeod 2013). Psychoanalysis is a therapeutic method where the therapist probes deeply into the patient’s memory, attempting to make the patient’s mind conscious and aware of the unconscious’ repressed thoughts, in the hope that if the patient's conscious mind could be made aware of the unconscious and tracing its repressed thoughts all the way to childhood memories (McLeod 2007). Psychoanalysis is a very lengthy and time consuming process, requiring anywhere from two to five sessions per week for a period of a few years. The specialized therapist, a psychoanalyst, uses numerous techniques to encourage the patient in developing their own insight into their behavior. The techniques of therapy include Rorschach ink blots, Freudian slip and Free Association (McLeod 2007).
Rorschach ink blots are ambiguous, and what matters is what the patient sees among the splattered ink. If a patient sees an image war or gun related, then the patient might have suffered from a severe case of PTSD from war or a terrorism experience. The Freudian Slip is when unconscious emotions and thoughts transfer to the conscious mind by slips of the tongue. For example, if one accidentally calls their partner a name of a previous one, it hints that they favored the previous one more. Free Association is a simple process in which the therapist reads a list of words, and the patient speaks the first thing that comes to their mind. Psychoanalysis can be used to treat and cure post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, insomnia and depression (Interlandi 2014). The therapist convinces the patient to come to terms with their own impulses, in order to recognize the origin of their current anxiety. In depression, the therapist allows the client to recall an early event, in order to resolve an obsession that built up around the event. Psychoanalysis and other various forms of therapy can be used to treat Post-traumatic stress disorder as well as anxiety, depression and insomnia.
After Hassan’s betrayal, Amir goes through a severe mental state that affects his behavior.

To Amir, he "became what [he] is today at the age of twelve, on a frigid overcast day in the winter of 1975. [he] remembers the precise moment, crouching behind a crumbling mud wall, peeking into the alley near the frozen creek. That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, [he has] learned, about how you can bury it." (Hosseini 1). Amir still thinks about his traumatic event many years later, and is very vivid in his mind. Also, Amir planned his day and “made sure [Hassan and his} paths crossed as little as possible" (Hosseini 89). Avoiding members or reminders of the event is also an indication that Amir suffers from Post-traumatic stress disorder. On a family trip to Jalalabad, Amir got out of the van for some fresh air, and instead when he looked into the sun, "Little shapes formed behind my eyelids, like hands playing shadows on the wall. They twisted, merged, formed a single image: Hassan's brown corduroy pants discarded on a pile of old bricks in the alley" (84). Amir is suffering from vivid hallucinations and having constant flashbacks, which proves that he is a victim of

PTSD.
Later that night,, Amir thinks “An hour later, I still couldn’t sleep” (Hosseini 86). Amir has trouble sleeping, and has become an insomniac, which is a known symptom of PTSD. Also, he layed down and thought to himself "about Hassan's dream...There was a monster in the lake. It had grabbed Hassan by the ankles, dragged him to the murky bottom. I was that monster" (86). Amir began to feel a strong guilt towards Hassan and is referring to himself as a monster shows how much he dislikes himself. Amir suffers from PTSD, and is proven by the symptoms that he underwent.
The protagonist Amir, in Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner commits a haunting act of betrayal on his faithful best friend, Hassan, this causes Amir to develop a critical case of post-traumatic stress disorder, which mainly occurs after traumatic experiences and can be treated with psychological treatment such as psychoanalysis, created by Sigmund Freud. Said by Michel Templet, “Always remember, if you have been diagnosed with PTSD, it is not a sign of weakness; rather, it is proof of your strength, because you have survived!”.