Running Header: DISORDER REPORT 1

Disorder Report: Perks of Being a Wallflower

Emerald Hamilton

Mansfield University
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DISORDER REPORT
How accurate is/was the person’s diagnosis?

Charlie suffers from Post -Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), this comes from

the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his aunt when he was young. PTSD

effects men less then women however the trauma they face is often greater and more

severe. (Silove, 2017). Charlie fits the PTSD diagnosis almost perfectly. Throughout

the movie Charlie suffers from very detailed flashbacks to spending time with his aunt.

He talks highly of her throughout the first half of the movie, however, when he kisses

Sam and they interact as more then friends, he flashes back toward not so wonderful

memories of his Aunt Helen and that causes a completely mental break. According to

the DSM-5 flashbacks to the traumatic experience are clear indicator of PTSD. Charlie

is triggered by Sam touching his leg something it is brought to light that his Aunt did to

him. This trigger caused a flashback and a panicked response from Charlie. In addition,

Charlie discusses the fact that as a freshman in high school he had never kissed

anyone. This shows the avoidance of a stimuli in the same category of his trauma, a

clear indicator for PTSD in the DSM-5. Charlie’s mood at the beginning of the movie is

very negative, he has no reminds going into school, he just lost his best friend to suicide

the year prior, and he is returning from short stay in a mental institution. Though he tries

to be positive for his family’s sake he is reserved and quiet in school. He prefers to

listen and observe rather than engage. Charlie is also very unsteady any people

speaking directly to him, causes him to startle. He is always weary of his surroundings.

The movie takes place over the course of the year for which his symptoms are present

he finally at the end of the year suffers a complete psychiatric episode and must be re-

institutionalized. It is when he is in a care unit that the abuse by the hands of his aunt
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comes to light and he is diagnosed with PTSD. Charlie fits the criteria for PTSD

extremely well. From his depressed mood and his withdrawment from his peers. To the

flashbacks and his dissociative violent reaction when his friend Patrick is beaten up by a

couple football players. Charlie acts in defense of Patrick, but owes not remember the

incident when he comes to. All of this shows a very accurate depiction of PTSD.

How does/ did the disorder develop?

Charlie is abused by his Aunt Helen, and told to keep it a secret, at a very

young age. When his aunt dies Charlie pushes a lot of his feelings about her away. He

chooses to repress the abuse and focus on the good parts of his aunt, often refusing to

her as his favorite person in the world. Her abuse and her death were a very influential

time in young Charlies life that left him to disassociate with the Trauma. The only time

her death or the abuse is mentioned in the film is in flashbacks or very shortly buy him.

He briefly informs Sam that until she met him his aunt was his favorite person in the

world. When Charlie’s best, and only, friend kills himself. Charlie suffers from his first

mental breakdown. He spends the end of his eight-grade year under mental health

observation at an inpatient care facility. When he returns home his parents did very

little. They chose to ignore the fact that their son had any form of mental condition.

They checked in with him, but always took what he said as truth they never pushed to

see if he really had a good day or was just saying he did. His brother left for college,

later in the film we discover that the brother is more sympathetic towards Charlie’s

condition. Charlies brother was a support system for Charlie that would suddenly be

missing. This shows the lack of parental and just family support Charlie needed during a

difficult time. The progression of the movie shows that Charlie begins his Freshman
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year of High School with no friends. People he talked to in years prior refused to talk to

him. In fact, the only person he becomes friends with is his English teacher. This shows

that he is disconnected from his peers and that can affect any child in a negative way.

All of this comes to light during and following Charlie’s second breakdown, after which

the full extent of his condition and a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

(PTSD).

How does/did the disorder affect the person functioning across settings?

Charlie’s PTSD affects many aspects of his life. Charlie doesn’t spend a lot of time at

home, but when he does he spends less of it with his family. Most of his at home time

he is in his room. He eats dinner with his parents and sister, but that is about it. He also,

is not very honest with his parents he doesn’t tell them how he’s really feeling or when

his flashbacks return. This lying leads to a twisted view for his parents. His parents

however, never push the issue or try and find the root of their son’s problems. The only

support system he has at home is his older brother who goes off to college the same

year the movie covers.

Things were not any better for Charlie at school. For the first few weeks of school

Charlie had no friends. The only person Charlie talked to regularly was his English

teacher. A group of students also begins to tease him because he is doing more work

for his English teacher because he was so far ahead of his fellow classmates. The only

friend he had killed himself the year prior. So, Charlie was very disconnected from his

peers. When Charlie finally does make friends, he makes friends with a group of

Seniors, Patrick, Sam, Mary-Elizabeth, and Alice. The group takes Charlie under their

wing, they take him to parties both inside and outside of school. He ends up doing a few
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different drugs while with his new friends including Marijuana and some sort of

Hallucinogen. This is not a healthy coping skill for someone who is suffering from PTSD.

In one scene after a particularly bad flashback he is seen asking for/ purchasing

marijuana proving that he uses it to cope not just for fun. This isn’t uncommon many

people try and self-treat PTSD with drugs including different forms of cannabis (Bedard-

Grilligan, 2018). Charlie cares very deeply about other feelings so he says yes more

then no to them. This becomes a serious problem when he begins to date Mary-

Elizabeth. Mary-Elizabeth and Charlie have very little in common and just aren’t a good

match for each other. When he breaks up with her all his friends stop talking to him

inside and outside of school.

Things only return to normal with them when Charlie beats up some football

player in defense of Patrick. It is only then that his friends talk to him and start hanging

out with him again. His friends are very influential in his life. They can make things

better or worse for him. They are not the most stable of groups however they are one of

the only consistent support systems that he has. He relies on them to help him avoid

some of his problems but he opens to them as the movie progresses. He becomes

closest with Sam who is Patrick’s Step Sister. Sam tells him about her past traumas and

it allows him to open and beginning hinting at all the trauma he has faced. In fact, when

he kisses Sam and she rub his leg is when he has his first flashback to the abuse he

suffered at the hands of his Aunt Helen. Charlie’s PTSD has him isolate himself from is

family. He is very concerned with other people’s feelings so he is easily controlled by his

friends and lastly, he is isolated from his peers and is bullied heavily because of it which

only adds more sadness to a depression.

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How was the disorder treated by outside helpers AND/OR managed by the person

struggling with the disorder?

Charlie Manages his disorder as best he can with the situation he was in. At first,

he comes off as very detached and isolated from everyone around him. Charlie has no

friends at school and makes no effort to talk to anyone, he goes as far as refusing to

talk in class, though he is highly intelligent. Charlie chooses to through himself into his

school work to cope and distract himself. He went as far as finishing his midterm paper

in the first few weeks of school. His English teacher notices this and begins giving him

extra books and assigning him other papers so he has something to do.

Charlie’s love and care for others is apparent throughout the entire film. His

parents are very patient with him and ask how his day was nearly every day. However,

Charlie does not want to worry them so she tells them he is having a good time at

school. In addition, he tells them that he isn’t having flashbacks anymore, which us as

the viewers know that its not true. It is only when Charlies older brother returns home

from college that the depth of is condition becomes apparent. His brother questions him

and doesn’t take the face value Charlie has been giving everyone around him he

pushes the subject more. Charlie finally admits to him that he is still having flashbacks,

but h has more control over them and can stop them as soon as they start.

The closer Charlie gets to his friends the more he opens to them mostly Sam.

One of the first times they hang out he tells her about his best friends suicide the prior.

After this comes to light Sam becomes protective over Charlie she is always concerned

about his wellbeing. When she discovered that he has never been kissed by anyone,

she decides that she’ll be the one to kiss him to make sure he knows he’s cared for.
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Also, she notices when he has a flashback and makes sure he’s okay and shows

genuine concern for him. His other friends are supportive, but they don’t allow him to

open as much as Sam does. Charlie’s silent supporter ended up being his sister. She

doesn’t interact with Charlie a lot especially at school, however after Charlie witnesses

her get hit by her boyfriend their relationship gets closer. He wants to defend her, but

she refuses to allow him.

At the end of the movie when Charlie completely breaks down and begins to

realize what his aunt did to him and that in his own mind he killed his aunt because she

was killed on the way to get his birthday present. He didn’t call his parents or his brother

or even one of his friends. He calls his sister. She’s the one who calls 911 and makes

sure he doesn’t do anything to hurt himself. She’s very attentive to her brothers needs

though he never says he has thoughts of hurting himself, she picks up on it and knows

he needs immediate support. Once Charlie is institutionalized for the second time he

opens about the abuse and his parents are informed. It is then that we finally see a

connection and an understanding form between Charlie and his parents. The people

around him just want Charlie to be happy. Charlie doesn’t want to upset anyone again

so he feeds them positivity even if it’s a lie. This creates a disparity between the Charlie

and those around him. Once, the truth comes out their relationships slowly start to

mend.

How would you treat this disorder?

At the end of the movie Charlie is released from supervised care and can go

home, however it is apparent that he will need continuous psychiatric monitoring for at

least the next six months to a year. The treatment of Charlie’s PTSD would need be
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divided into sections. The Journal of Counseling and Development suggests a three-

step treatment plan. Step 1, stabilize and strengthen skills. Step 2, Review and

reappraisal of trauma memories. Step 3, reintegration into the larger environment.,

(Silove D 2017). I would want to meet with him weekly, along with family counseling

with at least his parents if not his entire family (parents and siblings). Our sessions

would likely begin at a very slow pace because individuals who suffer from abuse have

a hard time trusting others, (Kress, 2018). A lot of Charlies memories of the abuse are

greatly repressed and would need regular therapy sessions to bring those memories

back to the service and continued therapy to learn how to deal with the knowledge of

those events. therapy could help rebuild the relationship Charlie is lacking with his

parents. Family therapy would help teach his parents how to not only cope with their

son’s illness, but also handle any guilt they may feel for not knowing or picking up on

the abuse. Hopefully with family therapy can open line of communication could be

formed between Charlie and his parents and they would be able to communicate better

not only regarding Charlie’s mental illness, but about most situations. Relational cultural

Therapy could be very beneficial for Charlie. “A RCT approach provides the framework

from which to teach clients how to recognize, form, and maintain healthy relationships,”

(Kress, 2018). Though Charlie could form lasting friendships they were perhaps not with

the best people possible and the relationships were often stained. Therapy to help him

form better relationships with his peers as well as his family would be very beneficial for

him. I could also see Charlie thriving in a group therapy or support group style

environment. Perhaps a biweekly support group of other people mostly men who

suffered trauma like Charlie would allow him to not only open but feel less isolated and
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as if he has no one around him who fully understands. Charlie should also have

resources in school to help aid his recovery having an individual who is made aware of

his condition would give Charlie a safe space to go if he has a flashback while at school

or is just having a difficult day, I think just having an escape where he doesn’t feel like

he must explain himself would be very beneficial for Charlie. With individualized

therapy, family therapy, support from his school and a support group, Charlie would be

able to learn how to properly cope with his PTSD and would be able to live a full and

rewarding life.
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References

Bedard-Gilligan, M., Garcia, N., Zoellner, L. A., & Feeny, N. C., (2018) Alcohol,

Cannabis and other drug use: Engagement and Outcome in PTSD Treatment,

Psychology of Addictive Behavior, doi:10.1037/adb0000355

Calitz, F. W., de Jongh, N. J., Horn, A., Nel, M. L., & Jauber, G. (2014) Children and

Adolescents Treated for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder at the Free State

Psyciatric Complex. South African Journal of Psychiatry, 20(1), 15-20. doi:

10.7196/SAJP.441

Kress, V. E., Haiyasoso, M., Zoldon, C.A., Headley, J. A., &Trepal, H. (2018). The Use

of Relational-Cultural Theory in Counseling Clients Who Have Traumatic Stress

Disorder. Journal of Counseling Development, 96(1) 106-114.

doi:10.1002/jcad.12182

Silove, D., Baker, J. R., Mohsin, M., Teesson, M., Creamer, M., O’Donnell, M., &…

Rees, S. (2017). The Contribution of Gender-based violence a network Trauma

to Gender Differences in Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder. Plas ONE, 12(2),

1-12. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0171879