PTSD and The Hulk In The Basement
Sometimes you have no choice but to look him in the eye
(TRIGGER WARNING — Discussions of PTSD)
To put this into context, I’m a person with suspected Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) who is impatiently waiting for treatment, and with a “thing” for Marvel movies. When it was suggested that PTSD might be the cause of my issues, that started me off investigating my experiences in a lot more depth (once the meds kicked in and I wasn’t an anxious slug in a dressing gown anymore.)
As tends to be the way of the world, the more I read about the effects of PTSD as a condition, the more I engage in a bit of armchair psychoanalysis, also spotting elements of it in other people and the stories that I enjoy. Marvel is a real treasure trove for opportunities to do this, as what could be more traumatic than half of the universe arbitrarily being snapped out of existence by a big purple megalomaniac like Thanos, or being caught in an accidental gamma radiation blast, and becoming a giant green rage monster like the Hulk? It is traumatized character central.
The “Hulk in the basement” metaphor, (I may have come up with this myself, but I doubt it) helped me understand how I made the journey from “I’m fine! Mostly!” to “Oh my god, I’m a car crash!”. It’s an honest statement to…
