Robert Cormier's Heroes

In the novel ‘Heroes’ by Robert Cormier, a young war veteran returns to his hometown, Frenchtown, and seeks out revenge on the man who mentally scarred both him and the girl he loved when they were young. In the novel, Francis Cassavant is the main protagonist who returns from war with horrific wounds and scars. Also, Francis can be described as a character with deeply rooted issues as when he was young he heard the girl he loved get raped by the man who he believed to be a hero. The theme of heroism is something widely discussed in the novel, Francis’ image of heroes have been distorted from seeing all the terrible and cowardly things he, and other people who were referred to as heroes, did. He struggles to see himself as a hero, despite having saved many lives, as he viewed the actions he took to be a so-called hero as cowardly and unworthy of gaining this title.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric sequel to a stressful event or situation of an exceptionally threatening or catastrophic nature. It develops after a person is involved in a horrifying ordeal that involved physical maltreatment or the threat of physical harm. These events can include combat or military experience, abuse during childhood or adulthood (physical or sexual), terrorist attacks, serious accidents or natural disasters. This person may have been the one that was harmed, witnessed a harmful event or had a loved one who was harmed. It is normal for the body’s fight or flight mechanism to engage in times of danger. With a person who has PTSD, that mechanism is damaged and the person feels this even when they are not in danger. Symptoms can be categorized into four different areas – re-experiencing symptoms (flashbacks, bad dreams, frightening thoughts) , avoiding situations that remind the person of the event, negative changes in beliefs and feelings (may be fear, guilt, shame or losing interest in those activities that once were enjoyable) and hypervigilence (always feeling keyed up, trouble concentrating or sleeping). There are also feelings of hopelessness, despair, depression or anxiety, alcohol or substance abuse, physical symptoms or chronic pain and problems with employment and relationships.

The symptoms of PTSD, while generally not life threatening, can be very distressing and have serious effects on a person’s health and well-being. There are three classes of symptoms related to PTSD, re-experiencing symptoms, avoidance symptoms, and hyperarousal symptoms. The re-experiencing symptoms are generally flashbacks, bad dreams and frightening thoughts. These symptoms are produced from the persons own thoughts and can be triggered by anything reminding them of the experience. The second classification of symptoms are called the avoidance symptoms and they include staying away from places and other objects that remind the person of the experience, as well as feeling strong guilt, depression, worry, emotional numbness, and a loss of interest in the world around you. The final classification, hyperarousal symptoms, includes being easily startled, feeling tense, having angry outbursts, and insomnia. These symptoms are

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental condition caused by a terrifying event. Usually seen in war veterans, this disorder can change anyone’s life forever. An individual will show generally four types of symptoms: intrusive memories, avoidance, negative changes in thinking and mood, or changes in emotional reactions. Intrusive memories consist of unwanted memories of the traumatic event such as flashbacks. Avoidance symptoms may include trying not thinking about the traumatic event. Negative changes in thinking and mood symptoms may include negative feelings about one’s self, lack of interests in activities one used to enjoy, and difficulty maintaining close relationships. Changes in emotional reaction symptoms may include angry

The symptoms of PTSD are sometimes known only to the victim themselves, nonetheless wreck havoc on the person and his life. A myriad of symptoms are exhibited by victims of PTSD, with most barring the victim from their normal lives. The Clinician's Guide to Medication for PTSD states that there are four primary symptoms: intrusion (examples include nightmares, unwanted thoughts of traumatic events, and flashbacks), avoidance of things that include triggers of the traumatic event (such as places, people, and conversations), negative alterations in cognitions and mood (examples include distorted blame of self or others for the traumatic event, negative beliefs about oneself or the world), and alterations in arousal and reactivity (examples include angry, reckless, or self destructive behavior) (Jefferys). These symptoms can be identified early; however, often these behaviors chalked up to nothing more than anger management issues. The symptoms of PTSD are sometimes ignored; however, once recognized and treated, these symptoms often fade, which is why early diagnosis is so pertinent.

Some experiences, like the sudden, unexpected death of a loved one, can also cause PTSD. Symptoms usually begin early, within 3 months of the traumatic incident, but sometimes they begin years afterward. To be diagnosed with PTSD, a person must have at least one reexperiencing symptom, one avoidance symptom, two arousal and reactivity symptoms, or two cognition and mood symptoms. A few examples of re-experiencing symptoms would include flashbacks, bad dreams, and frightening thoughts. These symptoms can start from the person’s own thoughts and feelings and may cause problems in a person’s everyday routine. Signs of avoidance symptoms could be staying away from places, events, or objects that are reminders of the experience, and avoiding thoughts or feelings related to the traumatic event. For example, if someone were to witness or be involved in the event of a robbery, they might try to stay away from that store because they don’t want to have to be reminded of the memory. Arousal and reactivity symptoms include being easily startled, feeling tense or “on edge,” having difficulty sleeping, and having angry outbursts. These symptoms will constantly remind the person of the event, and may make it hard for them to sleep, eat, or concentrate during their daily life. Cognition and mood symptoms can make the person feel alienated or detached from friends or family members. They can cause people to lose interest in

Francis demonstrates he is not a hero through his words, thoughts, and actions in the book, Heroes by Robert Cormier.

Posttraumatic stress disorder is no longer just associated with veterans of war, but it has seen an increase in cases where women have been raped or sexually abused, or in children who have witnessed or been the victims of violence. The mental health care provider may use animal therapy as a supplement to medications and therapy, or may use it on its own. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that is triggered by a traumatic event. The person suffering from PTSD may have experienced this firsthand or have witnessed it. Symptoms include reliving the event, avoiding situations that remind you of the event, negative changes in beliefs and feelings, and hyperarousal. Reliving the event includes having bad memories, nightmares, and flashbacks. The trauma the person with PTSD experienced might cause them change the way they view themselves and others. Hyperarousal is the tendency to be on the lookout for danger or the constant feeling of jitters.

Posttraumatic stress disorder also most known at PTSD is what someone goes through after being in combat, assault, or disaster1. After the trauma someone people may have stress however, if it has been a long period of time that person may have PTSD. It is important to see a doctor if you feel you may be suffering from PTSD. Symptoms of Posttraumatic stress disorder could be distressed memories of the experience, increased jumpiness, or even troubled sleeping. There has been research that could help cease the symptoms of PTSD. There are ways to avoid re-experiencing symptoms such as, not visiting the places, events, or objects that would remind you of the experience, and feeling of strong guilt or depression. There is another symptom called

memories. Individuals who possess PTSD may also be jittery at times, have feelings of numbness, be over-aware of potential dangerous situations, become angry or irritable suddenly, suffer from sleepless nights, and have lack of concentration. Aside from the symptoms, triggers can often occur. Those triggers include: specific noises, smells, or reports of similar events on the news or other media.

The symptoms of PTSD vary greatly, they may present as involuntary recurrent fear-based memories, dreams, or flashbacks of the traumatic event that are intrusive and disturbing (DSM-5, 2013). Or PTSD might present as withdrawal from normal activities as a measure to avoid distressed memories or social reminders of the event. Post-traumatic stress may even display selective memory, or distorted cognitions of the traumatic event. Some PTSD patients present to be extreme pessimists, having negative beliefs about themselves and the world around them. They may have persistent negative emotions or have frequent anger outbursts. The patient may lose interests in activities they once enjoyed. Some experience

Posttraumatic stress disorder develops because of traumatizing events that threaten the safety of an individual making him/her feel helpless. Often, people relate PTSD with soldiers in the battlefields and combats from the military. However, any overwhelming live occurrence is expected to trigger PTSD. This occurs in case the event was uncontrollable and unpredictable. Posttraumatic stress disorder has the possibility to affect individuals who have experienced a catastrophe, the witnesses and those who help in the recovery operations such as the law enforcers and emergency employees. In addition, it can take place in the family and friends members of the person who experienced the actual trauma. PTSD has a different way of developing depending on each person. While its symptoms are likely to develop after some days or hours of the traumatizing event, sometimes it takes years, months or even weeks before they appear. Sometimes, these symptoms can emerge suddenly, gradually, or over time. Anything that reminds an individual of the original traumatic event is likely to trigger the symptoms. This includes smell, certain words

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is requires the presence of events that are objectively (to the one experiencing) as “traumatic” (Ford, 2015). For individuals experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, there are often two forms of symptoms, physical and emotional. Physical symptoms could include avoiding going to places that trigger memories of the traumatic experience, or exhaustion to due to the inability to sleep or night terrors. Emotional symptoms of the PTSD include negative alterations in emotion and an inability to manage impulses or anger (Ford, 2015).

Post-Traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common mental health condition developed after a server emotion or physical trauma. The effects of PTSD include nightmares, flashbacks, feelings of detachment, depression, and anxiety. Symptoms are broken into three categories. The first are re-experiencing symptoms, they can include reliving the traumatic event, through flashbacks, and nightmares. The second type are avoidance and numbing symptoms. Avoidance of things and places that remind one of the event, detachment emotionally from loved ones and bouts of depression. Finally there are arousal symptoms such as being constantly on guard, outburst of anger and irritability. Due to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past 15 years, PTSD has become a common mental health issue in the United States with an estimated 3 million people in the US affected at any given time. PTSD has caused suffering world-wide, those afflicted are soldiers, civilians in

Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was seen as a condition where people are shocked into fear of facing situations. Over the years, it was labeled as “Soldier’s Heart” in the post Civil war era and “Shell Shock” in the World War I. In a situation of ‘fight-or-flight’ an individual is triggered to escape from danger, however in PTSD this reaction is reversed in which case the individual feels a constant threat of danger even when there is no danger present.The person diagnosed with PTSD can be anyone from a child to an adult. Many causes of this disorder include traumatic events, knowing someone who is in danger, genetic factors, and more. Symptoms include