In my ASTU class at the University of British Columbia, we began second term by examining the critically acclaimed book entitled, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. This is a fictional novel written by Jonathan Foer that follows a young boy named Oskar Schell through his journey of dealing with his father’s traumatic death in the incident of 9/11. Oskar is a quirky boy and though it is not frankly stated, he encompasses many of the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Oskar, like many other people that experience PTSD, has problems sleeping and avoids things that remind him of the traumatic event—public transit, elevators, and tall buildings. He becomes panicky when faced with these things as well as having an increased irritability towards his mother, who he fails to see is suffering just as much as him.
I come from a family where my parents both worked in mental health professions, so reading a novel where the main character hints at having a mental illness intrigued me. I began researching PTSD relating to the September 11th attacks and found a New York Times article entitled, “10 Years and a Diagnosis Later, 9/11 Demons Haunt Thousands” which brings attention to the mass disastrous mental health effects of 9/11.
This article touches on several stories of people suffering from PTSD caused by 9/11. Shockingly enough, “the city’s health department has estimated that 61,000 of the 409,000 in the disaster area experienced ‘probable’ PTSD within six years of 9/11” (Hartocollis). In addition to that appalling amount of people, the article also states how each anniversary of September 11th there is an increase in patients needing treatment for PTSD. Because of this event, Congress passed a Health and Compensation Act called the Zadroga Act, which provided $4.3 billion to treat people with 9/11 related illnesses.
One of the tortured tales in this article had me captivated. Earl Holland, a 48-year-old paramedic supervisor who responded promptly to the disaster after the towers collapsed has a very haunting story and severe PTSD. He is still unable to visit the memorial and has kept the list of the missing. For him, the Zadroga Act covers his therapy costs, but for many others treatment is not as easy. Though this act provided billions of dollars to treat the survivors of September 11th, no money is used to help the family members and bystanders who had been seriously damaged from the disturbing event. “Ultimately, federal financing for PTSD treatment was limited to firefighters, police officers, employees of the New York City medical examiner’s office who handled body parts, and other rescue, recovery, cleanup and support workers at ground zero” (Hartocollis). The terrorist attack of September 11th is only one of the many examples in which those whom are burdened by mental illness are not being cared for, as they need to be.
One of the victim testimonies in this article states that the reason “the trauma had been so hard to shake was that it ripped at the most ordinary fabric of daily life” (Hartocollis). This made me think about the seemingly strange mannerisms and habits Oskar adopts after his fathers death, such as; shaking the tambourine everywhere he goes, becoming obsessive over inventions and him referring to himself as having “heavy boots” when feeling sadness and or guilt. Oskar is trying to cope with his now shattered life. Though Oskar and some of his family members show signs of mental illness caused by the event, they would be one of the families that would not receive money for treatment. This book not only shows us the lack of aid people with mental disorders face but also how common dealing with a mental illness can be. It’s not about being crazy, or US vs. THEM (mentally ill vs. stable), it is about normal human beings dealing with the roller coaster ride of life in different and unique ways.
Works Cited
Hartocollis, Anemona. “10 Years and a Diagnosis Later, 9/11 Demons Haunt Thousands.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 9 Aug. 2011. Web. 13 Jan. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/10/nyregion/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-from-911still-haunts.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0>.