PTSD Sirius (Was Sociopathic Sirius? (and Paranoid Snape?))

[marinafrants]

No: HPFGUIDX 47330

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Judy" <judyshapiro at d...> wrote:
> As Penny mentioned, I don't subscribe to the theory that Sirius'
> behavior in PoA can be explained by PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress
> Disorder.)  Symptoms of PTSD usually don't appear until *after* the
> trauma is over.  During the crisis, the person's mind is focused on
> survival, and the person often thinks, "If only I could get out of
> this situation, things would be all right."  It's not until after 
the
> crisis has passed that the full impact hits and the person realizes
> that life will never be the same. In PoA, Sirius is on the run,
> everyone thinks he's a murderer, he's half-starved, the dementors 
are
> on his trail.  He's still in crisis mode; it's too early for 
PTSD.  If
> he was going to show signs of PTSD, I'd expect them to show up in
> GoF.  

Ah, but I don't think Azkaban is the traumatizing event for Sirius.  
I think the traumatizing event is his discovery of James and Lily's 
deaths and Peter's betrayal.  (This theory didn't originate with me, 
I believe Monica came up with first, but it made sense to me when I 
read it.)  Azkaban exacerbated the symptoms and prevented all hope 
of recovery for as long as Sirius was in there.  

One of the classic symptoms of PTSD is fixation on the trauma:

"Long after the danger is past, traumatized people relive the event 
as if it were continually recurring in the present... The traumatic 
moment becomes encoded in an abnormal form of memory, which breaks 
spontaneously into consciousness, both as flashbacks during waking 
states and as traumatic nightmares during sleep."*

Sound a lot like what the Dementors do to you, doesn't it?  In 
effect, Sirius spent twelve years trapped in a continuous post-
traumatic flashback.

One of the things that struck me on rereadings of PoA is the sense 
of urgency and that seemed to be driving Sirius' actions.  From the 
moment he sees that photo in the Daily Prophet and realizes that 
Wormtail is at Hogwarts, he's convinced that Harry is in immediate 
danger, and that he (Sirius) must go out and save him *now*, right 
now, not a moment to lose.  It motivates him to escape.  It makes 
him so desperate to get to Peter that he loses it whenever anyone 
gets in his way.  Yet when you think about it rationally, what's the 
hurry?  Wormtail has been a rat for twelve years and made no attempt 
to harm Harry.  Voldemort, as far as Sirius knows, has not been 
heard of in all this time.  Yet Sirius is sure that danger is at 
hand.  Why?  Because he's not reacting as if twelve years have 
passed.  He's still reacting as if the betrayal and the murders have 
just happened and Harry is the immediate next target.


> 
> I don't believe that a few months in the tropics could undo the 
damage
> caused by 12 years of hell.  Saying that Sirius has recovered by 
GoF
> implies that people can recover quickly from years of trauma, and I
> don't think that's true. 

I don't think for a moment that Sirius has made a complete 
recovery.  He has recovered enough that he's no longer showing 
symptoms at all times.  He can pull himself together and act normal 
for Harry's benefit during the short time that they interact in 
GoF.  But even then Harry occasionally notices the "haunted" look 
returning to his eyes, and connects it to the way Sirius had looked 
after Azkaban.  We only see Sirius a few times during GoF; we don't 
know what his mental state is like during the entire year.  Whatever 
problems he may still be experiencing, he'd make an effort to hide 
them from Harry.

> Here's a question that I've been meaning to ask Sirius' (many) 
fans.
> Did you like him in PoA?  Or, did you not start to like him until 
you
> read GoF?  I'm wondering if people like him *because* of his 
actions
> in PoA, or *despite* his actions in PoA. 

I liked from the time we learned his true story in PoA.  I was 
apalled by the injustice that was done to him, and I was impressed 
by the mental strength he showed in surviving Azkaban and by the 
depth of his concern for Harry.  Even my disapproval of the Prank 
was not enough to counteract that.

Marina
rusalka at ix.netcom.com