Sirius and PTSD (A different view)

[Audra1976 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 47403

I would like those who suggest that Sirius may be suffering from PTSD to consider that the psychological and physical effects of *solitary confinement* are very similar to the symptoms of PTSD.  

I propose that Sirius was suffering from the effects sensory deprivation and solitary confinement from his time in Azkaban.  I think it may also be relevant that some of the first psychiatric observations of the effects of solitary confinement were done (I believe by Harvard School of Medicine) in Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, and many people are fairly certain that Azkaban is meant to sound like Alcatraz. 

Some possible effects of sensory deprivaton and solitary confinement (which I will refer to now as SD and SC for brevity's sake) that mimic PTSD are: vivid fantasies, hyper-responsivity to external stimuli, free-floating anxiety, and extreme motor restlessness.  Other possible effects of SD and SC include doubt of oneself and troubles in determining what is real, problems with controlling impulses (sometimes with random violence), and emergence of primitive aggressive fantasies.  

I believe these effects can be used to explain the behaviors that people may find irreconcilable with Sirius's character.  For example, 
judyshapio at directtvinternet.com writes
<<> I'm not surprised that people differ in their reading of Sirius. After all, he is a very sympathetic character in some ways - he's suffered tremendously, and he takes great risks for Harry.  But, he's also very unsympathetic in some ways. Even leaving aside the Prank, he chokes Harry in the Shack, he breaks Ron's leg, he slashes the Fat Lady for no apparent reason, and he's eagerly hunting down Peter, planning to fill him in cold blood.   So, people are trying to find a way to reconcile these disparate aspects of his personality.   I frankly think that's pointless.  JKR often does wonderful characterizations, but she just didn't portray Sirius consistently.>>

Me again:

Alright, I'll take up for Jo Rowling *and* for Sirius Black now (can I expect some red robes to be delivered to me after this?) by using my hypothesis.

1.) Murderous intentions toward Peter -- this could be covered by the effect of primitive aggressive fantasies emerging, which are often of revenge toward the persons the prisoner perceives as responsible for their incarceraton; *or*  this also could be considered a "crime of passion"--Peter was responsible for the death of two of Sirius's best friends, as well as framing him, and remember Lupin, a patient and kind character, was preparing to kill Peter as well.

2.) Breaking Ron's leg -- Sirius had no evil intentions toward Ron.  The aggressive impulse was directed toward Peter. Unluckily for him, Ron just happened to be in between Sirius and Peter.  Sirius may have been overly aggressive, but that can be explained by the effects of hyper-reactivity and reduction of impulse control,*or* the extreme action may simply have been Sirius's normal reaction to protect Harry from Peter, whom he believed would betray Harry to Voldemort just as he did James and Lily (Sirius may have believed this to be his last chance at Peter with the search for Sirius intensifying).

3.) Slashing the portrait -- This was an aggressive reaction, but I would like to point out that the portrait was only an object, and I consider it to be the equivalent of breaking down a door.  He was trying to get to Peter, to defend his godson, whom he believed was in mortal danger from Peter, which is a very apparent reason.

4.) Choking Harry in the Shrieking Shack -- this may be the most difficult behavior to defend, but I believe it is explainable. I don't have my book handy, but I believe Harry had thrown himself at Sirius, punching and kicking, and yelling about Sirius killing his parents.  I believe Sirius's reaction was to defend himself, and if he was hyper-reactive due to the effects of SD and SC then he may have reacted without realizing what he was doing.  If I remember correctly, Sirius talked himself down, saying , "No, I've waited too long," or something to that effect. I also believe that Harry was capable, at that point, of knocking Sirius unconscious, and if that happened then Sirius wold be turned over to the Dementors without ever having told his story, or stopping Peter.  He needed to restrain Harry.

Before I close, I want to prematurely defend my position to those who will say that Sirius lived in a cave after escaping, which was solitary confinement as well, yet he did not show all these negative symptoms during that time.  The studies on SD and SC show that there is another factor in the effects--the prisoner's *perceived intent* for being held in confinement.  If the prisoner perceived he was being confined in a threatening situation, then he was more likely to develop adverse effects. On the other hand, if the prisoner perceived he was confined for a good reason, then he was far more likely to tolerate the circumstances.

Sirius showed some of the effects after being confined in Azkabn because it was a threatening situation, and he was confined against his will, and unjustly.  Sirius relaized why he had to confine himself in the cave. He was there to help Harry, and he had considerable more freedom than he had in Azkaban. Finally, I would like to point out, to Sirius's credit, that individuals who are mature and mentally healthy have a greater ability to tolerate isolation conditions, and Sirius seemed to tolerate them extremely well for 12 years.

Audra