Does ‘Stranger Things’ get PTSD right?
Unhappy anniversary. So it goes for youngWill Byers in the latest installment of the hit Netflix series, “Stranger Things 2.”
As days tick down to the date Will, played by Noah Schnapp, went missing a year earlier, he experiences unsettling episodes.
Blame the “anniversary effect,” according toWill’s shrink, played by Paul Reiser. “We see this with soldiers,” the doc says. “The anniversary of the event bringsbacktraumaticmemories, sort of opens up the neurological floodgates, so to speak.”
Really? Yes, actually. While the doctor seems a little shady, his diagnosis is legitimate.
The National Center for PTSD notes that “on the anniversary of traumatic events, some people may find that they experience an increase in distressing memories of the event. These memories may be triggered by reminders, but memories may also seem to come from out of the bluewhile atwork, home, or doing recreational activities.”
Andthe effects canrange from mild to extreme.
In one study of OperationsDesert Storm andDesert Shield veterans, as noted by Refinery29, researchers found that 38 percent of subjects reported that their worstmonthcoincidedwith the month in which their trauma occurred.
There is a bit of a silver lining. “Most people will feel better within a week or two after the anniversary,” the Center notes. Is that the case for Will? No spoilers!