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Amy Giblin
Personality Theory Extra Credit
1. In American Sniper, I think that there were several instances in which Chris Kyle conveyed the
horrific effects of post-traumatic stress disorder. I think that the way Chris Kyle’s PTSD
manifested is rather indicative of what most soldiers with PTSD go through. The first attribute of
PTSD that I noticed in Kyle was his constant and vivid memories. The war caused Kyle to
become hypersensitive to his surroundings and for his instincts to be heightened. One scene in
which this attribute was portrayed was the family barbeque scene. Kyle and his wife Taya are
having a conversation, but it’s more of a one-sided conversation since Kyle thoughts are
preoccupied with his surroundings, since that is what his mind is trained to do. He is constantly
scanning his surroundings as if he is on a battlefield or as if he is still a sniper trying to protect
his comrades on the ground units. At the barbeque, he watches as his son plays with the family
dog on the grass. Taya is continuing to speak to an absent-minded Kyle because in Kyle’s head,
he is in military mode. The dog playfully jumps on his sons back, which causes the child to fall
to the ground. While everyone else at the barbeque sees an innocent dog playing, Kyle sees it as
an animal attacking his son. Kyle rushes over, and aggressively throws the animal to the ground
and winds up with the intentions of hitting it. His actions are only halted by his wife screams,
which finally snap him out of the trance that he was in. This is an accurate depiction of what life
with PTSD is like because it shows Kyle’s inability to see things for what they really are.
Another feature that particularly stood out to me was how Kyle was constantly on edge. Certain
noises, like a lawn mower, cares driving on the highway, and drilling noises in an auto shop,
cause Kyle to have what seem to be flashbacks of the war. Another symptom of PTSD that Kyle
