Tony Stark And PTSD

From being kidnapped to fighting off an alien invasion, Tony Stark has seen it all, but have these many adventures finally left their mark on him? In the newest instalment of the Iron Man franchise we are introduced to a new Tony. Gone is the confident egotistical billionaire we all love, replaced with a sleep deprived stressed-out workaholic. In the real world we would expect these many exploits to take their toll on an individual, but for this comic book turned movie, the introduction of the possibility of a psychological disorder took many fans by surprise. By the films halfway point there was one question lingering in the minds of many: “Does Tony Stark have PTSD?” For those unfamiliar, previously, Tony had been involved in a huge battle

Firstly, the subject has to have been exposed to a traumatic event such as exposure to death or serious injury. Tony’s life is one traumatic event after another, but the one particular event that apparently sent him over the edge was his near death experience while battling the invading aliens. This is evident as he frequently has nightmares about that event and cannot bring himself to discuss the matter without a panic attack. Next, the subject must be experiencing intrusive symptoms associated with the traumatic event. These of course are exemplified by his physiological reactions to cues associated with the trauma, that is to say, his debilitating panic attacks and reoccurring nightmares focused around the trauma. He expresses avoidance symptoms by refusing to sleep to avoid the nightmares, at times staying conscious for more than 72 hours at a time. His main avoidance symptom is his adamant refusal to discuss the events of New York. He also helps end his panic attacks by immediately escaping the distressing situations in his suit, or even on foot

Tony’s panic attacks in this film were extremely short, lasting usually less than one minute, while the DSM V states that an attack will reach a peak within minutes and last only a few minutes after the peak (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Another minor missing piece is Tony’s lack of hyper vigilance and responses to threats. He remains perfectly calm and collected at all times when he is not already having a panic attack, for example mid battle or while his house is being blown up with him still inside. His first reaction to the missile attack was to command his suit to protect Pepper instead of him. Even when trapped inside his suit with no oxygen on the bottom of the ocean he remains calm and collected until Jarvis can save him. These are all moments that should have induced a panic attack or some other sort of fear response, but did