Yes. They all have a serious serious cause of PTSD. I think anyone that survives a zombie apocalypse would have some fashion of PTSD. They cant take a vacation, they can't let their guard down, they have to sleep with one eye open, they couldn't shower for months. Rick couldn't shave. Carol is making casseroles now. Father Gabe is throwing stuff around like a lil girl, umm.. Glen and Maggie had no private space to get it on. Umm they watched Beth get shot point blank. Carl killed his own mother. Daryl killed his own brother. Michonne had her own baby daddy as a pet walker. I mean, oh the watched Hershel get his head chopped off by a sword. They have seen there friends get eaten, literally eaten alive. They have to kill dead people walking around. They themselves almost got eaten by alive people... I mean I cld do this all day, literally. Who wouldn't have ptsd?!

 

How can they not be suffering from PTSD. The trauma they have sustained in the last 6 weeks alone (from the fall of the prison to ASZ) is unimaginable let alone from the start of the apocalypse.

 

I don't know if it is "post." They have the relative safety of the walls, but they know walls can come down and they still live in the same world.

 

They should expected to display those symptoms. I usually hate flashbacks, but the brief Michonne flashes were a refreshing way to see Moses J. Moseley again.

 

Carol dropped the smirk because she wanted Pete to get the beat down.

 

Yes, for sure...that last scene felt like the famous scene from brothers where tobey mguire was suffering from PTSD

 

A State of Culture Shock

Even hot, soapy water can be overwhelming to body that's been out in the field so long.

 

What Rick is experiencing is when soldiers come home after prolonged battle exposure and they can't adjust to peaceful, civilian life. When he was looking around at everyone in the neighborhood acting normal, walking their dogs, he saw as abnormal, frightening behavior. He has a point about them never being safe but he's not protecting anyone by threatening to kill people and plotting to take over ASZ. Everyone in the group was exposed to the same traumas but people responses are going to be different. Also, Rick used to be in law enforcement so he might already have some trauma with that. And none of them are getting any therapy of any kind. They are all just expected to just get back into the swing of things. Like when Sasha was at that party I totally understood where she was coming from. I'd freak out to talking about f'n pasta makers after losing both my brother and boyfriend and watching people get eaten. What's worse, none of the people from ASZ understand what the group went through.

 

Yes, I think they all definitely have PTSD (understandably). It makes sense that they are all cracking now. While they were outside and trying to survive, they didn`t have the time and energy to pay any attention to their feelings and experiences. But now, when they are not fighting to stay alive 24/7 - those emotions are surfacing.

If Deanna is as wise as she claims, she should know and understand this.

I know from personal experience that I can function very well under acute stress and critical situations. And I`m able to push every emotion down pretty much .. but they all bubble up once the "storm" is over. Once everything gets back to normal it hits you like a tidal wave.

 

I've got chronic PTSD and I thought how they did michonnes interrupting thoughts and images (classic PTSD symtpom) was absolutely perfect. They are just like that, something will trigger them and they just pop up for a second one after the other. Flashbacks are different, that's when all or most of the incident plays and you feel like you're reliving it.

It's often when people feel safe that the symptoms get worse. At the time we are busy dealing with what's happened and when we are safe our brain gives it to us so we can deal with it

 

I think TPTB have done an excellent job showing how difficult it is for this group of survivors to readjust to civilian life, and they've covered multiple coping strategies. And I think it all comes down to one of two things - whether people are aware of how they are struggling, or not; and whether they go back to the wild or not.

Regarding the first, Sasha is very clearly suffering from something (probably PTSD - never having had it, thankfully, I can't say for sure) and she's not trying to get help. Then you have Rick, who thought that he was just keeping himself sharp in Alexandria, but really was just growing more and more paranoid. He didn't even seem to realize that he wasn't adjusting to this life.

On the other hand, Carol, Michonne, and Glenn are all aware of their struggles. Carol is not even attempting to return to normalcy. She puts on a charade, and then threatens to tie children to trees. She knows she can't go back to that life. Michonne is also aware that she's having issues; her flashbacks reveal that. But she's aware enough that she lets herself let off steam in the woods, then stops Rick from doing any further damage. She's not like Rick - she's not in denial about how difficult it will be to fit back in.

Regarding the second thing - going back to the wild - look at Abraham and Daryl. Both of them were having issues. Abraham was beginning to suffer from PTSD, and Daryl was just out of place and lost. So what do they do? They both go back to the wild. Abraham gave himself a goal that was pretty similar to what he had during and before the ZA, which is protecting people, and it appears that Daryl will be living more in the woods than in Alexandria at this point. They are coping by, essentially, not coping. Unlike Rick, they know they can't fit in Alexandria, so they find ways to make it work.

Glenn is, I think, the most well adjusted of all the main characters because he fits in both these categories - he knows how close they came to losing their humanity in the woods, and he can see the struggles everyone is facing trying to fit in because he has them too (his, though, are more external - he needs the Alexandrians to work like he does, and doesn't know how to make that happen). However, again, he is aware how much they need this place. Kind of like Michonne, he's trying to balance this knowledge. But like the second group, Glenn is going back into the wild during his runs. He hasn't fully given up that lifestyle.

The way to make this work is to do what Abraham, Daryl, and Glenn are doing, and go back out - then come home and be safe at night. Gradually, Abraham and Daryl will adapt to living within those walls. The rest of the group needs to let off steam like Michonne and Sasha do in the woods, to keep their edge like Carol wants to, and let their guards down just a little when they return to Alexandria. Basically, they all needs to be like Glenn

This turned into a really long, possibly rambling post. Oops.

 

The fact that they're all having some level of PTSD -- which I agree is completely understandable -- makes me wonder if Alexandria isn't simply too good for them. If you think about it, they were actually better off at the prison. By better off, I mean it was "safe" to a degree, but they were much more aware of the constant threat of walkers being able to push through fences or getting in through the collapsed wall at the back of the prison. They still had to go out and hunt for food (no freezer of chocolate bars to enjoy or pasta makers to worry about), they had to conserve everything. Being at the prison afforded them some level of civilization (they had group showers) but they still had to stay sharp and work at everything to keep it all together. And obviously, it wasn't safe enough in the end. I'm just saying that they would probably all benefit from a place somewhat less cushy than Alexandria. And in being in a place less cushy, they might process the PTSD a little better or come to grips with it somewhat less traumatically...?

 

100% agree that they have to be going through some type of PTSD. Always having to have your guard up and living out in a place where u can die at any time has to screw with your head. Transitioning back to a "normal" type lifestyle would really screw you up.