Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - Tolkien and his Characters

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

There is no quotable proof of it, but I have wondered if "the Black Breath" that struck down so many who had fought the Enemy in LotR was symbolic of "shell shock" or "battle fatigue" in the old parlance, PTSD in today's terminology. It is presented in the "magical" context of Tolkien's subcreation, but some of its defining symptoms -- tremendous despair, physical and mental exhaustion, disturbed dreams or even delerium following an intensely traumatic event or series of events -- are quite similar to some of symptoms of PTSD. Would that real PTSD were as easily dismissible as breathing athelas steam and having a gifted healer call the victim back from the brink!

I must think about this before I comment more fully. It's a very personal subject for me, and I want to be sure I'm considering it with a clear mind and not just responding with long-ingrained knee-jerk reactions.

But an interesting matter to ponder.