Addiction And PTSD In Robert Stone's 'Helping'

In the story “Helping” by Robert Stone, addiction and PTSD are explored using flashbacks. The main character Charles Elliot, nicknamed Chas, is a Vietnam War veteran who now works as a therapist for the government. One particular patient, Blankenship, abuses the system and has created a fictitious past in his mind that he believes is reality. Blankenship has a strong impact on Chas, as he claims to have been in the Vietnam War when he was never deployed there. Therapy with Blankenship seems to trigger flashbacks to Vietnam for Chas. This element of the human condition, past experiences effecting current ones, is one that this story explores very well. One particular instance of flashbacks is a little more than halfway through the story, after Chas has fallen off …show more content…
This leads to addictive and destructive behavior on his part, as he never deals with his PTSD in the proper manner. By never dealing with his past, it continues to affect his current life. Chas is destined to move on in his life because time waits for no one, but without ever dealing with his past he will always come back to the same dark place: afraid, armed, angry, and waiting. This story has two main takeaways from it. The first is PTSD awareness, as the main character’s struggles mostly stem from his inability to properly handle his own mental disorder, making us aware of the vicious cycle that PTSD can be and how it can affect our minds. The second is a warning to the readers: if you do not properly deal with your past, it will follow you and affect you for the rest of your life. We are to learn from Chas and not allow our past to determine our future. We should be proactive about our lives and allow ourselves to process our emotions as we would someone that we were helping. We tend to be our own worst enemies as we are out own worst critic. Ask yourself, is your past controlling your present and