Charlie Character Analysis in The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Charlie is a character played by Logan Lerman in the movie, Perks of Being a Wallflower. Charlie is about to begin his first year of high school and is afraid that he is going to be known as the weird kid who was hospitalized over the summer, asserting that he has no friends. Charlie was admitted to the hospital after the death of his best friend after committing suicide. Throughout his first day, he meets his English teacher, Mr. Anderson, who soon becomes Charlie’s mentor who always gives him different books to read. Nevertheless,  he meets a good teacher and mentor, but his old acquaintances start to act as if he does not even exist, forcing him to eat lunch by himself until he meets this girl Sam. Charlie met Sam at the football game and instantly felt an attraction towards one another. Once Charlie started to hang out with Sam and her friends, he was then introduced to alcohol and drugs. 

As a young boy, Charlie suffered from a traumatic experience, being sexually abused by his Aunt Helen. In this movie, I believe that Charlie suffers from PTSD. I believe this to be the case because when he was a young boy, his aunt was killed in a car accident. She was on her way to pick up Charlie to go take him to get a surprise. Consequently after her death, he feels that it was his fault that she got into the accident and leaves Charlie feeling abandoned. Charlie has recurrent flashbacks of his aunt when something in his life is upsetting. Charlie’s flashbacks tend to occur when he is with friends and doesn’t feel alone, when he was exiled from his friends was when his flashbacks would occur. He also suffers from blackouts where he has no memory of them happening. According to the DSM - 5, the criteria for PTSD include stressor, intrusion symptoms, avoidance, negative alterations in cognitions and mood, alterations in arousal and reactivity, duration, functional significance, and exclusion (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Charlie experienced intrusive symptoms associated with trauma such as a feeling of recurrence, recurrent memories, and physiological reactivity, which he had experienced as a child causing distressing memories of re-exposure and flashbacks, which he deals with consistently. He has also displayed avoidance by avoiding situations, which include memories, thoughts, and feelings, as well as external reminders where he had to discuss his traumatic experiences. These traumatic experiences affect Charlie's mood and cognitive functioning, such as an inability to remember specific aspects of his trauma and negative beliefs that he had something to do with his aunt’s death and the sense of detachment from others around and supporting him. His negative cognitions also cause a loss of positive emotions and self-concept causes and consequences. He also displays alterations in arousal and reactivity, such as his outbursts and startled response. Symptoms also include irritability, hypervigilance, and poor concentration. PTSD is a chronic and debilitating disorder that could be associated with substance use disorders. 

An additional diagnosis that I considered for Charlie was social anxiety. Social anxiety is defined as a person having significant anxiety and discomfort about being embarrassed, humiliated, or looked down on in social interactions. People with this disorder will try to avoid the situation or endure it with great anxiety (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Charlie grew up introverted and shielded, and fears the deduction of his peers. When Charlie first became high school, he had high levels of anxiety that his old friends from school would all make fun of him after hearing that he spent his summer in the hospital. This leads Charlie to have trouble navigating normal social interactions. There are potential causes and contributing factors that led Charlie to develop this disorder. The sexual abuse that Charlie experienced was the main cause of his trauma. Charlie’s flashbacks seem to leave out the most important detail of his aunt, that she sexually abused him. He feels a sense of guilt for her death, but in reality, he feels a sense of guilt for wanting her to die because of what she had done to him, making it that she could not harm him any longer. 

I believe that prolonged exposure to trauma may be effective for Charlie in treating his post-traumatic stress disorder. Prolonged exposure teaches individuals to gradually approach their trauma-related memories, feelings, and situations; they learn that trauma-related memories and cues are not dangerous and do not need to be avoided (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). It is completed by repeatedly recounting the events of their traumatic experiences. I believe this to be the best source of treatment for Charlie because prolonged exposure is highly effective in reducing trauma symptoms. Charlie tends to avoid anything that reminds him of his past, but doing prolonged exposure helps to reinforce his fears. By focusing on what Charlie avoids discussing, he can decrease his symptoms by actively learning. I believe that Charlie can benefit from this treatment drastically. 

At the end of the movie, Charlie had a mental breakdown and became paranoid, detaching himself from his friends and family. He then tries to commit suicide when he starts feeling guilty for the death of his Aunt Helen. However, he then realizes that it was his Aunt Helen, who was responsible for his pain. I do believe that Charlie has the potential to get better. The reason being is because he has finally realized that his Aunt Helen was the person causing all his pain and now that she is dead, he could thrive and succeed throughout his life.