People who still complain that “Thunderbolts ruined Bucky's development because he looked happier at the end of TFATWS” need to understand something:
There is something called “smiling depression,” so Bucky pretending to be okay—as he has done since:
He didn't say he was drafted by the army and didn't enlist voluntarily.
Like he did when he didn't tell Steve anything about the months of torture and experimentation at the hands of Zola, already leaving him with severe PTSD, and ignoring this to accompany his soul brother back to war.
Like he pretended to have no problem joining Steve to fight the threat of Zemo and the other WS, having to return to the same place where he was held captive for decades.
Like when he pretended to have no problem returning to the cryostasis chamber that would inevitably reactivate his trauma.
Like when he pretended to be okay with returning to the battlefield against Thanos when all he wanted was peace.
Like when he called himself “a semi-stable 100-year-old man” trying to downplay his condition.
Like when he pretended not to have any problems resorting to the help of his former abuser (Zemo), or to express how pretending to be the Winter Soldier again must have reactivated his indescribable trauma, or to call Sam out on each of his abhorrent and unjustifiable taunts about his trauma and condition.
And just as he tried to downplay, once again, his reactivated trauma when he had to go through his Shame Room inside the Void—
PRETENDING OR ACTING LIKE YOU ARE FUNCTIONING AND HAVE NO PROBLEMS IS NOT, AND NEVER HAS BEEN, SYNONYMOUS WITH ACTUALLY BEING OKAY.
Ironically, the description of “smiling depression” according to the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) is: "Their façade is put together and accomplished." And isn't this the best description of what Bucky has done from the beginning?
BUCKY HAS NOT BEEN OKAY SINCE HE WAS CAPTURED AND EXPERIMENTED ON BY HYDRA FOR THE FIRST TIME. He literally had PTSD after being rescued by Steve, and it's not just visible in his personality change (Steve, how could you not notice that your BFF was not okay just by seeing him so quiet and drinking alone in a corner of the bar?).
The Smithsonian panel states that he suffered long periods of isolation, deprivation, and torture, and his file in The Wakanda Files corroborates this. Talking about this trauma alone is already too complicated, as POW PTSD is more severe than that of the average war veteran who did not become a POW, and we are not only talking about the level of severity but also its duration. Several psychological studies around the years 1970-1978 show that 70-78% of POWs who were captive for just a few months meet the criteria for a lifetime diagnosis of PTSD.
Additionally, a detainee is exposed to various forms of abuse and torture, causing a sense of fear of imminent death, whereby the abuser decides whether to keep the detainee alive. Captivity creates a dominant feeling of fear and loss of all autonomy, often leading, especially in the case of long-term captivity, to a loss of the will to live and a desire to end it. As a result, captivity is considered one of the most difficult human experiences.
Studies have shown that avoiding memories of traumatic experiences, especially those that were extremely difficult or involved humiliation and extreme torture, is one of the most prominent symptoms in heavily traumatized veterans, which hinders their recovery. Based on research results, these avoidance symptoms are primarily due to a strong sense of shame about the experiences and humiliation endured. On the other hand, strong feelings of shame are associated with the development of depression, suicidal urges, and psychotic symptoms.
Research also deals with the feeling of not belonging, and loneliness among war veterans, which is even more pronounced among veterans who have experienced captivity compared to those who have combat experience but were not in captivity.
So, the way Bucky avoided talking about his time as a POW (both when he was first captured and even more so after 70 years of complete and total loss of both agency and identity) is really and absolutely in line with a real-life reaction of what a prisoner of war would have done. And the thing is, the psychopathology (such as PTSD, anxiety, depression, and potential risk of suicide) of the vast majority of POWs is *lifelong.*
And I mean, we're talking *solely* and exclusively about the psychopathology that Bucky would suffer just from being imprisoned and subjected to the “basic” torture of isolation, starvation, thirst, and physical and psychological abuse. This alone would have *lifelong* negative effects that would only WORSEN over the years.
We haven't EVEN gotten to the part about the painful ECTs that literally robbed him of his memory, emotions, and identity, and the effects that the high voltage and amperage of these electric shocks left behind, such as the very likely cell death.
As all the symptoms of brain damage caused by electric currents such as headache, dizziness, confusion, memory loss, cognitive impairment, changes in behavior, and seizures are those we have already seen in Bucky after every ECT...
We are NOT EVEN talking about the reference to the way in which psychotropic drugs were used (which were most likely benzodiazepines, which when mixed with alcohol also have the side effect of retrograde amnesia and induce a comatose state that would make it easier for Hydra to prepare him for cryo-freeze) to affect his judgment and cognition and caused brain damage and cell death on their own as well...
We are NOT EVEN talking about the mind control that robbed him of his agency and autonomy, which is nothing short of ultra-traumatic for a POW who already had PTSD stemming from a lack of control over himself.
And on top of all this, add the self-loathing and guilt that lead him to believe it is his obligation to make amends for the damage his captors and abusers caused.
And yes, we are NOT EVEN considering here the very likely survivor's guilt he suffers, or the fact that he is now condemned to live in a world and a time that is NOT his own, or the way in which he literally has no family or support network.
Oh and yes, we are NOT considering here the grief of losing the most important person in his life, who in reality abandoned him. Grief that in itself causes identity crises that only worsen the already severe derealization/depersonalization disorder that Bucky already suffered from.
Guys, BUCKY HAS VIRTUALLY EVERY MENTAL ILLNESS DERIVED FROM BRAIN DAMAGE AND EXPOSURE TO SEVERE TRAUMA OVER DECADES. So if you have time to suffer, this is what I'm talking about. Damage in the amygdala. the prefrontal cortex, the frontal lobe and the hippocampus as well:
Difficulty identifying familiar landmarks
Planning and organization
Difficulty planning or sticking to a schedule
Difficulty initiating, continuing, and finishing activities
Problems establishing realistic goals
Short-term memory loss or amnesia
Difficulty remembering things.
Poor decision-making skills
Inflexibility and stubbornness
Difficulty controlling emotions
Reduced sense of taste or smell
Trouble with communication
Damage to the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) can cause deficits in spatial attention, inhibitory control, and language.
Long-term symptoms of frontal lobe damage include: personality changes, difficulty with planning and changes in behavior.
Personality changes: Reduced empathy, loss of spontaneity, irritability, reduced tolerance for frustration, and depression.
Difficulty with planning: difficulty organizing tasks, difficulty meeting goals, difficulty switching attention between tasks, and difficulty solving problems.
Changes in behavior: Impulsive or risky behavior, increased or decreased sexual interest or activity, peculiar sexual habits, inappropriate comments or physical responses, and withdrawal from activities they used to enjoy.
Poor judgment and decision-making
Difficulty with attention and taking in information
Reduced sense of taste or smell
Weakness on one side of the body or face
Difficulty controlling impulses
Certain forms of amnesia (memory loss)
Long-term symptoms of hippocampal damage include: memory loss, mood changes and difficulty with decision-making.
Memory problems: Difficulty forming new memories, difficulty retrieving old memories, forgetting where you put things, forgetting the answer to a question, and getting lost in familiar places.
Mood changes: depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.
Difficulty with decision-making: Making poor decisions, asking the same questions repeatedly, difficulty following directions, and not taking care of oneself.
Other symptoms: Difficulty holding a conversation, seizures, spatial disorientation, losing or misplacing items often, and difficulty carrying on conversations.
Hippocampal damage can be linked to disorders like anterograde and retrograde amnesia.
In addition to the damage to his limbic system that was compromised by both the ETCs and the very possible administration of psychotropic drugs into his system, which involves:
Mood changes: Such as irritability, anger, fear, sadness, or depression
Memory loss: Including difficulty remembering recent events or learning new information
Sleep disturbances: Such as insomnia or disrupted sleep patterns
Behavioral changes: Such as aggression or anxiety.
Difficulty with social interactions: Such as social withdrawal
Mental health disorders: Such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Imbalance of bodily systems: Such as stress reactions or difficulty handling stress
And this would only be the side effects of brain damage.... While other effects of C-PTSD in addition to those already mentioned are:
Feeling helpless, guilty, or ashamed
Difficulty controlling emotions
Feeling hopeless or empty
Feeling like you are different from other people
Feeling like nobody understands what happened to you
Relationship problems: Avoiding friendships and relationships, finding relationships very difficult, developing unhealthy relationships, and Difficulty trusting other people.
Other symptoms: Self-harm and suicidal thoughts, dissociation, poor or fragmented recall of one's own history, seeking treatment of perceived illnesses during moments of distress, and compulsive or inhibited sexual behaviors.
And after all this, could anyone seriously buy the stupid excuse of a story where Bucky is magically healed by “taking responsibility for his actions,” “doing the work,” and “putting himself at the service of others,” let alone by attending a cookout (to which he wasn't even invited, because otherwise he wouldn't have had to go back for a store-bought cake) with Saint Samuel, who is NOT a victim of mind control or abuse himself, so it's unethical of him to want to offer advice to a poor victim who literally had to endure the worst and most traumatic experiences that any living being could even imagine???
DAMN IT, THAT'S NOT HOW TRAUMA WORKS!
Because the worst part is that even with real, healthy therapy and the help of a real support network, there's NO realistic way Bucky could recover from PTSD related exclusively to being a POW for 70 years... much less from everything else he's suffering from...
Bucky needed help from *this* moment on, and no one, not even Steve, realized it.
But the worst and most heartbreaking part of all this is not that the deterioration in Bucky's personality and emotions from CA:TFA to Thunderbolts is consistent with how trauma works, BUT that it is precisely because it is consistent and accurate with how trauma works that Bucky's condition will only get WORSE and WORSE over time...
