Rogue one Jyn Erso Psychoanalysis

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Persistent and negative beliefs are part of Criterion D, which is displayed through Jyn with her inability to trust people without them proving she can. Criterion D also includes feelings of detachment and estrangement from others, as well as a persistent negative emotional state and diminished interest in significant activities. Jyn does not show much positive emotion and lacks attachment toward others, including Saw Gerrera. She also shows no interest in joining the Rebellion even though it is for a good cause and can help millions in the galaxy.

Criterion E for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder includes irritable behavior and angry outbursts, reckless or self-destructive behavior, exaggerated startle response, and sleep disturbance. Jyn shows signs of all of these throughout the film. She is very irritable and has an angry outburst toward Cassian after the traumatic event of losing her father after not seeing him for fifteen years. She is very reckless during the battle on Jedha between the Stormtroopers and Saw’s rebels, and she even goes in the middle of the fire to save a child. Her exaggerated startle response and sleep disturbance are both shown after she has a flashback when she is on Wobani – she awakens, startled, from a traumatic dream in which she remembers hiding in the cave awaiting Saw Gerrera’s rescue.

People with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder find many ways to cope with their feelings, but Jyn is unable to do so because she has so much to worry about throughout her life; she has to struggle to survive on her own after Saw Gerrera abandons her. Instead of coping with her feelings, she holds them inside, even until her death. The little bit of closure she gets with her feelings regarding her trauma occurs when she is watching her father’s holographic message, and even then she barely cries. From holding everything in for so long, Jyn becomes irritable, untrusting, volatile, impulsive, and very defiant and careless toward the cause of the Rebellion.

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References

Abrams, J. Cole. “Pop Psych: ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ and the Paradox of Embodied Healing”. Observer. December 23, 2016.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-5. 5th ed. Arlington: American Psychiatric Association, 2013. 372-78.

“Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder”. National Institute of Mental Health. 2017.