PTSD in The Disney Pixar Film Finding Nemo Essay Example

Have you ever been in an event where it has left you with fear or trauma? In “Finding Nemo” by Andrew Stanton, Marlin and his wife had kids and one day, a barracuda came across the eggs and ate the eggs and his wife. All of the eggs were eaten except for one, which was Nemo. After the incident, Marlin was left with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). His son Nemo, has some symptoms of anxiety. Their friend Dory suffers from short-term memory loss. These disorders have changed the lives of these fish because of the attack from the barracuda and having anxiety from the attack, not being able to learn new information, and being born with a disorder that you can’t control. 

There was a clownfish named Marlin who was attacked by a barracuda, killing his wife, and eating his eggs. There was one egg that survived which was Nemo. Nemo was born with a deformed flipper making it smaller than the normal size flipper. The deformed flipper made it hard for him to swim. Marlin warns him to be careful in the ocean and he doesn’t listen and he gets caught in a fishing net and he is taken to a dentist’s office in Sydney. While Marlin was off looking for Nemo, he met a new friend named Dory. She is a Blue Tang fish and she suffers from short-term memory loss. The two of them travel a long distance together and they encounter a lot of dangerous situations. They encounter sharks, angelfish, and jellyfish. They come across some turtles and the turtles help Marlin and Dory travel by letting them sit on their shells and traveling through water circuits. Marlin and Dory would have to get into a Pelican’s mouth so that they are able to get into the dentist’s office. Once all of the fish escape, they all go back to Marlin’s home. 

These disorders have changed the lives of these fish because of the attack from the barracuda. Marlin was with his wife one day when all of a sudden, a barracuda came to where they were and ate all of their eggs except for one. Which ended up being Nemo: “Marlin was deeply affected by an early loss: his wife, Coral, and many of their eggs were eaten by a barracuda, leaving Marlin to raise Nemo alone. Dory’s parents, we learn in “Finding Dory,” never gave up hope that their daughter would find her way home to them” (Rosenberg). When the barracuda attacked Marlin, he developed PTSD from it. PTSD happens when someone experiences a shocking or dangerous situation. Marlin developed PTSD because he was in a dangerous situation from that attack. He is also very overprotective with Nemo because he doesn’t want to lose him like he lost his other children and wife. This is not the only way the barracuda affected Marlin and his son. The barracuda caused trauma to Nemo’s egg which made his right fin to be smaller than a normal-sized fin. The attack also caused Nemo to have anxiety. “The barracuda attack on his family caused trauma to Nemo’s egg, and he hatched with a small right fin that somewhat impairs his swimming” (Rosenberg). Nemo has anxiety because when the barracuda attacked them, all Marlin’s eggs were eaten except for one which was Nemo. It caused his right flipper to be formed smaller than the other one. Nemo has anxiety because he doesn’t want another attack to happen to him again so he fears barracudas. Anxiety is the feeling of fear, dread, and uneasiness. This is not the only time that these fish have developed certain disorders. 

These disorders have changed the lives of the fish because they aren’t able to learn new things. When Nemo was born, he was born with anterograde amnesia. Anterograde Amnesia refers to a decreased ability to retain new information. That is why Nemo is always getting lost: “In Finding Nemo, anterograde amnesia is a problem that is met with a positive mindset and the help of a supportive system of family and friends. The message to  “just keep swimming” through life’s challenges may, not surprisingly, have a scientific basis” (Brinkman). Nemo suffers from anterograde amnesia because he was born with it and he cannot get rid of it. It affects Nemo because whenever he would get lost, he would not know where to go because he has this disorder. This is not the only time this disorder has affected Nemo. Nemo acquired this disorder because he had a traumatic brain injury. He got this disorder when the attack from the barracuda happened. The Barracuda attacked Marlin, his wife, and the eggs and it caused Nemo to have anterograde amnesia: “The inability to form and retain new memories. In most cases, anterograde amnesia is caused by traumatic brain injury. Therefore, memories before the cause of amnesia are usually preserved” (Frequency). Nemo had a traumatic brain injury when he was in the egg. A barracuda attacked Maliln and his family causing Nemo to acquire a bad brain injury. This is not good for Nemo because he is not able to learn new things. This is not the only time the disorders have affected the fish. 

These disorders have changed the lives of the fish because they are born with a disorder that they cannot control. Dory was born with short-term memory loss. It is hard for her to remember things because she is always forgetting them. Short-term memory loss is when you forget things easily: “This means that Dory's short-term memory loss is hereditary, at least, according to Dory herself. Meaning, she wasn't in an accident that caused her to lose her memory but inherited it from her family of other Blue Tangs” (Sugila). Dory’s short-term memory loss came from her parents who also had short-term memory loss. Dory wasn’t in an accident or didn’t do anything that made her acquire this disorder, she was just born with it. This is not the only way Dory was affected by short-term memory loss. This disorder was always affecting Dory because she would forget where she would put things, she would forget where she was going, she would forget what she was doing and she would forget why she would go places: “Yet it would seem that the common denominator in Dory’s recollection was the clownfish, Marlin. Something about his presence acted as a memory retrieval cue for Dory and allowed her to successfully retrieve the important address” (Sweep). When Marlin and Dory were looking for Nemo, Dory would have sparks of her memory that would help them find Nemo. It is hard for Dory to remember things because she has short-term memory loss. Dory is not able to remember where she was going, what she was doing, or who she was looking for. She would get a short burst of memory where she would be able to remember important things but then that would go away and she would not be able to remember what she was doing again. She would be able to remember things that happened a long time ago but she was not able to remember what happened a couple of days ago. This is not the only time the fish lives were affected by these disorders. 

These disorders have changed the lives of these fish because of the attack from the barracuda and having anxiety from the attack, not being able to learn new information, and being born with a disorder that you can’t control. In “Finding Nemo” by Andrew Stanton, Marlin and his wife had kids and one day a barracuda came across the eggs and ate the eggs and his wife. All of the eggs were eaten except for one, which was Nemo. After the incident, Marlin was left with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). His son Nemo, has some symptoms of anxiety. Their friend Dory, suffers from short-term memory loss. When Marlin and Dory were going out to find Nemo, Dory would always get lost and not know where to go or not know what to do. Having trauma is not good for you because you can be scared for the rest of your life.