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Courage the Cowardly Dog PTSD Carol Lopez

Carol L

Created on February 13, 2023

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Transcript

Courage the Cowardly dog

Remebrance of Courage Past S4 E12

Carol Lopez

Oh my, poor thing, out here all alone...what courage you have.

Muriel Bagge, Remembrance of Courage Past

Show summary

Courage the Cowardly Dog is a children's animated show about a nervous dog who often has to overcome his fears to save his owners from danger. He is terrorized by the supernatural creatures that come to his farm in Nowhere, the town they live in.

Remembrance of courage past

In this episode, Courage is confronted by his past as he is forced to remember a traumatic experience when he was separated from his parents. Throughout the episode, he displays signs and symptoms of PTSD, which give context to his behavior for the events of the show.

Episode summary

The memory leaves him immobile, and Muriel notices. She takes him to see the vet, which leads him into a panic. He is dragged into the office, kicking and screaming. It is the same vet, who tries to take Courage into the same backroom, as well as his owners when they interfere. He must overcome his fear to save them all.

It starts when Courage notices a milk carton with pictures of missing dogs. He remembers as a puppy, playing with his parents and recieving an injury. He gets taken to the vet, who asks to speak to his parents alone. When he walks back into the room, he sees his parents being kidnapped and taken to a back room.

symptoms

These symptoms are long lasting. They are displayed throughout the entirety of the show, as Courage is known to be easily frightened, on edge, and generally untrusting of strangers. He has a innate fear of being abandoned and must be close by Muriel's side. He does not like when she has guests over. This can be interpreted as Courage having an anxious attachment due to his trauma. (Ogle et al., 2015)

  • anxious
  • easily startled
  • avoids being in the same situation (the vet)
  • flashbacks
  • lost touch with reality
  • depression
  • attachment anxiety
  • hypervigilant
(Graham, 2018)

treament

Trauma-focused cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

  • goal is to teach coping methods and reduce symptoms
  • reevaluate thinking patterns to identify distortions in thought
  • gradual exposure to traumatic memory in order to reduce avoidance and give back a sense of control
Anxiety medication or antidepressants ("Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for treatment of PTSD" 2017)

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR)

Courage's disorder drives the plot throughout the show. He is trembling and frightened, almost always. He is very attached to his owners- even Eustice, who is often shown to be abusive and cruel to him. He is afraid of losing his caretakers again.

Resources

American Psychological Association. (2017, March). Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for treatment of PTSD. American Psychological Association. Retrieved February 14, 2023, from https://www.apa.org/ptsd-guideline/treatments/cognitive-behavioral-therapy Graham, S. (2018, August 23). What it's really like to have PTSD: PTSD symptoms. Patient.info. Retrieved February 14, 2023, from https://patient.info/news-and-features/ptsd-symptoms Ogle, C. M., Rubin, D. C., & Siegler, I. C. (2015, July). The relation between insecure attachment and posttraumatic stress: Early life versus adulthood traumas. Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy. Retrieved February 14, 2023, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4493437/ YouTube. (2019). What is Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing Therapy? YouTube. Retrieved February 14, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IPsBPH2M1U.