I agree with this assessment. This question worries me as well. What difference does it make if a bear or a tiger attacked me, I'd be just as scared all the same, thus the outcome would be the same. MOO
Well, the only "animal" involved was JA. There's also a difference between being attacked by someone you know vs. two unknown, masked and armed intruders.
I doubt Travis was violent with her until she, herself, became lethally violent with HIM, so PTSD based on long-term abuse and an imminent attack upon her is out (IMO). Even THEN he may not have been violent; she had very little physical damage, after all. Once she stabbed him in the heart, I think HE was definitely in fight or flight mode and his only goal was to
ESCAPE from her.
SHE had the weapons, whereas he was naked, wet, and severely (mortally) wounded. Flight would be be uppermost in his mind, because he wasn't capable of fighting back much by that point (emphasis on
POINT). SHE, OTOH, was intent on not letting him get away. If someone else found out she was there and severely injured him, she would be in BIG trouble, so she had to stop him at all costs. She was in planning mode, not fight or flight mode. She made LOTS of decisions based on the fear of getting CAUGHT, not on being injured, herself.
For the sake of argument, though, let's say he DID physically abuse her over the long term, culminating in an attack upon her. She still managed to get the upper hand, over and over and over. She survived, cleaned up herself and the scene to a certain extent, and calmly exited, etc. He was dead. He was no longer a physical threat to her in any way, and she would not have any reason to believe someone else
close to her would body-slam her, choke her, etc. She would probably have no desire to strike up yet another romance any time soon. How could she trust that someone wouldn't try to kill/hurt her AGAIN? It takes
time to get over something like that. The trust issue takes a long time, if EVER, to resolve. Her subsequent reactions/symptoms would be different from the intruder scenario, and the questions asked on the test would be different because they branched off based on circumstances of the triggering event.
Being suddenly ambushed by two masked intruders with guns and knives could very
likely cause some sort of PTSD, especially since someone (ELSE) died as a result, while she miraculously survived. If that had really happened, she would probably have a hard time with strangers and being surprised by sudden noises, doors quickly opening, etc. She might even have been afraid to use the bathroom, barricading herself in some way so that she wouldn't be accosted while being vulnerable in such a normally "safe" place. Same with the perimeter of the home. A knock at the door or a phone ringing could be ANYONE about to kill you! How could she even go to work when, at any moment, the place could be robbed or a patron could go berserk? Certainly moving on to the next romantic conquest mere hours after the gruesome murder and her miraculous escape, and then grinding on him would be fraught with unknowns. She would have very little control over RB and
HIS environment. Who knows how safe HIS place would be from intruders? For all she knew, someone was hiding in the closet while she was there. Someone could break down the door or climb in a window while she wasn't being vigilant! Then she drives all the way back home, alone, including stopping and filling up the car AND GAS CANS at an unattended gas station in the middle of the night in a strange city because she had to get back in time to go to work, having established an alibi, of sorts. (You know who else was fretting about about getting to work the next day, after her three children were shot, one fatally, by a
"bushy-haired stranger"? Diane Downs.) So how JA answered questions based on THIS scenario would be different from how she answered if she was attacked by someone she knew intimately, and the questions, themselves, would be different.
Therefore, how she answered questions on the test WOULD have made a difference, because once she lied about how the incident occurred, subsequent questions were BASED UPON those lies, and she had to continue to make up symptoms based on what happened in the LIE. Things she would be afraid of, or things that would trigger her extreme fear would be different. The anwers were simply unreliable. Something bad happened. Something horrific. JA, however, did NOT have PTSD, at least not that would be diagnosable in the test she was given.
As much as I hate to quote Johnny Cochran, I have to say it: "Garbage in, garbage out".
I don't doubt that she was fearful when she realized Travis was harder to kill than she imagined it would be, and somewhat fearful of getting caught. THAT could be traumatic and there might be moments of panic that would make it hard to remember everything, but those would be isolated
MOMENTS. Even so, she didn't look or act particularly traumatized in her mugshot because she was confident she could lie and/or charm her way out of ANY situation.
It probably WOULD be hard to remember every little detail of the murder in progress when so much extreme violence was occurring and all that blood was everywhere; some things would be
blurred by all the action and excess adrenaline, but I don't believe she would have a total blackout for HOURS and NEVER remember any part of it except a knife clinking on the floor.
Ok, that was long and rambling, but it's my point of view and I needed to get that out.
