Thus case studies are often used in cases of PTSD. The first case study examined here was conducted by Mark Sichel. Here, the case study theory allows the research to explore the personal experiences of the subject, Karen, as a way to understand broader conceptions of the issue at hand, PTSD. Karen, the subject, is aloud to go into great detail of her personal experience as a way to allow the research to extrapolate particular issues that have flared her PTSD. The specifics of her experience with the police have created within her a state of anxiety and fear. The dialogue presented by the researchers allows the reader to make connections of those larger emotions associated with PTSD with her own personal experiences. Moreover, larger symptoms of the disorder are presented, heavily correlated with her own unique experiences. Overwhelming anxiety, stress, the presence of nightmares, and the constant re-living of the experience that causes the stress is presented as common symptoms of the disorder, seen especially through her own contextual experience.

Here, the role of theory is not to present a single person and one subject's contextual experiences, but rather to explore the cases of how PTSD is presented within the larger body of literature, including popular media like television and movies. The study examines several cases of PTSD presented within television or movie contexts as a way to explore how the disorder is not only understood within our larger culture, but also to help explore the gauged reactions of the public to the presence of PTSD in various situations. It helps allow the research to make general assumptions about PTSD in general, as well as how it is received within a larger public context.
References

Beall. Lisa S. (1997). Post-traumatic stress disorder: A bibliographic essay. CHOICE, 34(6), 917-930.

Sichel, Mark. (2004). Post traumatic stress disorder: A case study. Psyber Square. Web. http://www.psybersquare.com/anxiety/post_case_study.html