10 Times Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Went Woke
2. Depicting Post Traumatic Stress Disorder In The 24th Century
The Siege Of AR-558 remains one of Star Trek's darkest hours. Though more recent shows have followed it into the mire, it was a stark, challenging episode to present in the late 90s'. Ira Steven Behr recalled facing pushback on the idea of the show:
A lot of people didn't want us to do the episode, and a lot of people were unhappy as it was being developed...War sucks. War is intolerable. War is painful, and good people die.
Writer David Weddle suggested making the episode an homage to the real-world stand at Guadalcanal during World War II. AR-558 was about depicting a fight that would cost these heroes dearly. Through Nog, the audience could feel the true impact of war.
It's Only A Paper Moon, serving as both a sequel to this episode and a stark depiction of PTSD, was Aron Eisenberg's finest hour as the young Ferengi officer. Quite apart from the physical challenge of extra days in makeup, Eisenberg also focused on ensuring Nog cried at the end of the episode (the script called for him to get emotional).
The therapy that Nog undergoes in this episode is a real-world process known as creative therapy. These types of therapies, according to creative arts counsellor Ani de la Prida:
...can work really well when people don’t consciously know what the problem is or what will help, as this approach also works at a subconscious level.
Nog, still reeling from the loss of his leg, throws himself into working with Vic Fontaine. Though the entire environment is simulated, Nog substitutes it for his own reality, focusing more on the holographic world than his own journey. In a meaningful moment, his cane is seen abandoned, despite Nog's earlier assertion that he needed it to walk.
Though he is forced to return to reality by the episode's close, Nog's journey opened the door for Star Trek to examine long-term effects of conflict. His closing statement, that he is not alright, but he will be, also serves as a reminder that the journey with mental health rarely moves in a straight line.
For Eisenberg, the highest praise that he received was the letters he received from veterans congratulating him on his performance.
That was the best compliment, because those guys have lived through the stuff that we were playing.