'Myself, talking to myself, about myself": When Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders had his own definition for his mental health 

BBC's crime drama Peaky Blinders paints a harrowing picture of life in 1920s Birmingham, where people, especially young men, were dealing with the aftermath of World War 1, which changed their lives forever.

While the show never explicitly spelled out the horrors of war, we often got glimpses of PTSD or shell shock, or as John Shelby called it, 'Flanders Blues'. The show follows the titular gang, led by Cillian Murphy's Tommy Shelby, in many criminal and violent activities, but the show also establishes the reason behind this combined aggression, which was a projection of WW1.

In the Peaky Blinders Season 4 finale, Tommy has a severe PTSD induced episode, after which he is finally fazed off by his house-help Frances. When she asks him to get medical help, Tommy shrugs off the idea and defines his mental health by saying:

''I know what this is. It's just Myself, talking to myself, about myself"

Tommy's realization and self-awareness about his deteriorating mental health is a stark reminder of how men changed after war but refused to acknowledge it because of false notions of masculinity created by society.

More on Tommy Shelby's mental health in Peaky Blinders in our story.

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Exploring Tommy Shelby's mental health and his eventual spiral in the Peaky Blinders Season 4 finale

Tommy Shelby might be the portrait of a ruthless gang leader brimming with confidence and aura in the crime series, but beneath his hardened exterior is a man who was forced to grow up too fast and changed forever after returning from World War I.

While Tommy Shelby had regular episodes of PTSD, especially in Season 1, his spiral in the Peaky Blinders Season 4 finale proved the long-lasting effects of war horrors and how men suppress them, which often came about as Tommy's episode from the finale.

After dealing with Luca Changretta and Alfie Solomons and neutralizing the present threat towards his family, the past seasons' violence takes a toll on Tommy's mental health, and he has an episode while golfing and hunting with his men in his house.

In a key scene in the Season 4 finale, he succumbs to his harrowing mental health and lays on his garden flat after hearing guns being fired. Tommy's instant response to the gunshots and the way he covers his head and ears is a stark reminder of a soldier's experience in the World War 1 trenches.

He mimics his WW1 actions, which underlines the fact that war men like Tommy never got over the horrors they saw in the war and are teetering on the edge, waiting to explode.

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Peaky Blinders captures the WW1 trauma through Tommy Shelby's mental health

While the above-mentioned episode might be one of Tommy's most harrowing PTSD induced spirals, there were many others, especially in Season 1.

Season 1 opened with a grim sense of the world that changed after the War and how the men who returned alive only returned so in body. Early examples of how the show expanded on the mental health of men who returned after the war are shown through the character Danny Whizz-Bang.

Danny, one of Tommy's closest allies, faced extreme PTSD and violent episodes of frenzy, during which he even killed a person.

Night terrors, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and violent outbursts are all characteristics of war-induced PTSD, captured through Tommy Shelby's character. While he maintained a stoic and calm presence in front of his enemies and family, he suffered from harrowing night terrors from the war, which he silently battled alone in his room, masquerading behind drugs, cigarettes, and Irish whiskey.

Also Read: When Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders proved that heartbreak doesn't hold him back

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