Why does Bourne get headaches? - Movies & TV

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Jason Bourne, from The
Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy
often experiences headaches due to something he went through to become the way he
is.

What exactly did he go through to get these
headaches? Is there an in-universe explanation (perhaps from the books, or in
The Bourne Ultimatum) for
this?

From The Bourne
Supremacy:

Pamela You'd been working at Treadstone for three
years, and your cover at the time was what?

Nicky That I was an American student in
Paris.

Pamela And
what exactly did your job with Treadstone in Paris consist of?

Nicky I had two responsibilities. One
was to coordinate logistical operations. The other was to monitor the health of
the
agents.

Pamela Health, meaning what?

Nicky Their mental health.
Because of what they had been through, they were prone to a variety
of problems.

Pamela What kind?

Nicky Depression, anger, compulsive behaviors.
They had physical symptoms. Headaches, sensitivity to light.

Pamela Amnesia?

Nicky Before Bourne?
No.

From
The Bourne Identity, we know that the symptoms affect more
than just Jason Bourne:

The Professor Do you get the
headaches?

Bourne
Yeah

The
Professor I get such bad headaches. You know at night when you're driving
a car? I don't know, something to do with the
headlights.

Answer

In her book Robert Ludlum: A
Critical Companion, Gina MacDonald draws from The Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association to discuss author
Ludlum’s development of the causes and symptoms of Webb/Bourne’s ailments (p 134-135).

Bourne is the
deadly alter ego that Webb assumed to survive the jungle
warfare in Vietnam
and Cambodia as a member of the Medusa Brigade; in
times of stress this alter
ego surfaces and the gentle Webb recedes.
Unfortunately, Webb will never rid
himself of the results of his
initial trauma unless he can destroy the cause
of retraumatization,
specifically, the Jackal. The series explores Bourne’s
progression:

amnesia and a divided personality resulting from
debilitating
psychological responses to trauma, then retraumatization,
treatment,
and gradual progress toward normality, followed by
retraumatization,
and a final working out of conflict that may result in a
reintegrated,
whole personality…

Ludlum, drawing on the expertise of relatives in the medical

profession, provides plentiful details about causes, symptoms, and

retraumatization…

Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD) [is] a constellation of
characteristic symptoms that
develop following a psychologically
traumatic event… the immediate systematic
responses include heart
palpitations or tachycardia, cardiac uneasiness or
pain, headaches,
giddiness, dimness of vision, and general neurological
upselt
(exaggerated respiration, dilation of arteries, increased
generation
of adrenalin). The long-term effects include deep anxiety,
depression,
hysteria, dissociative reaction, depersonalization,
neurasthenia,
intense psychological distress when exposed to events
resembling the
initial trauma event,…intrusive thoughts, flashbacks, and
nightmares.

There may be a feeling of detachment or estrangement
from others,
difficulty sleeping, persistent irritability or anger,
hypervigilance,
exaggerated startle response, guilt, episodes of terror or
panic,
difficulties making decisions, and a feeling that one’s
personality
has changed. These are all effects that Webb/Bourne experiences
at one
time or another in the
series.

So, the
short answer is PTSD.