With the advancement of human societies and the emergence of adverse individual and social events, fear and anxiety have become widespread phenomena in human life. The aim of this study is to analyze the psychological condition of the characters in The Frightened Ones by Dima Wannous, based on the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and to examine the impact of social and cultural crises on the psychological structure of individuals in crisis-stricken societies. This study adopts a mixed-method (quantitative–qualitative) approach and employs interpretive analysis to investigate indicators of anxiety and fear in the character of “Salma,” the novel’s main protagonist. Qualitative data were extracted from content analysis of the narrative, while quantitative data were collected by scoring the items of the Zung questionnaire, which includes 20 items on a four-point Likert scale assessing emotional and physical symptoms of anxiety. The findings reveal that the character under study suffers from severe anxiety (score of 64), with symptoms such as sleep disturbances, heart palpitations, chronic anxiety, and psychosomatic manifestations being clearly evident. The analysis shows that literary narrative, especially in the context of political crises and civil wars, can reflect psychological disorders resulting from violence, displacement, and loss. Therefore, the use of psychometric tools in literary analysis not only enables a deeper understanding of characters' mental states but also provides a framework to interpret the psychological consequences of crisis structures in human societies.
 
Keywords: Zung's Anxiety Questionnaire, alkhayifun, Literary Psychoanalysis, Dima Wannous.
 
 
Extended summary
 

Introduction

In recent decades, the interdisciplinary dialogue between psychology and literature has gained increasing scholarly attention. This approach, relying on psychological theories and tools, enables the unveiling of the hidden layers of individual and collective psyches within literary narratives. Particularly in societies afflicted by war, political oppression, forced migration, and identity crises, literature emerges as a vivid platform for representing psychological suffering. Anxiety — as a chronic response to insecurity, threat, and instability — is a pivotal concept for psychoanalytic literary analysis. Studying manifestations of anxiety in literary characters deepens the understanding of lived experiences and the psychological structures embedded in narratives. The Syrian novel The Frightened Ones by Dima Wannous exemplifies post-trauma literature, portraying the contemporary Syrian human experience through layered narration and deep internal character exploration. Given the historical and political backdrop of Syria's ongoing crisis since 2011, this novel presents an ideal subject for investigating the psychological dimensions of fear and anxiety. Using Zung’s Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), this study aims to clinically analyze the anxiety levels of the novel’s protagonist, Salma, and thereby contribute to expanding interdisciplinary methods that merge literary criticism with psychometric evaluation.
 

Materials & Methods

This research employed a mixed-methods approach, integrating qualitative content analysis with quantitative psychometric evaluation. Qualitative data were extracted through interpretive analysis of the novel’s narrative structure, focusing on Salma’s emotional and psychological expressions. Simultaneously, the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), a validated psychological tool consisting of 20 items rated on a 4-point Likert scale, was applied to assess Salma’s symptoms of anxiety. Particular attention was given to both emotional and somatic indicators, as the SAS equally measures psychological and physical manifestations of anxiety. Literary evidence corresponding to each questionnaire item was systematically collected from the text to simulate responses based on narrative events. Scoring was conducted according to SAS guidelines, considering reversed scoring for positive items and standard scoring for negative items. The final anxiety level was calculated using the standard SAS formula. In addition, theoretical frameworks from clinical psychology, psychoanalysis, and trauma theory informed the interpretation of findings, aiming to bridge the clinical understanding of anxiety with its literary representation.

Research findings

The analysis revealed that Salma suffers from severe anxiety, with a SAS score of 64. Salma exhibits numerous symptoms such as persistent fear without an apparent cause, chronic insomnia, frequent nightmares, heart palpitations, dizziness, psychosomatic pain, and gastrointestinal disturbances. Through content analysis, it became clear that these symptoms are deeply rooted in traumatic personal and collective experiences, including the death of her father, societal collapse, civil unrest, and internalized fears of violence and displacement. The narrative consistently portrays Salma’s psychological fragmentation, emotional instability, and intense somatization of mental distress. The findings show that fear and anxiety are not mere background emotions but are central to the plot’s structure and character development. The novel vividly captures the blurred boundaries between reality and hallucination, memory and imagination, self and other — all phenomena commonly associated with high anxiety and post-traumatic stress. Literary devices such as stream of consciousness, fragmented narration, and symbolic imagery enhance the portrayal of Salma’s psychological turmoil. Overall, Salma’s character embodies a collective Syrian consciousness traumatized by war and displacement, representing not just individual pathology but also broader societal wounds.
 

Discussion of Results & Conclusion

The findings suggest that The Frightened Ones offers a powerful literary depiction of anxiety rooted in political violence and social disintegration. By applying a clinical psychometric tool to a fictional character, this study demonstrated that literary narratives could serve as diagnostic spaces for psychological disorders, especially in post-conflict contexts. Salma’s character shows that anxiety, when chronic and untreated, leads to psychosomatic symptoms, disordered thinking, memory disruptions, and identity confusion — all of which are reflected in her relationships and narrative voice. The novel’s portrayal of anxiety aligns with clinical models of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and trauma-related conditions. Furthermore, the study underscores the effectiveness of combining literary analysis with psychological scales to explore fictional representations of mental health. By doing so, it opens new avenues for interdisciplinary research at the intersection of literature and psychology. Literature, thus, becomes not only a mirror of individual psychological suffering but also a medium for examining the broader socio-political pathologies affecting human societies. Future research can build upon this approach by applying additional psychometric instruments or expanding the scope to include comparative studies across different cultural contexts and literary traditions.