Here’s What’s Going On With Dr. Al-Hashimi In ‘The Pitt’
The Pitt tries to create little mysteries and character revelations along the way among its never-ending stream of patients, and one of them in season 2 here involves brand new character and Dr. Robbie replacement Dr. Al-Hashimi.
In two separate scenes now, the most recent in episode 7 of The Pitt last night, Dr. Al-Hashimi has seemingly been extra concerned when looking at patients, first an abandoned baby and then an injured SWAT team member. Later, a man having a seizure. In this latest episode, this actually caused her to flee and try to get ahold of her neurologist, leaving fans confused about what exactly was going on here.
But if you think through it, the show seems to have already broadcast what’s probably going on here, especially this week, with some new revelations. The answer is that Dr. Al-Hashimi likely has PTSD.
We knew previously that she worked in the VA, but now we learned that she was also in Afghanistan tending to patients there. Former soldier Dr. Abbott remarks how brave those doctors were out there, and obviously, they would have seen a lot of trauma.
This week, seeing the SWAT team member shot and potentially bleeding out likely triggered some level of her PTSD as a result of her time overseas (the officer was eventually stabilized). In perhaps a more bleak logical leap, Al-Hashimi may have frozen looking at the abandoned baby, another, perhaps very dark memory of a tragedy or tragedies she saw there as well. It was an indiscriminate warzone after all. In reality here, this baby does not seem to be in danger outside of having a common virus.
As for calling neurology, some are guessing she has some sort of unannounced brain tumor, but PTSD is very much a neurobiological condition. The stress of it can change how your brain functions and even the very structures inside it. It draws on the “fear center” of the brain, the amygdala, to create these symptoms, among other issues.
There is one alternate and/or related Al-Hashimi theory, as she was thrown off by the man having seizures as well. It’s possible she has something called functional/dissociative seizures, which can result in blank stares for a period of time, often inexplicably. That would also be linked to neurology, but it may also be tied into PTSD as a side-effect, not its own, completely standalone problem. My guess is that this combination may be the final answer.
Dr. Al-Hashimi is the latest character in The Pitt to be dealing with mental health issues, among many in the show. The most prominent is Dr. Langdon and his issues with addiction. Dr. Robbie may have his own form of PTSD from working in the ER during COVID (this is not uncommon in real life), which we saw in his breakdown last season. Something strange appears to be going on this season, where Robbie refuses to wear a motorcycle helmet, which is bizarre given how many harrowing motorcycle accidents or deaths he sees all the time. Also this week, we saw the revelation that Dr. Santos is either currently self-harming, or has done so previously, as evidenced by scars on her legs.
All of these plotlines are likely to be fleshed out over the course of the rest of the season, but Dr. Al-Hashimi’s is supposed to be the most mysterious for now. But it does seem like PTSD is almost certainly the answer here.
