Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro), age 26, is Taxi Driver's lonely, alienated ?hero.? Yes, he's a Vietnam War vet, ex-marine, and likely has his share of PTSD. But, his problems stem from something much deeper than war trauma. He must have suffered some kind of childhood trauma, to be sure.

In the analysis of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976), it is widely accepted by film critics and mental health professionals that the protagonist, Travis Bickle, suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) resulting from his service in the Vietnam War. His character serves as a haunting study of a veteran who has been "discarded" by society upon his return. His severe insomnia—the very reason he becomes a taxi driver—is a hallmark symptom of PTSD, as is his profound sense of alienation and hyper-vigilance. Travis’s journal entries reveal a psyche struggling with depression and a distorted "savior complex," where he attempts to find purpose by "cleaning" the streets of perceived "scum." His past traumas leave him unable to navigate normal social interactions, leading to the erratic and ultimately violent behavior seen in the film's climax. While the movie also suggests elements of schizotypal personality or extreme social isolation, the core of his "madness" is historically and narratively rooted in the unresolved psychological scars of his combat experience in Southeast Asia.