You think Tony isn't fractured and strange USUALLY? (G)

But yeah, that... is partly the point. More than Tony's body got blown to hell out there in the jungle, just like it did in canon. (See: Tony's breaking up with his then-fiance, and frequent tortured internal monologues during the chestpiece era)
It's just more pronounced in this story, because of the extent of the cosmetic damage, and... Something I implied, but didn't actually come out and -say-. Some part of the damage he took from the mine put Tony out of commission. Um... how shall I put this?

As a prisoner in Hanoi he didn't really have time to think about it much, but upon returning to the states, Tony had a private mental conversation very much like the following:
'Ah, great, we're home. And we're alive, and I still have you. Awesome. Hey. Dude, you can wake up now, it's safe. ...Hello? HELLO? Are you okay? OMG speak to me! Man down-!'
...etc.
As we once saw him do when that happened in canon, Tony doesn't take it well, and this time it wasn't just an isolated incident.
He's still pretty torn up inside, and his body hasn't had enough time to heal. The 'accessory' systems haven't rebooted yet.
Tony didn't know/believe that.
He panicked, was too embarrassed to ask anyone medical about it, and proceeded to try to THINK the problem to death.
Tony burned out every single fantasy, memory, and mental image he'd ever used for this purpose before. And got -nowhere-.
By the time his body actually healed, merely -thinking- about people no longer did it for him, because it reminded him of his earlier failures.
He'd actually stopped asking his body the question, because he was that tired of being told 'no'...
Then Captain. Fucking. America. moved in on the floor below his.
And Tony felt unexpectedly... better.

I have no IDEA if and when Iron Man's identity will come to the surface. I haven't gotten there yet. I do know some of the things that happen -before- that, but that's all.
See you around.