Many of you might remember seeing a link circulate several months ago asking What is Darth Vader's Diagnosis?" I received this link myself from a friend of mine who knew a) I recently received my degree in Mental Health Counseling and therefore diagnosis is something I do on a daily basis at work, b) I am a nerd.
I read the theories and was intrigued, however I had a long response to the article myself, agreeing at some points with their opinions, but disagreeing with others. I wrote my friend a long-winded response explaining why I thought it was possible that Vader had Antisocial Personality Disorder rather than Borderline Personality Disorder, that as a veteran of the Clone Wars he might have PTSD, that what the article calls "infantile ideas of omnipotence" are understandable, if misguided, given the messages he received in his upbringing. I actually had to cut myself off from investigating more and more theories.
I realized then how interesting it was to attempt to diagnose fictional characters. People do their own version of it when they analyze films and literature, however what if we could figure out just what specific mental health diagnosis a character has? Could that add an extra dimension into analyzing his/her motives?
Well, I don't know, but I'd sure like to try.
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