# Ever diagnose a character with a mental illness? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 11, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618 "2005-08-11T17:46:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/1 "2005-08-11T17:46:18Z")
**Open Spoilers Alert** In another thread about **Peter Sellers** it’s been discussed lightly he was possibly bi-polar because of his actions, yet the medical world at that time did not have the technology and whatnot to make a proper diagnosis. Now that mental illness are better understood and not in the closet, so to speak, I find myself being an armchair physciatrist. **No one thinks of Greenland** book (which is becoming my newest favoritist book to prolytize to anyone who makes eye contact with me.) there is a bit character in there named Genteen, who is a nasty mean man in every scene he is in ( or just about.) all I can think when he appears is a) he has major anger management issues b) he needs some drugs to calm the fark down. Same book, because it is set in 1959-1960 in Greenland on a military base, during the entire dark days, the staff pretty much all start to cry or go bezerk with fights and suicides. Clearly this is Seasonal Affect Disorder. **Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde** the guy is schizo. Ok, barring the entire formula he drinks to cause such adverse reaction and the fact it’s been a very long time since I’ve read the book and seen any of the many move adaptations out there, I still think he is schizophrenic. There have been a few in the movies, but I can’t remember them right now. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/2 "2005-08-11T17:53:41Z")
We did this as a project in my freshman english class. My diagnosis: Beauty of “Beauty and the Beast” is clearly suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![zeldarae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/f14d63/32.png) [@zeldarae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeldarae)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/3 "2005-08-11T17:58:47Z")
I diagnosed **Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde** as an alcholic. This even takes into account the transformation after imbibing that certain liquid. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/4 "2005-08-11T18:22:15Z")
[QUOTE=Shirley Ujest **Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde** the guy is schizo.[/QUOTE] Do you mean schizophrenic as in the medical definition or as in multiple-personality disorder? ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/5 "2005-08-11T18:25:17Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Do you mean schizophrenic as in the medical definition or as in multiple-personality disorder? Multiple Personality Disorder. And Beauty and the beast is Stockholm Syndrome! Brilliant! **Cinderella** is co-dependant who has been verbally abused. ---
**Author:** ![Engywook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bc8723/32.png) [@Engywook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engywook)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/6 "2005-08-11T18:55:04Z")
Willie Wonka, from the Gene Wilder version, is manic-depressive. Johnny Depp’s portrayal, more of an axis II… narcissistic, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Ragiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ragiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ragiel)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/7 "2005-08-11T18:56:10Z")
CME Inc, purveyors of the continuing medical education required for continued licensing, will generally have a scheduled workshop in which the presenter shows selected clips from popular movies for just that purpose. It’s one of the highlights of their annual Psychiatric Congress. Always fills up fast. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/8 "2005-08-11T19:02:31Z")
Rhett Butler is a classic stalker, running Scarlett’s life. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/9 "2005-08-11T19:08:42Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Rhett Butler is a classic stalker, running Scarlett’s life. Fiddle-dee-dee! Scarlett was at best narcissistic, at worst an utter sociopath using people without regard to convention or conscience. That she wasn’t very good at it (couldn’t get Ashley, couldn’t keep Rhett) isn’t an issue. ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/10 "2005-08-11T19:10:55Z")
This thread could go to sixteen pages trying to categorize everyone in **Six Feet Under**. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/11 "2005-08-11T19:17:33Z")
**Wuthering Heights** : I have always thought that this ‘classic tale of undying love’ was really a story of two co-dependent narcissists. Cathy was almost certainly bi-polar (her raging mood swings) & passive-aggressive (major, major control issues); Heathcliff showed stalker inclinations (standing outside Cathy’s bedroom window each night and staring at it) and ultimately succumbed to manic depression (he dug up Cathy’s grave and intended to climb into it! He only stopped because he thought he saw Cathy’s ghost flitting around teasing him). Not even Edgar Linton is all that stable, considering that he was willing to put up with Cathy’s bitchiness. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/12 "2005-08-11T19:25:18Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Fiddle-dee-dee! Scarlett was at best narcissistic, at worst an utter sociopath using people without regard to convention or conscience. That she wasn’t very good at it (couldn’t get Ashley, couldn’t keep Rhett) isn’t an issue. Fiddle-dee-dee back at you. Rhett was the person who initially told Scarlett to go outside her social mores, thereby alienating her from her society at a time when women were judged much more harshly than men were for doing so. Rhett was “persona non grata” at the beginning of the book, and convinced Scarlett to go the same route. (Scarlett: You have the nastiest way of making virtues sound stupid. Rhett: But virtues are stupid). Scarlett thought such things, but never would have acted on those thoughts if Rhett hadn’t told her to. He later criticizes Scarlett for going outside of society when he realizes how their daughter Bonnie will suffer because of it. The book [Scarlett’s Women](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0813514967/qid=1123788390/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_sbs_1/102-9372175-1013749?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) is a fascinating look at this idea. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/13 "2005-08-11T19:45:14Z")
> [@Engywook](#): > > Willie Wonka, from the Gene Wilder version, is manic-depressive. > > Johnny Depp’s portrayal, more of an axis II… narcissistic, perhaps? I was thinking more something on the autism scale for Depp: Brilliant but obsessive, doesn’t like to be touched, doesn’t really understand other people’s motivations or emotions. Not that I believe any amount of dentistry can make someone autistic. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/14 "2005-08-11T19:57:52Z")
Batman suffers from heightened paranoia, extreme obsessive-compulsive disorder (perhaps mild but functional autism?), hypervigilance, martyrdom syndrome, violent and psychopathic tendencies, and a lot more. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/15 "2005-08-11T20:20:42Z")
**Alfie** has a pretty clear case of Adult ADD. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/16 "2005-08-11T20:25:16Z")
**Winne the Pooh** = dyslexic/slow learner **Tigger** = ADD **Rabbit** = Anxiety Disorder **Piglet** = OCD **Owl** = Narcissism **Eyeore** = Depression ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/17 "2005-08-11T20:40:39Z")
Does _The Bible_ count? While reading the story of David a few years ago (when I was working with the mentally ill professionally) I was amazed at how vivid a depiction the tales of King Saul are of bipolar illness. He fluctuated between suicidal lows in which he had to have musicians play for him while he lay unable to get out of bed, then when next seen may be in a manic fit of paranoia and murderous rage, with bits and pieces of lucidity and remorse thrown in and finally comitting suicide. Ignatius J. Reilly was a textbook narcissist (sp?) with delusions of grandeur. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/18 "2005-08-11T20:45:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Now that mental illness are better understood …than UFO’s are? …than the public’s fascination with Whitney Houston? ---
**Author:** ![GLWasteful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f05b48/32.png) [@GLWasteful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GLWasteful)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/19 "2005-08-11T20:49:13Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > …than the public’s fascination with Whitney Houston? Sorry, but some of life’s mysteries are. . .well. . .too damned _mysterious_ to ever be sussed out by anyone. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/20 "2005-08-11T21:17:06Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > …than the public’s fascination with Whitney Houston? > [@GLWasteful](#): > > Sorry, but some of life’s mysteries are. . .well. . .too damned _mysterious_ to ever be sussed out by anyone. That’s actually not so mysterious. It’s the same reason why people slow down and gawk when they pass a horrible accident. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618.md?page=2)