# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/41 "2005-08-12T06:03:39Z")
I’m surprised no-one’s brought up Detective Bobby Goran yet. Unless we’re having an anti-law and order bent 😉 My WAG is that he’s autistic in some fashion, possibly a shade around Asperger’s. Or he’s just a complete and utter sociopath 😃 ---
**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 12, 2005, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/42 "2005-08-12T07:49:44Z")
**Shel Silversteins** _The Giving Tree_ is a story about a co-dependant martyr syndrome tree and her greedy co-dependant son. I loathe this story greatly. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/43 "2005-08-12T08:16:44Z")
Master Shake from “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” appears to be the textbook definition of a sociopath. ::crickets:: Oh, er…and Batman? The reason he doesn’t kill isn’t because of morality or respect for the law…it’s because he’s defined his whole identity and existence on fighting evil. Killing villains could put all that at risk. In short, subconsciously, he doesn’t _want_ to win, he just wants to _keep fighting._ In the same vein, I submit that the reason he’s never found his parents’ killer, despite all his skills, is that part of him doesn’t want to. It’s his ultimate failsafe—there’ll always be his original motivator, the “one who got away.” The one thing, if nothing else, that he can use to keep himself going. There. How 'bout THEM apples? ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/44 "2005-08-12T08:33:41Z")
I’m fairly certain that Oedipus guy has some sort of complex. ---
**Author:** ![MackoUr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MackoUr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MackoUr)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/45 "2005-08-12T09:13:41Z")
How would you diagnose Mycroft Holmes? Sherlock painted him as physically lazy, but the circumscribed life he led, home and his club (where he didn’t talk to anyone), seems indicative of some kind of disorder. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/46 "2005-08-12T09:23:57Z")
What about Randall Patrick McMurphy? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/47 "2005-08-12T09:30:55Z")
That **Alien** critter is rather antisocial. “Does not play well with others” indeed! ---
**Author:** ![Fortean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@Fortean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fortean)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/48 "2005-08-12T10:00:05Z")
Got to hand it to the Victorians, they really relished their pathology. Lucy Snowe from C Bronte’s **Villette** is a depressive (she calls it Hypochondria) and the way in which she tends to externalise certain abstracts suggest that there is something of the paranoid schizophrenic about here. The hero, Paul Emanuel, is pretty much a masochist, as is Jane Eyre. Lots of Dickens’ characters seem to be depressive – especially Pip (who also has a massively extended guilt complex), and Lizzie Hexam from Our Mutual Friend. I’m not quite sure what’s wrong with Mr Dick and his obsession with Charles I’s head – possibly he is slightly retarded, or it’s Asperger’s again. Many of Hardy’s characters were depressed too, such as Tess D’Urberville or the guy in Return of the Native. Mariana in the Moated Grange, from the poem by Tennyson, may suffer from agoraphobia. Lizzie and Laura from Rossetti’s Goblin Market are probably nymphomaniacs. The narrator of Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess’ is almost certainly a sociopath. How about Shakespeare? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/49 "2005-08-12T11:51:26Z")
> [@MackoUr](#): > > How would you diagnose Mycroft Holmes? Sherlock painted him as physically lazy, but the circumscribed life he led, home and his club (where he didn’t talk to anyone), seems indicative of some kind of disorder. Along the same lines – Nero Wolfe seemed to have a bit of agoraphobia. ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/50 "2005-08-12T12:14:58Z")
In the film _Spanglish_, was it ever mentioned what mental illness Tea Leoni’s character had? I thought she might be bipolar. Her family was in deep denial and kind of swept her illness under the rug. Anybody see _The Upside of Anger_ ? Joan Allen’s character was in a deep depression due to her husband’s disappearance. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/51 "2005-08-12T13:07:55Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > What about Randall Patrick McMurphy? Completely sane. Just a fun-lovin’ guy. 😉 That Nurse Ratched, on the other hand…phew! She had _problems_! Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/52 "2005-08-12T13:38:37Z")
Remember the Tim Burton movie entitled Beetlejuice, and the late 80s cartoon of the same name? Well, I visit the still updated fanpages about the series. One of the hosts has this to say: > [@TigerLover](#): > > _Contributed by Holly_ For those of you who may have wanted to know the actual mental condition that BJ has, Holly and I may have discovered it! > > **Disorganized Schizophrenic**! … > > “Their emotional responses are inappropriate and personal appearances unpredictable. Their activities can become aimless and non-constructive, and some may be prone to violent outbursts. This conflicting struggle is what leads to bizarre, confused thoughts and speech patterns. There are also other factors, such as fear or shock, which can temporarily paralyses or weaken the spirit. With Schizophrenia, in which the person has rather diffuse and regressive symptoms, the individual is given to silliness, facial grimaces, and unconsequential rituals (to go about a task with no regard for the consequences). The illness is also marked by continuous, changeable mood swings and poor hygiene.” (source: Holly’s high school text book – ha!) [BJ’s Roadhouse](http://www.bjsroadhouse.com/) ---
**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 12, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/53 "2005-08-12T14:00:02Z")
YAY! Threadspotting! Thank you **Twickster!** ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/54 "2005-08-12T14:15:31Z")
:d ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/55 "2005-08-12T14:16:45Z")
And what would you call an inability to properly communicate one’s feelings with the appropriate use of emoticons? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/56 "2005-08-12T14:19:57Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > And what would you call an inability to properly communicate one’s feelings with the appropriate use of emoticons? 😉 Flat screen affect. ---
**Author:** ![Klytus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Klytus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klytus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/57 "2005-08-12T14:57:52Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > One barely even knows where to start with Sherlock Holmes > [@continuity eror](#): > > Obsessive-compulsive disorder, Asperger’s Syndrome, cocaine dependency. For starters. > > As for Batman, I’d diagnose PTSD, since he was pretty much fine before his parents got killed. I’d also tag Holmes as Manic-Depressive. When he was on a case, he was on a manic high and could go for days without eating or sleeping. When not on a case, he went right into a depressed low, and crashed hard. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/58 "2005-08-12T15:03:06Z")
> [@Klytus](#): > > I’d also tag Holmes as Manic-Depressive. When he was on a case, he was on a manic high and could go for days without eating or sleeping. When not on a case, he went right into a depressed low, and crashed hard. Yeah, but a true Manic-Depressive will have the mood swings regardless of external stimulus, so “manic while busy, depressed while not” doesn’t really match the textbook symptomology of this. ---
**Author:** ![Darkhold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@Darkhold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darkhold)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/59 "2005-08-12T15:13:18Z")
I recently read **Catcher in the Rye** (I’m going through all the ‘classics’ I should have read years ago and reading them now) and that kid is a huge bundle of ADD. I kept hoping someone would pop up and feed him some freaking Prozac already. ---
**Author:** ![Klytus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Klytus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klytus)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/60 "2005-08-12T15:23:34Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Yeah, but a true Manic-Depressive will have the mood swings regardless of external stimulus, so “manic while busy, depressed while not” doesn’t really match the textbook symptomology of this. Quite true. Then again, speaking as someone who has depression, I can tell you that depression can sometimes be triggered by external stimuli. So the fact that Holmes is normally manic, yet can fall into depression because of boredom, makes sense to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618.md?page=4)