# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/61 "2005-08-12T16:11:56Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > I’m fairly certain that Oedipus guy has some sort of complex. I don’t know about that, but he was sure one co-dependent motherf\*cker. ---
**Author:** ![moonstarssun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@moonstarssun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moonstarssun)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/62 "2005-08-12T16:28:25Z")
When I saw **The Last Tempation of Christ** , I thought he came across as a parnoid schizophrenic–hearing voices, delusions of grandeur, paranoia, the whole bit. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mycroft\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_H)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/63 "2005-08-12T17:05:28Z")
> [@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. What do you mean?! I get out and… Oh, you must be talking about that Doper from Amsterdam. 😃 Great thoughts on Holmes’s psychology. And thank you **KarlGauss** for the link to the article on the Milne characters. ---
**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, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/64 "2005-08-12T17:34:03Z")
**Ebenezer Scrooge** suffered from Paranoid Schizofrenia with all those ‘visitations’ and worrying about his money. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/65 "2005-08-12T20:39:29Z")
What about Kirk and Picard? (We all know about Spock.) ---
**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, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/66 "2005-08-12T21:13:31Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > James Bond is a sociopath. He sees people as objects to be used to advance his goals. The ease with which he kills people suggests that he does not empathize with others, or see other people as being equal to himself. He’s had dozens of sex partners (that we know of) but it never seems like he actually loves any of them. Even calling them “girlfriends” is a stretch. They are nothing more than an outlet for his sexual desires, to be used and disposed of as easily as the condoms which we hope he’s using. All of this may be true (except for the condoms, which Bond clearly doesn’t use). However, I think his problems are somewhat more complex than instinctive sociopathy. We know that his parents were killed while he was a child; as a result, his development with respect to authority figures seems to be stunted. He’s both defiant of them, and yet beholden to them. For all of his several threats to resign from Her Majesty’s Secret Service he always returns into the fold. Also, it is noteworthy to observe his taste in women. He finds readily accessible, willing partners somewhat disinsteresting such as Bibi Dahl, Kara Milovy, Lupe Lamora, and Miss Moneypenny (especially the Caroline Bliss version), and when he does deign to sleep with a readily available woman, such as Jill Masterson or Domino Derval, he affects a very bored, detached demeanor. On the other hand, he seems quite attracted to strong, defiant women such as Pam Bouvier, Melina Havelock, and future/former wife Tracy Di Vicenzo, and positively, er, stimulated by women who threaten to kill him, like Fiona Volpe, Pussy Galore, Maj. Anya Amasov/XXX, and Xenia Onatopp. I think feels an enormous amount of guilt over his parents’ mountain-climbing death and seeks out both punishment and Oedipal-like absolution from mother figures. I’m guessing that Bond’s mother was both a tall, oversexed brunette and wore the pants, rarely if ever deferring to his father for the execution of punishment. I wonder if his alleged sociopathy isn’t some kind of detachment as a result of both his wartime and numerous torture experiences in combination with the frequent cosmetic surgical alterations he undergoes to alter his appearance and maintain apparent youth. We might also guess that he uses a considerable amount of, uh, erectile supplements which may have undesireable neuropsychological consequences. All of this together probably explains his alcoholic self-medication. He also seems to have a bit of a persecution complex along with some amount of monomania, as exhibited by his relentless pursuit of “villians” who he believes are out to destroy the world and against whom only he actions are effective. He has admitted, in _Goldfinger_, to having a “slight inferiority complex”, so it’s possible that he may be amenible to therapy and treatment, but his willingness to underrate the damage both to his body and his psyche will probably undermine any treatment program. All-in-all, he’s really not the sort of chap you want in Her Majesty’s Service, is it? Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/67 "2005-08-13T02:50:52Z")
The God of the Old Testament seems to suffer from Munchausen’s By Proxy: in order to receive the attention and adulation he considers his due, he’s forever jeopardising and injuring his “children” before “saving” them. Just ask Job. ---
**Author:** ![Ragiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ragiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ragiel)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/68 "2005-08-13T04:03:14Z")
> [@Klytus](#): > > 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. It makes sense to me also, and I would wonder too if Holmes’ sometime perception that “I find nothing worthy of my interest” (paraphrased) meant something more like “I’m too depressed to deal with anything.” In his day, clinical symptoms short of florid psychosis were assumed to be signs of weakness or bad character, so his ego defenses would make sure he never thought of himself as defective. He reads people’s unconscious gestures and fleeting expressions really well, which rules out the autism spectrum, but has some schizoid personality traits, i.e. he doesn’t really like the company of people, with very few exceptions, but as long as he can treat them as puzzles to be solved he’s OK with some interaction. He’s not lonely or afraid of people, just happier when keeping his own company. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/69 "2005-08-13T05:31:24Z")
Gomez and Morticia Addams - now there’s a particularly well-adjusted couple, do you think? ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/70 "2005-08-13T06:18:36Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > What about Kirk and Picard? (We all know about Spock.) Star Trek is tough. It’s like analyzing a cardboard cutout. But I’ll have a go at it: **Kirk**. is. a. re. cov. er. ing STUTTerer (phew). Oh and [satyriasis](http://www.waynescomics.com/images/Cards/S/star%20trek%20quotable%20capt%20women.jpg)? \*\*Picard \*\* has some sort of social anxiety disorder that revolves exclusively around children. Infantaphobia? Also he’s not too great with the ladies. \*\*Worf \*\* had intermittent explosive disorder. \*\*Geordi \*\* suffered from an erotomanic obsession with the ship’s designer. \*\*Bones’ \*\* chronic irritability might have been a harmless character trait or a symptom of depression. Or drug abuse - maybe he was secretly hypospraying himself with narcotics. ---
**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 13, 2005, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618/71 "2005-08-13T08:58:45Z")
**Han Solo** has a problem with authority. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-diagnose-a-character-with-a-mental-illness/316618.md?page=3)