I am Jack's Armchair Psychologist
June 15, 2009 11:27 AM Subscribe
With what would psychologists diagnose different tv/film characters?
Dexter (of Dexter) would be diagnosed a sociopath; Monica (of Friends) is OCD; Dwight Shrute (of The Office) has Asperger's; etc.
In the hopes of shedding light on or unearthing the underpinnings of different characters' motivations (I've always felt strong writing encompasses a degree of reality without resorting to a suspension of disbelief), how would other well-known characters stack up against the DSM-IV under the scrutiny of psychoanalysis?
Dexter (of Dexter) would be diagnosed a sociopath; Monica (of Friends) is OCD; Dwight Shrute (of The Office) has Asperger's; etc.
In the hopes of shedding light on or unearthing the underpinnings of different characters' motivations (I've always felt strong writing encompasses a degree of reality without resorting to a suspension of disbelief), how would other well-known characters stack up against the DSM-IV under the scrutiny of psychoanalysis?
This post was deleted for the following reason: Yeah, no, armchair internet lay diagnosis of fictional characters is really pushing pretty far into chatty speculative stuff. -- cortex
I disagree, December, this is like the Ferris Bueller question and arguably has quantifiable answers.
Let's see...well, there's that new show with the woman who has Multiple Personality Disorder: United States of Tara.
posted by misha at 11:42 AM on June 15, 2009
Let's see...well, there's that new show with the woman who has Multiple Personality Disorder: United States of Tara.
posted by misha at 11:42 AM on June 15, 2009
I disagree that Dwight would be diagnosed with Asperger's (though these days, you could probably get anyone diagnosed with that label...), or that Monica would qualify for full-blown OCD. I think you need to distinguish between tendencies and diagnosable conditions.
As a counter-example, Slate, did an excellent write-up of Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory as having Asperger's. And the lead character on Monk has OCD.
posted by mkultra at 11:47 AM on June 15, 2009
As a counter-example, Slate, did an excellent write-up of Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory as having Asperger's. And the lead character on Monk has OCD.
posted by mkultra at 11:47 AM on June 15, 2009
I could never figure out what the contestants on shows like Flavor/Rock of Love and the housemates on later seasons of The Real World were all about. Everything looks different when you learn about Borderline Personality Disorder.
posted by mhum at 11:49 AM on June 15, 2009
posted by mhum at 11:49 AM on June 15, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by December at 11:31 AM on June 15, 2009