Darth Vader was mentally ill, in case you're wondering
Linda Dahlstrom writes: Apparently Darth Vader’s real problem was that he lacked a good therapist, say French psychiatrists and psychologists who, instead of working with an actual patient, used their diagnostic super powers to divine that the Dark Lord may have had a borderline personality. If he was real that is.
What’s more, they think he was on drugs, er, The Force, which they think maybe represents drugs somehow, according to an article in LiveScience. Additionally, they think his mental health issues were exactly why teens were attracted to the "Star Wars" movies -- they could relate because of their own borderline personality traits. Or maybe it was because of the cool special effects.
But why put the dude formerly known as Anakin Skywalker on the psychiatrist's couch now, more than three decades after he first picked up a light saber?
"I had watched the two prequel movies ["Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith"], and it was during my residency in psychiatry while trying to explain borderline personality disorder to medical students that I thought of Anakin," French psychiatrist Eric Bui told LiveScience.
Bui, a psychiatrist at Toulouse University Hospital in France, and colleagues describe their theory in a letter to be published in journal Psychiatric Research.
Bui says Vader’s diagnosis will help spread awareness -- maybe more people will seek help if they see a little Darth Vader in themselves. (No word on what to do if you lean more toward the sinister stylings of Dr. Evil from "Austin Powers.)
We here at The Body Odd posit that if psychiatrists were going to take a hard look at Mr. Vader, perhaps his real issue was an existential crisis because HE DOESN’T EXIST.
As for the researchers themselves, they may want to examine each other for delusional disorder, a condition where people confuse fiction with reality.
Did the Joker have multiple-personality disorder? Did Freddie Kruger have intermittent explosive disorder? Did Nosferatu have narcissistic personality disorder? Share what mental conditions you think afflicted your favorite villains.
