Anakin Skywalker, the Star Wars character who became Darth Vader, had borderline personality disorder, psychiatrists report.

The news comes not from a galaxy far, far away, but from San Diego, where the American Psychiatric Association (APA) is holding its 160th annual meeting.

Experts from the psychiatric department at France’s University Hospital of Toulouse told the APA’s annual meeting that Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader could “clearly” be diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.

And the French experts could clearly be diagnosed with a case of idiocy. Besides who are the French to diagnose the mental illness of anyone. This is an entire culture based on the idea that Jerry Lewis is a genius and that they are a great nation.

Borderline personality disorder is a serious mental illness marked by instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image, and behavior, according to background information on the Web site of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

The French psychiatrists — who included Laurent Schmitt, M.D. — based their diagnosis on original Star Wars film scripts.

Schmitt’s team describes Skywalker’s symptoms, including problems with controlling anger and impulsivity, temporary stress-related paranoia, “frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment (when trying to save his wife at all costs), and a pattern of unstable and intense personal relationships,” including his relationships with his Jedi masters.

Changing his name and turning into “Darth Vader” is a red flag of Skywalker’s disturbed identity, note Schmitt and colleagues.

I would have thought that the real red flags would have been the various murders and betrayals, but hey I’m not a highly educated medical professional. If the doctors say that changing your name after being burnt to crisp losing all 4 limbs and being packed into disco suit with a Nazi helmet and a cassette player on the chest while having to drink through a straw and poop into a bag is the real danger sign, well hell I’ll believe em.

The researchers aren’t suggesting that real people with borderline personality disorder are Darth Vaders-in-the-making. Skywalker’s symptoms are an extreme, fictional case.

I don’t know. Given this overwhelming scientific evidence I say better safe than sorry. Round em all up.

Borderline personality disorder can be treated through psychotherapy and with medication. But that wasn’t part of Skywalker’s script.

How do we know? Maybe he just jedi mind crushed his therapists throat. He has been known to do that (another possible danger sign by the way).

via CBS WebMD

For what it’s worth I think he is more an Antisocial Personality than Borderline Personality and if I was still running an Aid Station that’s how I would assess him.

Humor, Star Wars, Movies

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007 at 7:06 am by Chad and is filed under Brilliant, but uncategorizable. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.