We all know the story of Anakin Skywalker and his eventual turn towards the Dark Side, the path that led him to become Darth Vader. What led him down that path though? It wasn't the fault of the Force. Anakin chose the path of the dark side. What made him choose it?
According to a team of French researchers, it was the fact that Anakin appears to have suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).
'He presented impulsivity and difficulty controlling his anger and alternated between idealisation and devaluation (of his Jedi mentors). Permanently afraid of losing his wife, he made frantic efforts to avoid her abandonment and went as far as betraying his former Jedi companions. He also experienced two dissociative episodes secondary to stressful events. One occurred after his mother's death, when he exterminated a whole tribe of Tuskan people, while the other one took place just after he turned to the dark side. He slaughtered all the Jedi younglings before voicing paranoid thoughts concerning his former mentor and his wife. Finally, the films depicted his quest to find himself, and his uncertainties about who he was. Turning to the dark side and changing his name could be interpreted as a sign of identity disturbance.'
And all this time I just thought Anakin was a whiny little bitch. I guess this explains why I only have a Bachelor's degree in Psychology, and didn't go on to get a PhD. I guess it's a good thing then that I'm not a practicing therapist. Who knows how many people I would have led down the path of the dark side.
(Thanks go to Mike Noyes for pointing this article out to me. The comic strip above is by Dave GRaff. I'd direct link you to his website, but I keep getting a virus warning every time I go there)
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