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Mental Illness Theory In Winnie The Pooh

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FluttercordAspie93
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06 Dec 2013, 9:03 pm

The source is here: The Mental Disorders of Winnie-the-Pooh Characters

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Winnie the Pooh: An article by the Canadian Medical Association diagnosed and identified him with three disorders based on the following behaviours:

-Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It is likely that he suffers from the inattentive subtype where a patient exhibits careless and indifferent behaviour towards his peers without exhibiting narcissism.
-Impulsivity with obsessive fixations. He is obsessed with honey. He grabs it everywhere he can and is even prepared to take risks in order to acquire it. This fixation has also contributed to his obesity.
-Obsessive-compulsive disorder: He is exhibits repetitive counting. On top of that, because he suffers from OCD in combination with ADHD which could eventually contribute to Tourette syndrome in later life.

Piglet: Generalized Anxiety Disorder. He may have suffered a significant self-esteem injury in the past which is causing him great stress, anxiety and general nervousness. He also suffers from a distinct speech impediment with his stuttering problem which might be related to the irrational anxiety he experiences.

Owl: Dyslexia. It is quite clear that he is a dyslectic. However, it should be said that he is extremely bright despite his disorder.

Tigger: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. He cannot control his hyperactivity. What is worse, he is prepared to try any substance or matter that comes along his path which could indicate a substance abuse problem. Also, he is extremely impulsive, which in turn could potentially make him a bad role model. Nevertheless, he is a social magnet but those drawn into him run the risk of getting themselves into trouble because of his questionable behaviour.

Kanga Roo: Social Anxiety Disorder. Specifically, overprotective mothering. She is clearly obsessed with controlling her young and will let them to make decisions, make mistakes, grant them any time on their own etcetera. This is commonly know as suffocation.

Rabbit: Obsessive-compulsive disorder. He over-organizes and is obsessed with order and method. Also, for a male character, he behaves very feminine. Which in most cases would direct your classification of his character towards homosexuality. However, it must be noted of course, that this is merely an observation of his character and not classified as a disorder of any kind.

Eeyore: Depressive Disorder. He has a major general downcast and negative outlook on life which render him incapable of experiencing emotions like joy and excitement. He could be a major depressive.

Christopher Robin: Schizophrenia. The imagination of Robin often manifests itself through auditory hallucinations where all of the above mentioned characters are formed in his mind. It is very likely that these characters represent feelings he experiences in his internal world. Since he is a child, he is still learning how to function socially and interact with the external world. Each character could represent a different reaction or feeling within himself as he learns to cope and deal with that extra world.


You can this as seriously, or unseriously as you want.

I'd personally just take this with a grain of salt.



Meistersinger
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06 Dec 2013, 10:04 pm

Leave it the mental health professionals to diagnose fictional characters from a children's story. This is about as bad as psychiatrists diagnosing God as bipolar. Next thing you know, parents will want anything by A. a. Milne taken off the library shelves (as if libraries don't have enough troubles, starting with the FBI wanting to know what the library's patrons are reading.)



IdahoRose
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07 Dec 2013, 2:28 am

I think that the analysis for Christopher Robin is way off-base. Frankly I am really tired of everybody thinking that people who have active imaginations must have something "wrong" with them (at best they'll call it loneliness, and at worst they'll call it schizophrenia, which is what happened in this case). I wished we lived in a society where having an active imagination was celebrated instead of being treated like a disease.



JoeDaBro
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07 Dec 2013, 6:17 am

Meistersinger wrote:
Leave it the mental health professionals to diagnose fictional characters from a children's story. This is about as bad as psychiatrists diagnosing God as bipolar. Next thing you know, parents will want anything by A. a. Milne taken off the library shelves (as if libraries don't have enough troubles, starting with the FBI wanting to know what the library's patrons are reading.)

It's just like Game Theory, this thread is, exept without MatPat's mad photoshop skillz and humor and with a movie instead of games.



FluttercordAspie93
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07 Dec 2013, 11:15 am

IdahoRose wrote:
I think that the analysis for Christopher Robin is way off-base. Frankly I am really tired of everybody thinking that people who have active imaginations must have something "wrong" with them (at best they'll call it loneliness, and at worst they'll call it schizophrenia, which is what happened in this case). I wished we lived in a society where having an active imagination was celebrated instead of being treated like a disease.


Can't say that I believe he has it, either...

Honesty, I thought some of the stuff in this article was a little silly... I guess I wanted to post it here because I wanted to see how others would react to it.



KagamineLen
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07 Dec 2013, 3:26 pm

Did somebody get paid to write that?

OK, buy me a root beer, and I'll tell you that it's a work of fiction that is loaded with characters that were never intended to be psychoanalyzed.



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07 Dec 2013, 5:44 pm

Owl has dementia,pooh has an eating disorder,Kanga and Roo,split personality. :D


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HereBeDragons
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11 Dec 2013, 5:12 pm

:lol:


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GoonSquad
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11 Dec 2013, 5:18 pm

I have textbooks that reference Eyore as an example of major depressive disorder... Really.


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Mootoo
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12 Dec 2013, 8:59 pm

Eeyore though was, I thought, the most obvious example of a depressive.

KagamineLen, by the way, such a cute avatar!



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13 Dec 2013, 8:08 pm

Just saw in the news today that James Bond is an alcoholic.
Well, blimey. Really?

"Hi, my name is James, ermm, and I'm an alcoholic."
Group responds, "Hi James."
"Well, yes, thanks. Oh sure it's been fun and all that. I only wish I could tell you the details, but as with many of you I thought of myself as a success when really I was dining my life away."


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25 Jan 2014, 10:15 pm

I think this is all very stupid and an insult to Winnie-the-Pooh fans everywhere, but maybe I'm taking it too seriously? But really, like I'm sure that's what went through A.A. Milne's mind when he wrote the stories: Let's tell my only son some stories about a tiger with ADHD and an owl with dyslexia. :roll:

Anyway, I don't think Christopher Robin has schizophrenia because most schizophrenia hallucinations are beyond terrifying, and Pooh Bear and his other friends would be probably trying to kill and eat him, like that little girl with all the animals she named after days of the week on 20/20, and her parents thought at first they were just imaginary friends, but imaginary friends don't normally act like your enemies and control you instead of the other way around.

Some people think the Count from Sesame Street has OCD, but I don't think he does because he loooves to count things, and people with OCD *hate* their obsessions. Unless he's just very good at hiding all his pain and misery, he is a vampire after all. :)



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26 Jan 2014, 12:04 am

I love it when mental health professionals diagnose fictional characters! I thought Tigger's possible substance abuse was particularly funny. :lol:


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mr_bigmouth_502
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29 Jan 2014, 5:32 am

Kraichgauer wrote:
I love it when mental health professionals diagnose fictional characters! I thought Tigger's possible substance abuse was particularly funny. :lol:


I do too, actually. It makes them seem even more screwed-up and fascinating! :D I once came across a good analysis of the main six from MLP: FiM, though I can't recall where I can find it.



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30 Jan 2014, 10:13 pm

IdahoRose wrote:
I think that the analysis for Christopher Robin is way off-base. Frankly I am really tired of everybody thinking that people who have active imaginations must have something "wrong" with them (at best they'll call it loneliness, and at worst they'll call it schizophrenia, which is what happened in this case). I wished we lived in a society where having an active imagination was celebrated instead of being treated like a disease.


I totally agree with you. I would never think of Christopher Robin as a Schizophrenic: he's obviously just a kid with an active imagination. I mean, he's only 3-6 in Winnie-the-Pooh stories. I had lots of imaginary friends when I was younger, and I still have a very active imagination. Imagination creates the inventions that move our society forward, along with all the stories we love (such as Winnie-the-Pooh).



persian85033
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31 Jan 2014, 8:59 am

Very...interesting.


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