#all readings are technically valid including stuff the author didn't necessarily intend | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

caligvlasaqvarivm · 5 months ago

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wanna ask how you feel about the eridan bpd headcanon/theory(?? not sure what to call it!) you're so good at your character analysis and i'd love to see your outlook on it

Since I don't have a degree or any formal training in psychology, I feel deeply uncomfortable diagnosing characters. I've made an autism joke before but only because I'm on the spectrum. He's definitely traumatized and anxious, but I mean those as descriptors of his behavior rather than capital-D Diagnoses. I try to focus on those when I can - the cause and effect of cognition, self-image, and behavior - and those factors may very well match up with DSM criteria, but I try not to touch an actual diagnosis with a ten foot pole unless the author has explicitly stated that X character has Y condition.

#there's a variety of reasons for this #part of it is that im GROSSLY unqualified to be handing out diagnoses when it takes a full on PhD to do that in real life #part of it is that psychology is inchoate and we are still very much in murky waters #for example: complex ptsd isn't even IN the DSM yet #and iirc my therapist told me it was because theyre still figuring out how to classify it (attachment disorder? trauma disorder? etc.)#part of it is that (from my limited and undereducated understanding) there are diagnoses that you can assign by completing a checklist...#but some that require a hell of a lot more testing and ruling out other potential causes #and the cluster-b personalities are (IIRC) not even ones you're supposed to diagnose minors with #bc of fears of self fulfilling prophecy and because minors in general are still developing personalities In General #and like the fact that i can't say that with authority speaks to how unqualified i am to do any diagnosing right? hahaha #and part of it is just because like #unless the story is specifically About That and the author has stated so explicitly #i think diagnosing characters tends to put blinders on analysis #like if i were to seriously go 'eridan is autistic' then it would massively bias my reading and understanding of his character #and we have 0 indication that eridan was ever explicitly intended to be autistic or that the author was trying to do an autism specifically #that doesn't mean that the reading is invalid because like thats what death of the author means #all readings are technically valid including stuff the author didn't necessarily intend #but that's just not the way i like to engage with media and not the way i like to approach character analysis #because PERSONALLY it just feels kind of reductive - but also -#i'd wager MOST of us don't have degrees in psychology #so when i say 'X character has Y condition' it might mean something totally different to somebody reading my analysis #even people who have Y condition aren't exempt because a lot of mental illnesses differ from person to person #whereas if i explain “X character has Y thoughts and Z behaviors” there's no ambiguity in that #eridan struggles with noticing that people are suffering and with realizing that he should care #at least part of this is due to his horrific murder-filled upbringing which rendered empathy a detriment & so he learned to ignore it #it could be autism - but it could also be trauma -#or he might just be Like That without actually meeting the diagnostic criteria for autism #& you can't even technically be diagnosed with C-PTSD #or maybe he has a burgeoning personality disorder but you aren't supposed to DX those too early anyway #or maybe hes just 13. see what i mean hahaha. ive reached the 30 tag limit

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