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Psychopathy in Westeros


Éadaoin

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I would appreciate the input of people who know what they're talking about on this. ;)

Now, in the past I have labelled some characters as sociopathic or psychopathic, and have seen others do the same. Obviously I'm not a medical professional and it was more of a casual assessment - I would never attempt to diagnose a real person because I don't have the knowledge or authority.

But the concept interests me. Do you think it would be possible for a psychiatrist to sit down with a Westerosi citizen and potentially give them an ASPD diagnosis? (As I understand it, sociopath and psychopath do not tend to be formally used - correct me if I'm wrong.) Or is their world so different from ours that it renders our understanding of the concept of ASPD not applicable to their circumstances?

And just for fun, (lol) who would you name as having sociopathic/psychopathic traits in Westeros, and who do you think is an all-out sociopath or psychopath? Using sociopath/psychopath here because some people are not familiar with ASPD.

We're not formally diagnosing anyone here, obviously - just wanted to see people's thoughts.

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I do not think LF is definately a psychopath.

Clearly feels emotions very strongly as his charachter history is built on his rejection.

He seems to enjoy watching Nobles quabble and war which suggests his motives stem from his emotions towards them. He clearly learns from experience. He has very strong behavioural control and has no outbursts of violence.

He does however meet a lot of the characther of being a liar, manipulator etc. I would say he is 50/50

Cersei is definately not a psycho. She is clearly able to feel a wide variety of emotions. Love for children, followed by sexual love for her brother are the most obvious. However pride, anger and hatred are also made clear. She is not impulsive or irresponsible and has no behaviour issues. She is simply a product of her era. A coddled noble looking down on the world

The only obvious psychopath to me in the series is Joffrey. He is described as charming and nice however that is only surface deep. He has absolutly no emotion and his decisions are ruled by impulse and tend to be unpredictably violent. The only thing he lacks is a high intelligence (linked to manipulation etc).

I don't know enough about gregor to comment. Nor really Ramsey/

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Ramsay, Joffrey, Gregor and Cersei (Melara) are definitely psychopaths.

Cersei is not a pscyopath-she has some stunted conscience that occasionally mutters. She is cruel yes and unheeding of others but she is not-as I understand the term-a psycopath.

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The only obvious psychopath to me in the series is Joffrey. He is described as charming and nice however that is only surface deep. He has absolutly no emotion and his decisions are ruled by impulse and tend to be unpredictably violent. The only thing he lacks is a high intelligence (linked to manipulation etc).

I don't know enough about gregor to comment. Nor really Ramsey/

I thought people considered psychopaths could feel emotion? I thought it was empathy that they lacked. Someone clarify this for me, please ;)

I think Joffrey would be too young to be considered to have ASPD in our world, but I agree that for all intents and purposes, it fits.

Cersei is not a pscyopath-she has some stunted conscience that occasionally mutters. She is cruel yes and unheeding of others but she is not-as I understand the term-a psycopath.

Yes, I have to wonder if this is significant. I know someone with ASPD in real life and they've basically admitted to me that they don't have any shred of a conscience. I don't know if that is universal or not.

ETA: also I know I'm using psychopath and ASPD interchangeably here when I'm not sure if that is correct?

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Actually GRRM has made it very clear that none of his characters are "evil" in the strictest sense. But clearly we are seeing a well rounded group of characters from the ends of the clearly normal to highly abnormal spectrum.

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Cersei is not a pscyopath-she has some stunted conscience that occasionally mutters. She is cruel yes and unheeding of others but she is not-as I understand the term-a psycopath.

I consider Cersei's severe narcissism close to sociopathy. But I'm not a professional so...

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Littlefinger reminds me of Ted Bundy. All of this hate and coldness stemmed from a girl who rejected him. And then he just gets out of control.

Bastard beat me to it. Much like charming Ted he also has to have his revenge on the woman who rejected him while pretending he's doing nothing of the sort.

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pretty studies have shown psychopaths have been shown to the parts of the brain associated with emotion to be a lot less active or smaller.

Interesting. I will look that up, thanks.

Because he is actually intelligent.

It's that and his genial manner. I don't want to get into the subject of sanity vs. insanity, but he can seem so utterly "sane", and I don't want to believe a "sane" person would do some of the things he's done. Ah, my foolish hope in the goodness of people.

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Cersei fits the criteria the most from what I know about the condition.

Being a "killer" doesnt mean you fit this criteria, most true psychopaths are very intelligent and manipulative who think they can accomplish impossible things. They are also compulsive liars and over exaggerate their own abilities.

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