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14 Mar 2014, 7:44 pm

Is Sherlock Holmes an example of a person who has Bi Polar Disorder, or a Person who has Asperger Syndrome (Autism)?



Wind
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14 Mar 2014, 8:09 pm

Bipolar? Where did you get that from?

He has ASPD - He's a Sociopath.


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14 Mar 2014, 8:21 pm

No, he claims he's a sociopath, but he doesn't meet any of the diagnostic criteria for it. The most obvious example of this is his love for Watson and Mrs. Hudson; sociopaths are incapable of loving people or of feeling empathy. I have always thought Sherlock was a prime example of an aspie, with his obsessions, his unintentional bluntness, his stimming (watch his hands when he's thinking, his fingers twitch), even his meltdowns (the most obvious one being when he flipped out because Lestrade and his team effectively broke into his home on a "drugs bust" and started messing with his things and being too loud.) Then of course there was Watson's comment in The Hounds of Baskerville:

Lestrade: I'm sure he likes seeing us all back together again, appeals to his...

Watson: Asperger's?


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Last edited by StarTrekker on 15 Mar 2014, 1:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

linatet
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14 Mar 2014, 11:42 pm

Interesting question. The answer: neither.
http://wellingtongoose.tumblr.com/post/ ... ism-thanks. -> this site explains everything. There are pages for lots or conditions associated with character analysis. In this particular link first half is all about autism representation in the media, the second is of experts words on whether Sherlock has aspergers or not.
as startrekker said, he is far from being a sociopath. It looks like he wanted to be able to ignore his empathy and feelings but he can't, he truly isn't a sociopath.
but he doesn't meet the criteria for aspergers either. Check this other page: http://wellingtongoose.tumblr.com/post/ ... /sherlock3 -> they go through all the diagnostic criteria considering the Sherlock case.
the closest diagnosis would be schizoid, but even still... If he were a real person he wouldn't receive any diagnosis because he is not impaired, he functions just fine and is okay like that. -> h



jdbob
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15 Mar 2014, 12:49 am

StarTrekker wrote:
The most obvious example of this is his love for Watson and Mrs. Hudson


Especially for Watson

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0LCvd4zCII[/youtube]



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15 Mar 2014, 1:37 am

jdbob wrote:
StarTrekker wrote:
The most obvious example of this is his love for Watson and Mrs. Hudson


Especially for Watson

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0LCvd4zCII[/youtube]


LMAO I have no idea what that was, but it was hilarious.


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15 Mar 2014, 2:46 am

How could he be ASD?
If the writers aren't and the actor isn't, how could they hope to replicate such complex and decidedly non-Hollywood starlet ultra-socialite behavior?
Polar opposites.


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15 Mar 2014, 8:27 am

I haven't seen much of the show, but my impression is that he's just a highly intelligent, self-centered, arrogant douchebag.

Quoted from one of the links above:

"His bad manner and general rudeness are not signs of Asperger’s Syndrome. My very real patients have all sorts of different personalities, the vast majority of them are: polite, considerate and well mannered people. They work very hard to be socially accepted. I have yet to meet a patient with Asperger’s who behaves anywhere near as appallingly as Sherlock."



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15 Mar 2014, 9:30 am

I think in the BBC version he is meant to have some degree of Asperger syndrome, they already mentioned it in a episode of Sherlock. With the wedding it kind of shows how much he does not fit in socially, I found that quite upsetting especially with john getting married but he just can't have relationships in the same way.

But in the books Bipolar does fit him more.



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15 Mar 2014, 9:36 am

To whoever mentioned Schizoid, that would actually make sense. I'm fortunate enough to have had friends online with Schizoid Personality Disorder to learn about it (I like to learn about mental health disorders, considering I have some myself, instead of just relying on Wikipedia and such), and Sherlock definitely seems to tick all the boxes.

My bet is now Schizoid.


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foxfield
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15 Mar 2014, 1:46 pm

A cardboard image of a tree on the set of a play is not really a tree. But it has enough culturally understood characteristics of a tree (rounded green top, brown stem) that the audience recognize it as a tree and understand it as such.
Thus, in the fictional universe in which the tree belongs, it is a tree.

Like the cardboard tree, Sherlock's Asperger's may not be a complete and accurate scientific representation. But non the less he has enough culturally understood characteristics of Aspergers that he is recognized by the audience as having Aspergers. Thus, in the fictional universe in which Sherlock lives, Sherlock has Aspergers.



linatet
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15 Mar 2014, 3:39 pm

foxfield wrote:
A cardboard image of a tree on the set of a play is not really a tree. But it has enough culturally understood characteristics of a tree (rounded green top, brown stem) that the audience recognize it as a tree and understand it as such.
Thus, in the fictional universe in which the tree belongs, it is a tree.

Like the cardboard tree, Sherlock's Asperger's may not be a complete and accurate scientific representation. But non the less he has enough culturally understood characteristics of Aspergers that he is recognized by the audience as having Aspergers. Thus, in the fictional universe in which Sherlock lives, Sherlock has Aspergers.

I don't agree with that, particularly because considering a card box as a tree has no implications for real people in real life, differently from considering a character has a disorder they don't. If the audience doesn't know what a disorder really is like and think a character has it, it doesn't mean the character actually has it, and actually this association could be harmful.
I am not saying that people shouldn't identify with the character though. Not only aspies identify with Sherlock but also schizoids, bipolars, nt's etc and this is great.



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15 Mar 2014, 3:41 pm

I don't know what he is, but he does well at his job.


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