The Psychology of Darth Vader Revealed

It looks like studying the ‘Star Wars’ character Darth Vader could help researchers study personality disorders in adults and help determine what causes mental illness.

In the movie, young Darth Vader or Anakin Skywalker was seperated from his mother at an early age. This coupled with the fact that his father was absent led to a severe personality disorder or “dysfunctional experiences of self” that is found in many of today’s youth lacking a strong parental presence.


Following a long tradition of providing vaguely pointless diagnosis to fictional characters, a group of French psychologists have determined that Anakin Skywalker may have suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder – which is, according to the DSM, “a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image and affects, as well as marked impulsivity, beginning by early adulthood.” The disorder has to fit five of nine specified contexts, like “frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment,” “identity disturbance,” and “inappropriate anger.” Anakin hits six out of nine. According to LiveScience, the psychologists’ memo on the diagnosis is appearing as a letter to the editor in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Psychiatry Research.
"I had watched the two prequel movies ["Attack of the Clones" and "Revenge of the Sith"], and it was during my residency in psychiatry while trying to explain borderline personality disorder to medical students that I thought of Anakin," said Eric Bui, a psychiatrist at Toulouse University Hospital in France.