Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

Luuuke, I Need a Doctor …


DarthVader.jpgHave you ever wondered what really caused Darth Vader to turn to the dark side? Maybe not. But there’s new research that points to an answer. And it has nothing to do with the Force.

French psychiatrists have studied Anakin Skywalker’s cinematic metamorphosis into the nasty piece of work who caused Luke’s daddy issues and my screaming at a second-grade Halloween party. Thanks to their work, we now know the psychological condition he was probably suffering from: borderline personality disorder.

Psychiatrist Eric Bui says that Anakin exhibited six out of the nine criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Only five are needed for a borderline personality disorder diagnosis. With problems such as impulsivity, violent outbursts, illusions of grandeur and a crisis of identity, young Anakin was a prime candidate for this psychological malady. Being fatherless and being separated from his mother at a young age further predisposed the lad to this condition, the researchers concluded.

Why all the investigation into a fictional villain’s problems, you ask? Well, it turns out that a growing number of doctors are trying to educate people about mental health issues using famous characters whose stories they’re already familiar with. Some doctors also want to take things a step further by examining how mental illness is portrayed in the media, and by studying how those portrayals correctly or incorrectly inform public attitudes toward mental health.

The French psychiatrists’ findings will be published in an upcoming journal of Psychiatry Research.

As for me, I’m just glad I can finally look Vader in the eye (or the mask, I should say) without wilting. The destigmatization of people’s mental health concerns is a happy bonus.