Melody_Time

OK, so we all know Twilight Sparkle can go a little... Crazy, sometimes. And I've seen multiple posts about Twilight Sparkle that have "diagnosed" her with several disorders; I've read many articles that are surprisingly well-put-together. The crazy thing is, I've read people who argue the cases of everything from OCD to Aspergers to Schizophrenia. And while there are good arguments, it just surprises me that these (less common) disorders have been associated with her, when there is a much more common diagnosis that jumped out at me right away. About 6.8 million american adults are diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. It's twice as common in women then it is in men. I've lived with it my entire life; and the moment I saw Twilight Sparkle, the symptoms jumped out at me. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is characterized by excessive worry about everyday things. And it's not just that; symptoms include pretty much anything you can connect with being nervous or afraid. From trouble falling asleep to muscle aches and pains (from being so tense all the time), it can be a doozy. Whether or not she experiences some more personal symptoms (such as nausea or headaches) we don't know; but she does exhibit at least these three symptoms; *Difficulty sleeping (Like in "It's about time", "Bridle Gossip", "Winter Wrap-Up", and "Lesson Zero") *Expecting the worst (The test in"The Crystal Empire", her deadline in "Lesson Zero", assuming her friends will hate her in "Boast Busters" and both the schedule and the warning in "It's about Time") *Irritability (Even though Twilight is sometimes cynical and often sarcastic, she still can be grumpy or snappish at innapropriate times; if people invalidate her fears, for instance). And, of course, Twilight has a tendency to worry more then is necessary, which causes trouble for her. She's had more then one episode dedicated to it, "Lesson Zero" and "It's About Time" being the two ones I know of (though I've just started season three today). She's always afraid that if she doesn't do PERFECTLY, she'll fail, and her life will be over. She worries constantly about the future and tries too hard to control it (though as we learned at the end of "It's about time", she now realizes she has a problem). Her mind goes to crazy places; she drives herself insane thinking about every possible "what if". And her ideas may seem kind of delusional; but with GAD, your mind leaps from "missed deadline" to "life ending" pretty quickly. And if nobody else will help you to calm down, panic gets out of control really fast. As for the fact that she didn't make friends before living in Ponyville; it seems to me like the problem wasn't that she COULDN'T make friends, it was that she didn't WANT to. When she was a young filly, she had a goal to achieve; master magic. She was (and is) afraid that if she wasn't the "best", she would be an utter failure. There was no in-between. It's really one of the key personality traits that LEADS to somebody having GAD; putting pressure on yourself to perform, and then worrying that you won't. Because of this lack of social interactions with ponies her age, she now has a tendency to be a little socially awkard (being afraid that people are secretly judging you probably doesn't help). One could also argue that she DID have friends; Cadence and Shining Armor. Because she had an EXCUSE to have a friendship with them, and was able to label it as something different, she didn't have to feel guilty that she wasn't studying and in her mind it was ok. It probably helped that they were older. I may not be a psychiatrist, but speaking from experience, Twilight Sparkle is, in essence, the poster child for GAD. Her personality fits the bill, she exhibits the symptoms. And most of all, she exhibits this consistently through the entire series. It isn't just one or two episodes that have an example; she's always shown to be hyper-organized and worrying. It's just how she comes, and she manages its ups and downs with everything else. All-in-all, it makes me really happy to see her with this "mental illness". It's something that a LOT of people deal with and I'm just glad that it seems to finally be getting the accurate, relatable portrayal it deserves. So, what do you guys think? Do you like my analysis, or have I got her pegged all wrong? Do you have a differing opinion you'd like to offer? I'd love to hear from other people; but mostly, I am just happy to see my opinion released onto the internet (where it will likely never see the light of day! Yay!). Thank you for reading!