Mental Health - Pinkie Pie

[Pinkazoid 3,493]

Ehhhhhh... I doubt she has any sort of mental disorder, it's just her personality, I don't think there's anything more than that :3

[lardbobobo 1,591]

Well pffftt I feel dumb for not knowing this thread existed. It would have stopped me from writing this massive 8 page analysis I did which you can find here.

 

To sum up what I said, Pinkie Pie's not as crazy as she seems. Her episode in the party of one was actually normal and conforms to all standard grieving criteria. She does however fit somewhere on the ADHD spectrum and Autism spectrum, so I diagnosed her with PDD-NOS and ADHD-NOS.

 

Other than that she's perfectly fine, and these two disorders aren't really even disorders in my opinion.

[King Tryndamere 100]

Pinkie is an alien, how do you think she managed to break the fourth wall so often, or pull things out of nowhere xD

 

All kidding aside though, I think she's mostly naive, and a bit schizophrenic or bipolar. That said, there's still no better friend than Pinkie (even if she is sometimes annoying)

[Ganondox 899]

Ehhhhhh... I doubt she has any sort of mental disorder, it's just her personality, I don't think there's anything more than that :3

I'm going to point out something now, the line between "mental disorder" and "personality" boils down to one thing and one thing alone: It the mental state causes some sort of dificulty either for the person or the people around them. Therefor two people could in theory be neurologically the same, but because of their different environments one would have a disorder and the other would not. 

Edited April 28, 2013 by Ganondox

[Zerobot 179]

She spent the first several years of her life doing lonesome, repetitive, sad, boring work. She never smiled. That side of her is still buried inside her, and she tries to ignore it and forget about it by surrounding herself with friends and more smiles. Some people would say this is a poor method, or that she's ignoring the problem, but it has pretty much worked. Up until Party of One she was still working under the assumption that she needed to keep her friends entertained, lest they grow tired of her and leave her. After Party of One though it's safe to assume she has successfully taken on the role of "happy". She's sad every now and then, but it's unlikely it will be on the level of Party of One again because she is convinced that her friends will always be there for her, and that she'll always be needed because all of Ponyville relies on her to keep their spirits high. I wouldn't say she is/was schizo or depressed, or has any other mental problems like that. She is/was just afraid of being alone again, and got really scared when it looked like it was happening. I don't think that's all too irrational.

 

Hmm a lot of people think she actually has a disorder.

You know what I think is the scariest thing about pinkie pie?

I think she is perfectly sane.

 

Exactly this. It's isn't actually that difficult to find motives behind her every action, considering she's aware that making other ponies laugh is her role in life.

[Scootalove 10,684]

Pinkie Pie is more of the hyperactive and very insane type when it came to breaking the fourth wall. I think that, she is a good character even when her sanity is getting out of reach but it is not like she is crazy.

[Ganondox 899]

She spent the first several years of her life doing lonesome, repetitive, sad, boring work. She never smiled. That side of her is still buried inside her, and she tries to ignore it and forget about it by surrounding herself with friends and more smiles. Some people would say this is a poor method, or that she's ignoring the problem, but it has pretty much worked. Up until Party of One she was still working under the assumption that she needed to keep her friends entertained, lest they grow tired of her and leave her. After Party of One though it's safe to assume she has successfully taken on the role of "happy". She's sad every now and then, but it's unlikely it will be on the level of Party of One again because she is convinced that her friends will always be there for her, and that she'll always be needed because all of Ponyville relies on her to keep their spirits high. I wouldn't say she is/was schizo or depressed, or has any other mental problems like that. She is/was just afraid of being alone again, and got really scared when it looked like it was happening. I don't think that's all too irrational.

 

 

Exactly this. It's isn't actually that difficult to find motives behind her every action, considering she's aware that making other ponies laugh is her role in life.

 

You know, with most psychiatric disorders people don't act randomly, they clearly work according to motive schemes just like everyone else that is usually just as rationale as anyone else (people aren't that rational) if you understand the mental process. I think if it isn't than it's a thought disorder. If there is a detachment from reality, which I think is what you think when you think of mental illness, than it's psychosis, which is only present in a few disorders.  

[An Old Head 4,815]

It's definitely not Borderline Personality Disorder. BPD is substantially different to Pinkie Pie; I've chatted with a sufferer of BPD, and in fact my own psychologist told me a few tales of some BPD clients.

 

Sufferers of BPD constantly switch back and forth between good mood and surly mood. They feel unstable about their place of mind, and their impulsive behaviour comes from trying to satisfy this. Their mood changes with no trigger. Pinkie Pie has changed her attitude towards life only once, ever, and that occasion was similar to a panic attack that anyone would have. Her impulsive behaviour is not owed to an imbalance of emotions, because there is a trigger that leads her to feeling down.

 

Additionally, while BPD sufferers will more often than not manipulate their loved ones into staying with them out of their fear of abandonment, Pinkie Pie just outright fears abandonment, no mental orientation involved.

 

As I've said with the subject of Twilight having Asperger's, one may have some traits of a disorder, but it doesn't mean they have it.

Edited April 28, 2013 by Flipturn ツ

[Stormwind 53]

Its probably a combination of Borderline personality disorder, ADHD, and stress induced schizophrenia. These would explain her normal antics and when she snaps. However i also think she is a genius. I dont mean just smart, i mean she would score above a 160 on an IQ test. She has an uncanny memory and ability to think outside of the box. Pinkie also sees the world through a different lens, interpreting situations solely based on her perceptions and not understanding the thought processes of her friends. This could point to a form of Asperger's syndrome, which is usually characterized by the inability to empathize with or understand others/normal thought processes and becoming extremely interested in a subject area or just brilliant in general.

[An Old Head 4,815]

Its probably a combination of Borderline personality disorder, ADHD, and stress induced schizophrenia. These would explain her normal antics and when she snaps. However i also think she is a genius. I dont mean just smart, i mean she would score above a 160 on an IQ test. She has an uncanny memory and ability to think outside of the box. Pinkie also sees the world through a different lens, interpreting situations solely based on her perceptions and not understanding the thought processes of her friends. This could point to a form of Asperger's syndrome, which is usually characterized by the inability to empathize with or understand others/normal thought processes and becoming extremely interested in a subject area or just brilliant in general.

 

I can tell you right now that Pinkie Pie does not have Asperger's.

• Asperger's syndrome entails social awkwardness or lack of desire to make friends. Pinkie Pie is the social butterfly of town, is friends with everyone, and even has a job as a party hoster. Completely defies that trait of Asperger's.
• Asperger's syndrome entails a love of orderliness and things to happen in routine. Pinkie is far too extemporaneous to ever embody this. She is also never seen repeating things; she's a creative, always coming up with new and imaginative things to entertain others with. If she had Asperger's, she would use the same gags over and over.
• Asperger's syndrome entails sole interest in one specific field. Pinkie Pie is a multi-talent; she's skilled at baking, party hosting, ice skating, sprinting, singing, sociality, contortion, loads of others. It's the total opposite.
• Asperger's syndrome entails doing something with logic as the axle; Pinkie Pie will almost always act with other's emotions as the axle.
• Asperger's syndrome entails ineptitude at facial recognition, and ineptitude at breaking out of their own thoughts. Pinkie Pie both remembers every single pony's face in town, and she has the most spacial awareness of pretty much any pony.

I could go on forever, but yeah. Pinkie Pie definitely doesn't have Asperger's. I have it; I'm nowhere near like Pinkie.

 

Additionally, for reasons I've outlined above, she does not have BPD. Schizophrenia would only ever apply to Pinkamena, which can already be equated to a panic attack or a moment of insanity that anyone could have, not just schizophrenics. ADHD is definitely possible; I mean, Pinkie Pie is as hyperactive as anypony could be. But unlike ADHD patients, she can control her spontaneity when needed; the avalanche in Dragonshy, the following of others in Party of One, and especially the paint test in Too Many Pinkie Pies. An ADHD patient unconditionally distracts themselves; Pinkie Pie simply has boundless energy.

[Guest]

Disregarding that fact that we're talking about an eccentric cartoon pony and her mental eccentricities are there purely for flavor, I'd say she has ADHD but is otherwise normal, as for the hallucinations and stuff, that was simply caused by stress/mental trauma, and her trying to find a way to deal with reality.

[Ganondox 899]

I can tell you right now that Pinkie Pie does not have Asperger's.

• Asperger's syndrome entails social awkwardness or lack of desire to make friends. Pinkie Pie is the social butterfly of town, is friends with everyone, and even has a job as a party hoster. Completely defies that trait of Asperger's.
• Asperger's syndrome entails a love of orderliness and things to happen in routine. Pinkie is far too extemporaneous to ever embody this. She is also never seen repeating things; she's a creative, always coming up with new and imaginative things to entertain others with. If she had Asperger's, she would use the same gags over and over.
• Asperger's syndrome entails sole interest in one specific field. Pinkie Pie is a multi-talent; she's skilled at baking, party hosting, ice skating, sprinting, singing, sociality, contortion, loads of others. It's the total opposite.
• Asperger's syndrome entails doing something with logic as the axle; Pinkie Pie will almost always act with other's emotions as the axle.
• Asperger's syndrome entails ineptitude at facial recognition, and ineptitude at breaking out of their own thoughts. Pinkie Pie both remembers every single pony's face in town, and she has the most spacial awareness of pretty much any pony.

I could go on forever, but yeah. Pinkie Pie definitely doesn't have Asperger's. I have it; I'm nowhere near like Pinkie.

 

Additionally, for reasons I've outlined above, she does not have BPD. Schizophrenia would only ever apply to Pinkamena, which can already be equated to a panic attack or a moment of insanity that anyone could have, not just schizophrenics. ADHD is definitely possible; I mean, Pinkie Pie is as hyperactive as anypony could be. But unlike ADHD patients, she can control her spontaneity when needed; the avalanche in Dragonshy, the following of others in Party of One, and especially the paint test in Too Many Pinkie Pies. An ADHD patient unconditionally distracts themselves; Pinkie Pie simply has boundless energy.

 

I'd agree that she doesn't fit the AS profile, but your interpretation of AS is limited only to the extreme, and only to a certain personality type as well. Autism is considered a spectrum disorder for a reason. Also, despite not being AS she does appear that she might lie within the autistic spectrum under PDD-NOS, this guy explains it: http://mlpforums.com/topic/34141-help-find-out-why-pinkie-is-loco-in-her-coco/#entry1412642

Edited April 29, 2013 by Ganondox

[An Old Head 4,815]

I'd agree that she doesn't fit the AS profile, but your interpretation of AS is limited only to the extreme, and only to a certain personality type as well. Autism is considered a spectrum disorder for a reason. Also, despite not being AS she does appear that she might lie within the autistic spectrum under PDD-NOS, this guy explains it: http://mlpforums.com/topic/34141-help-find-out-why-pinkie-is-loco-in-her-coco/#entry1412642

 

I have Asperger's syndrome myself, as do several members of my family and several people at school; my interpretation of AS is a posteriori. I'm well aware that autism is a spectrum disorder, but Asperger's covers only one part of the spectrum; any minor deviation from AS that is still autistic would be in the same area of the spectrum.

 

I've also read the guy you linked me to; it was hard to take him seriously after he stated Pinkie to have Asperger's, even less so when he stated that Asperger's patients are awkward yet social - which is completely false. PDD-NOS is one of the broadest diagnoses there is; saying Pinkie Pie has it is both a stretch and sensible, but so is diagnosing anyone else with it.

 

The reason I'm declining the idea that she has anything significantly impairing in terms of disorders, is because I'm 99% sure that Pinkie Pie's writers didn't sit down with that sort of character element in mind. Pinkie Pie was written to be a delightful social butterfly, not a patient.

[Ganondox 899]

I have Asperger's syndrome myself, as do several members of my family and several people at school; my interpretation of AS is a posteriori. I'm well aware that autism is a spectrum disorder, but Asperger's covers only one part of the spectrum; any minor deviation from AS that is still autistic would be in the same area of the spectrum.

 

I've also read the guy you linked me to; it was hard to take him seriously after he stated Pinkie to have Asperger's, even less so when he stated that Asperger's patients are awkward yet social - which is completely false. PDD-NOS is one of the broadest diagnoses there is; saying Pinkie Pie has it is both a stretch and sensible, but so is diagnosing anyone else with it.

 

The reason I'm declining the idea that she has anything significantly impairing in terms of disorders, is because I'm 99% sure that Pinkie Pie's writers didn't sit down with that sort of character element in mind. Pinkie Pie was written to be a delightful social butterfly, not a patient.

As do I. "If you've an aspie you've meant an aspie." Anyway, just as someone doesn't necessarily have a disorder because they have some of the traits, someone doesn't need all of the traits to be diagnosed with the disorder. Diagnoses trends probably vary from place to place as people vary from place to place, maybe a lot of people diagnosed with AS should have been diagnosed with PDD-NOS, I don't know. 

 

I sort of face-palmed at the aspergers is like autism only social part too, though for some reason that myth appears to be fairly wide spread. If anything one thing that can distinguish AS from Schizoid Personality Disorder is that in SPD there is no desire to socialize, while in AS there usually is some desire to do so, but it's difficult. Anyway, his analysis isn't 100% accurate, but it's still interesting and his conclusion works.

 

Oh come on, it's no fun to say the character's aren't meant to have anything and are just cartoonized.  If you ignore the cartoon effect it's obvious Pinkie isn't "normal". Maybe she doesn't technically have a disorder because despite her mental state she doesn't appear to have any problems, but she is still different. Pulling the ponies appart and arguing about it is fun. Alternatively, we can just indiscriminately slap PDD-NOS on all the ponies, admire our hard work, declare ourselves expert armchair psychiatrists, and call it a day. 

[sarrrah.bear 0]

I think Pinkie has depression and ADHD. the only reason I say this is she obviously has ADHD, but in a season 7 episode I just watched, Ep.14, during Pinkies solo in one song, she's sitting in a physiatrist office with another version of her as a doctor. This put light on her whole situation because we only see her go crazy when her friends aren't with her. Having depression myself I feel as though I can relate to her. Does anybody agree with me?

2 minutes ago, sarrrah.bear said:

I think Pinkie has depression and ADHD. the only reason I say this is she obviously has ADHD, but in a season 7 episode I just watched, Ep.14, during Pinkies solo in one song, she's sitting in a physiatrist office with another version of her as a doctor. This put light on her whole situation because we only see her go crazy when her friends aren't with her. Having depression myself I feel as though I can relate to her. Does anybody agree with me?

Another thing, in the solo, she says, "Pony's think I'm all bubbles and laugher". she says this while in the physiatrist office

[Singe 2,109]

I can think that she developed some partial abandonment issue a few symptoms appear.

Attach Too Quickly

Move On Too Quickly

More Than A Little Insecure

Get Separation Blues

Overanalyze Things

Overly Controlling

[sweetolebob18 724]

What you have to remember is that in Equestria, your hair is a BIG clue to your mental state. Messed up hair = messed up mind. So, looking at episode 23 (The Cutie Mark Chronicles), she's got PTSD from the Sonic Rainboom.  Plus, severe Autophobia (fear of being alone). IDK if that's a symptom of other problems but Party of One (episode 25) is pretty clear on that.

[Kadeda 178]

I know that she is terrifying when she's mad. I think she's just partially scizo... if anything. One thing is that I would argue that Twilight and Fluttershy are more mentally unstable.