Warning – I will be speaking about antisocial, borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic personality disorders. 

 

Hello Everyone!

In this post, I will be talking a little bit more about personality disorders in the Harry Potter Universe. Again, if you are uncomfortable with the topics for this post, please don’t worry about leaving!

Personality disorders are divided into three clusters called A, B, and C (originality was not an important factor when naming these I guess). According to the Mayo Clinic “A personality disorder is a type of mental disorder in which you have a rigid and unhealthy pattern of thinking, functioning and behaving. A person with a personality disorder has trouble perceiving and relating to situations and people. This causes significant problems and limitations in relationships, social activities, work and school”. For my second post on the subject, I’ll be speaking about Cluster B. “Cluster B personality disorders are characterized by dramatic, overly emotional or unpredictable thinking or behavior. They include antisocial personality disorder, borderline personality disorder, histrionic personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder”, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Without further adieu, let’s get started!

 

Antisocial Personality Disorder

        People with Antisocial Personality Disorder generally “demonstrate a pattern of disregard for and the violation of rights of others. Deceitfulness and manipulation are used for personal gain. They may treat other people harshly, or lie or cheat to reap these personal benefits. They may also be more likely to engage in theft. However, they generally have no remorse for what they have done” (healthline). The Mayo Clinic lists the symptoms as…

“Antisocial Personality Disorder

• Disregard for others’ needs or feelings
• Persistent lying, stealing, using aliases, conning others
• Recurring problems with the law
• Repeated violation of the rights of others
• Aggressive, often violent behavior
• Disregard for the safety of self or others
• Impulsive behavior
• Consistently irresponsible
• Lack of remorse for behavior”

If there were any main character in the Harry Potter series that I would think of having Antisocial Personality Disorder, it would be Voldemort. He has been manipulating people since he was a child in an orphanage. He was able to convince people that Hagrid was the one who released the Basilisk, he was known as a charmer when he was in school and had all the teachers wrapped around his finger (except for Dumbledore that is), and was able to manipulate his professor Slughorn into telling him about forbidden magic. He obviously has aggressive and violent tendencies considering he has a kill count of at least 18 and quite possibly upward of a hundred more. With all of that violence, he of course has problems with the law and often violates the rights of others by taking away their right to live. Voldemort also “was unable and unwilling to express remorse or empathy for the countless crimes he had committed” (wiki). It is astonishingly evident that Voldemort has an antisocial personality disorder.

 

Borderline Personality Disorder

        The next personality disorder in cluster B is Borderline Personality Disorder. According to healthline, “people with borderline personality disorder often have unstable personal relationships. It can also affect the way you view yourself”. The symptoms and signs according to the Mayo Clinic are…

“Borderline personality disorder

• Impulsive and risky behavior, such as having unsafe sex, gambling or binge eating
• Unstable or fragile self-image
• Unstable and intense relationships
• Up and down moods, often as a reaction to interpersonal stress
• Suicidal behavior or threats of self-injury
• Intense fear of being alone or abandoned
• Ongoing feelings of emptiness
• Frequent, intense displays of anger
• Stress-related paranoia that comes and goes”

Myrtle “hardly ever smiled and took great offence at the smallest slight, crying rivers of tears and wailing, hence her nickname Moaning Myrtle” (wiki). She had frequent mood swings and would lash out if she felt someone was saying something bad about her. Her insecurity also led to bouts of intense anger. Myrtle was “often upset so badly that she tried to kill herself until she realised that she was already dead” (wiki). With all of those symptoms being met, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to consider her as having a borderline personality disorder.

 

Histrionic Personality Disorder

        Histrionic personality disorder is the third of the B clusters. People with Histrionic personality disorder “often strive to be the center of attention. They may use various attention-seeking behaviors, often in socially inappropriate situations.” (healthline). The symptoms of Histrionic personality disorder are… (Mayo Clinic)

“Histrionic personality disorder

• Constantly seeking attention
• Excessively emotional, dramatic or sexually provocative to gain attention
• Speaks dramatically with strong opinions, but few facts or details to back them up
• Easily influenced by others
• Shallow, rapidly changing emotions
• Excessive concern with physical appearance
• Thinks relationships with others are closer than they really are”

Bellatrix Lestrange “was obsessively in love with Lord Voldemort, which extended to her being…attracted to him” (wiki). She has claimed that she was his most trusted and loyal servant and when she got arrested “she seemed to view Azkaban prison as a mere place to wait for his return” (wiki). Bellatrix has been described as “slavishly devoted to her master” and “speaking to him in a romantic way” (wiki). When she thought she was being praised by him, “her cheeks flushed and her eyes welled up with tears” “satisfying him was of the utmost importance to her” (wiki). Voldemort’s attraction to her, however, was nowhere near as deep as hers was for him. When she died he was indeed angry but, “It is unlikely, though, that he truly cared about her as a person, rather than being angry about losing someone who was very useful to him” (wiki). She constantly seeks attention from Voldemort, is excessively emotional when she thinks she is being praised by him, speaks dramatically about blood purity, and thinks her relationship with Voldemort is closer than it actually is. As far as examples of characters with Histrionic personality disorder go, I think she’s a pretty good one.

 

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

        Narcissistic personality disorder is the last one in the B cluster. People with Narcissistic personality disorder “believe they are superior to others” (healthline). The symptoms of Narcissistic personality disorder are… (Mayo Clinic)

“Narcissistic personality disorder

• Belief that you’re special and more important than others
• Fantasies about power, success and attractiveness
• Failure to recognize others’ needs and feelings
• Exaggeration of achievements or talents
• Expectation of constant praise and admiration
• Arrogance
• Unreasonable expectations of favors and advantages, often taking advantage of others
• Envy of others or belief that others envy you”

Gilderoy Lockhart is an author known for his fantastical run-ins with dangerous creatures, run-ins that did indeed happen, just without him being involved. He would go around the world and “[trick] accomplished witches and wizards into revealing their greatest deeds and then erasing their memories”, then he would write a book involving those amazing true stories with him as the man in charge (wiki). According to wiki, his defining characteristics were “his extreme arrogance and exceeding vanity, conceit, egomania, narcissism and self-obsession”. He would also make “outrageous claims and suggestions, whether about other people’s professions or in times of danger, in order to make himself look more important and powerful than he truly was” (wiki). All of those examples are just the tip of the iceberg with him. If there has ever been a true literary character with a narcissistic personality disorder, it’s him.

 

I think that this batch of characters is more likely to have one of these disorders than those in cluster A, but of course, all of this is just for fun and not intending to make light of any of these illnesses. I just find it fascinating to analyze characters and to find things about them that make so much psychological sense that the author had to have put them into the story intentionally! Thank you for reading! With any luck, you learned something new today or looked at something through a new lens. I hope that was entertaining, insightful, and you weren’t bored!

 

 

 

Sources – 

“Bellatrix Lestrange.” ChristopherInnit Wiki, christopherinnit.fandom.com/wiki/Bellatrix_Lestrange.

“Bellatrix Lestrange.” Harry Potter Wiki, harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Bellatrix_Lestrange.

“Gilderoy Lockhart.” Harry Potter Wiki, harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Gilderoy_Lockhart.

“Harry Potter Personality Disorders.” Prezi.com, prezi.com/med4xbhkwke8/harry-potter-personality-disorders/.

Levin, Michael, et al. “Personality Disorders: DSM of Harry Potter.” East Bay Psychopharmacology Group, 19 Apr. 2015, eastbaypharm.com/personality-disorders-dsm-of-harry-potter-by-ariff-moolla/.

“Lord Voldemort.” Warner Bros. Entertainment Wiki, warnerbros.fandom.com/wiki/Lord_Voldemort.

“Myrtle Warren.” Harry Potter Wiki, harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Myrtle_Warren.

“Personality Disorders.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 23 Sept. 2016, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/personality-disorders/symptoms-causes/syc-20354463.

SUNY, Wikispaces; “Abnormal Psychology.” Lumen, courses.lumenlearning.com/abnormalpsychology/chapter/histrionic-personality-disorder-2/.

“Tom Riddle.” Harry Potter Wiki, harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Riddle.

“What Are Cluster B Personality Disorders?” Healthline, www.healthline.com/health/cluster-b-personality-disorders#traits.