Thomas Widiger, a UK professor I spoke with who specializes in psychopathology, Holmes isn’t the only potential psychopathic hero; Breaking Bad’s main character Walter White falls within the same gray category. “[Walter White is] a meth dealer,” he began, “but he was the hero of the story and everyone wanted him to succeed, even as a meth dealer, which is very strange because he was hurting a lot of people’s lives with dealing this meth.” Such a complex relationship with the silver-screen psychopath is likely due to society’s own inability to cope with the idea that they are “not the captain of their own ship”, as stated by Dr. Widiger, and are instead controlled by psychological forces outside of their control. This inability to understand their own psychological limitations may also stem from misinformation by various psychological organizations which state that only 20-30% of people will experience some form of psychopathology, also known as mental or behavioral disorders, of which Dr. Widiger believes “frankly adds to the stigma because it gives the idea that the vast majority of the population has no psychopathology, and that we’re all extremely healthy
Thomas Widiger, a UK professor I spoke with who specializes in psychopathology, Holmes isn’t the only potential psychopathic hero; Breaking Bad’s main character Walter White falls within the same gray category. “[Walter White is] a meth dealer,” he began, “but he was the hero of the story and everyone wanted him to succeed, even as a meth dealer, which is very strange because he was hurting a lot of people’s lives with dealing this meth.” Such a complex relationship with the silver-screen psychopath is likely due to society’s own inability to cope with the idea that they are “not the captain of their own ship”, as stated by Dr. Widiger, and are instead controlled by psychological forces outside of their control. This inability to understand their own psychological limitations may also stem from misinformation by various psychological organizations which state that only 20-30% of people will experience some form of psychopathology, also known as mental or behavioral disorders, of which Dr. Widiger believes “frankly adds to the stigma because it gives the idea that the vast majority of the population has no psychopathology, and that we’re all extremely healthy