Does Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City have BPD? (+7 Signs of immaturity)
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In this interesting blogpost, we will be answering if Carrie Bradshaw has BPD. We will also be discussing the various signs of emotional immaturity that Carrie Bradshaw shows in the ‘Sex and the City’ series.
Does Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City have BPD?
No, Carrie Bradshaw does not have BPD. The interesting fashionista who appears in the comedy-drama series, Sex and the City, has not been confirmed to have Borderline Personality Disorder at any time during her appearances.
At the same time, Carrie Bradshaw demonstrates a number of signs and symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder, but not all the characteristic ones which will warrant such a diagnosis. For instance, Carrie Bradshaw certainly has a high fear of abandonment.
Furthermore, Carrie Bradshaw can also be seen being highly impulsive and reckless, which can also point to Borderline Personality Disorder. Another sign that Carrie portrays is her distorted self-image which is pretty typical of her throughout the Sex and the City series.
Some mental health experts and fans of the series, Sex and the City, have come up with a variety of diagnoses regarding Carrie Bradshaw’s mental health. However, none of these arm-chair diagnosis hold much water since the character does not show many diagnostic criteria.
A popular assumption that social media platforms like TikTok have come up with in terms of Carrie Bradshaw’s mental health diagnosis is Main Character Syndrome. Main Character Syndrome is not exactly a clinical diagnosis.
The term Main Character Syndrome is used to denote a person who acts as if the world around them is actually a TV series about their own personal life. They also treat their friends as if they are secondary characters only serving to accessorize their own lives.
In one particular episode, Carrie Bradshaw does seek therapy after she is confused by a breakup with Big. However, she uses the therapy sessions to date another client of her therapist and does not take the therapy sessions seriously.
This actually goes to show that Carrie actually suffers from some undiagnosed mental health disorder, perhaps something that her friends are more aware of, which is the reason why they push her aggressively to see a therapist.
Signs of Carrie Bradshaw’s emotional immaturity
Carrie Bradshaw, ever since her first appearance on screen, has not only captivated the hearts of the many fashionistas, but even the attention of many psychology experts. However, she does not show the diagnostic signs of any particular mental health disorder.
At the same time, Carrie Bradshaw definitely has some deep emotional struggles, especially considering the fact that she gets herself into self-deprecating trouble without fail time and time again. Some of the signs of Carrie Bradshaw’s emotional immaturity are described below.
She clearly has low self-esteem
Carrie Bradshaw may look like she has definitely got it all, as a freelance writer in New York who has got the best of clothes. She also walks with such confidence and manages to somehow get invited to the best of places in town.
While her life may seem perfect for many, upon closer look, it can be seen that Carrie certainly does not have the best of self-esteem. She can be seen over-compensating for her poor self-esteem by sticking with her friends, buying new shoes and even by choosing the wrong men.
She chooses the wrong men
As mentioned in the earlier point, Carrie compensates for her poor self-esteem by choosing the wrong men. The biggest example is perhaps Mr. Big. Her twisted and toxic love story with Big even manages to somehow end in marriage.
Apart from Mr. Big, Carrie Bradshaw also dates another emotionally unavailable man, Aleksandr Petrovsky. She even goes to the extent of uprooting her life in New York entirely and moving to Paris in order to be with someone she barely knows.
It is not like Carrie does not meet good men in her life. In fact, she is often graced by a number of wonderful men, who genuinely care about her. For example, she meets Aidan, who is not only caring about her, but is overall a wonderful guy.
When Aidan proposes to Carrie, she first says yes and then later breaks up with him as she is not able to commit. The tale does not end here, as she can be seen cheating on Big with Aidan in the Sex and the City Reboot: And Just Like That.
She does not make adult decisions
For a single and thriving young adult living it up in New York City, Carrie Bradshaw certainly does not tick off all the criteria of successful adulating. For example, she is terrible with her finances, choosing to buy shoes and many other unnecessary things.
She even says she doesn’t know how banking works, and can be seen going broke at several instances during the series. This is despite having a group of very close friends who are all responsible for their money.
This is a form of learned helplessness in which the person chooses to be helpless since they know well there are others to give them a leg-up whenever they need a boost. For Carrie it is almost always her friends, and sometimes even her lovers.
She is never truly happy
Carrie Bradshaw is rarely seen smiling and happy with what she has. She always has something to complain about in the series. Throughout the series, she seems to be waiting for a rich man to come and sweep her off her feet.
Though she and Big have their ups and downs, they somehow get married. Even after she bags her dream-guy with her dream-apartment, she is still unhappy. She actually goes on to cheat on Big with her ex-boyfriend Aidan in the Sex and the City reboot.
She is not ready to expand her circle
Another sign of emotional immaturity that Carrie Bradshaw shows in the series is that she is never truly ready to expand her social circle. Her closest friends are all cis-white women and her knowledge of New York almost fully comes from them.
In fact, being a writer on sexuality and trends in New York, it seems important that Carrie should have actually mingled with other communities and cultures a lot more. However, she can be seen making more new connections in the reboot, ‘And Just Like That’.
She is very self-obsessed
Carrie Bradshaw rose to fame among gen Z tiktokers after they diagnosed her with a made-up disorder called Main Character Syndrome. The syndrome can be applied to anyone who thinks their entire lives revolve only around themselves, such as Carrie Bradshaw.
This self-obsession can be seen in a nasty and toxic way in many instances of the series. In one fine example, Carrie cannot pay for her apartment because of her own financial irresponsibility and gets mad at Charlotte for not giving her money.
She is not a good friend
It is constantly peppered throughout the series that Carrie is actually not that great a friend. Carrie only cares about herself and does nothing much to uplift her friends. In fact, she makes use of them and gets mad at them when they are not there for her.
In one instance, Carrie blows off meeting Miranda and wants to spend time with Big, even though they don’t exactly share the healthiest of relationships. She also can be seen mistreating Stanford and making use of his connections throughout the series.
Conclusion
In this interesting blogpost, we have answered if Carrie Bradshaw has BPD. We have also discussed the various signs of emotional immaturity that Carrie Bradshaw shows in the ‘Sex and the City’ series.
If you like this blogpost, please leave your comments and questions in the space below.
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