Does Damon Salvatore have BPD? (+5 Alternate diagnoses)
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The current detailed article will be describing if Damon Salvatore has BPD. We will also be checking out the other mental health disorders and issues which Damon Salvatore, from ‘The Vampire Diaries’, can be diagnosed with.
Does Damon Salvatore have BPD?
No, Damon Salvatore does not have BPD. In the drama series ‘The Vampire Diaries’, Damon Salvatore is not confirmed to be suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder. But, he certainly shows a number of signs and symptoms of this PD.
Damon Salvatore hails from the Salvatore Family and is the elder brother of Stephan Salvatore. He is known in Mystic Falls to be a very reckless and arrogant character and does not portray himself to be a friendly person.
Due to many of his aggressive behaviors and toxic traits, Damon Salvatore has been long thought to have some undiagnosed personality disorder. Many viewers of the series have felt that the personality disorder that Damon Salvatore is suffering from is BPD.
While he does not exactly show all the characteristic signs of BPD to receive a clinical diagnosis, along with the fact that not enough background information is present on the character, Damon still shows a number of signs of Borderline Personality Disorder, such as,
His emotional reactions are very intense
Damon Salvatore is known to be a highly intense persona and often goes through many emotional swings. This often frightens those around him since they can never properly predict his behavior.
He shows high impulsivity
He also shows a lot of impulsivity in the series and gets into a lot of trouble as a result. This high level of impulsivity also points to the presence of some undiagnosed mental health disorder in Damon, and fuels the theories of him having Borderline Personality Disorder.
He does not take care of his own safety
He also does not easily look out for his safety or even the safety of others around him. In ‘The Vampire Diaries’ series, Damon takes on a number of highly dangerous missions which may seriously hurt his life. But his recklessness drives him forward easily.
He has a distorted sense of self
Damon also constantly struggles with his sense of self in the series. The struggle is mostly between Damon’s vampire identity and his human identity. This distortion of self-image is pretty characteristic of Borderline Personality Disorder.
Damon Salvatore’s mental health disorders
Damon Salvatore from ‘The Vampire Diaries’ definitely struggles with his mental health which often leads him to take on many dangerous paths. While his diagnosis is not confirmed in the series, this has not stopped viewers and mental health experts from their arm-chair diagnoses.
One of the theories regarding Damon Salvatore is that he actually struggles with Borderline Personality Disorder. While he definitely shows a number of signs of BPD, he does not show all the major symptoms to confirm his diagnosis.
Damon Salvatore has been the case-study for many students of psychology due to his background and his violent behaviors. Some of the mental health disorders and issues that Damon Salvatore seems to depict are discussed as follows,
Antisocial Personality Disorder
The most common theory regarding Damon Salvatore’s mental health is Antisocial Personality Disorder. Damon truly depicts very antisocial behavior throughout the series. For example, he can be seen constantly getting into fights with others.
Furthermore, after hurting other people, even those who are very close to him, Damon hardly shows any remorse or guilt for his actions. He has even done many illegal and immoral things, including killing others.
Damon also does not care about his own safety and can be seen rushing headfirst into many suicide missions. In addition, he certainly also does not care about the safety of other people around him.
This behavior continues as a pattern for Damon and seems to have developed at a very early age for him. He even comes up with a number of aliases to trick and con people and lies his way in and out of many situations.
Damon’s impulsivity can also be seen as a lack of decision-making and planning, which are also characteristic in Antisocial Personality Disorder. This lack of planning is also proved in the fact that he does not have a job or any stable source of income in the series.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Another possible mental health diagnosis which Damon Salvatore might be suffering from is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. This is mainly blamed on the time that Damon spent fighting in the Civil War.
During his time in the Civil War, Damon went through a number of traumatic experiences which led him to develop anxiety and fears whenever he thinks about the war. After the war, Damon experiences even more trauma which might have led to this anxiety disorder.
For instance, he meets Dr. Whitmore who makes Damon his test subject and experiments on him for many years. In order to escape, Damon is forced to leave Enzo who was his only friend in that traumatic situation.
These are not the only traumatic experiences that Damon goes through. There are in fact many other traumatic incidents he experiences, especially in the case of Elena. Therefore, his PTSD is more specifically C-PTSD or Complex PTSD.
Intermittent Explosive Disorder
Another main characteristic trait of Damon Salvatore is his anger outbursts. Damon is known to get angry frequently and constantly which leads many people to assume that he might be having Intermittent Explosive Disorder.
Damon shows extremes of emotions in the series, and also gets angry very easily. His anger is not just limited to his words, but he even goes on to kill many people as a result of his anger. He also shows his anger towards those who are very close to him without any remorse.
Damon tends to rationalize his anger and finds that everything he does is completely and truly logical in nature. He does not feel that his anger is justified and does not take active measures to control and limit his anger.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Another possible explanation for Damon Salvatore’s mental health issues and toxic traits is Narcissistic Personality Disorder. He is truly self-obsessed and does not care much about others and their feelings.
Throughout the series, Damon acts like the main character and assumes that the entire world of Mystic Falls revolves around him. He behaves as if the other characters and personalities only exist to serve his purpose and his desires.
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Some fans of the series that have closely studied the character and followed the series have also felt that Damon Salvatore might indeed be suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder. This is mainly since Damon struggles with his human identity and his vampire identity.
The struggle mainly came through as Damon was trying to escape the clutches of Dr. Whitmore and decided to leave his human nature behind. After he becomes a vampire, he also regrets this decision and can be seen wanting to go back to his human nature once more.
In Dissociative Identity Disorder, the presence of two or more identities is a must, as in Damon Salvatore. But, his other actions and behaviors, especially his attitude towards his identities do not exactly conform to the diagnostic criteria of this particular mental health disorder.
Conclusion
The current detailed article has described if Damon Salvatore has BPD. We have also checked out the other mental health disorders and issues which Damon Salvatore, from ‘The Vampire Diaries’, can be diagnosed with.
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