Does Jessica Jones have BPD? (+7 Signs of problems)
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OptimistMinds
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The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.
The current blogpost will be answering if Jessica Jones has BPD. We will also be revealing the various signs of psychological issues that Jessica Jones depicts. Lastly, we will take a closer look at the main reasons why Jessica develops these issues.
Does Jessica Jones have BPD?
No, Jessica Jones does not have BPD. Jessica Jones is never confirmed to have Borderline Personality Disorder in the comics and the series that she appears as a character. She actually has been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
In her story, Jessica Jones is a superhero that gets her powers after a hospital experiment with gene editing. After the experiment, Jessica finds that she has immense strength which makes her pursue a career as a superhero when she is an adult.
But, she soon encounters Kilgrave, a psychopath with mind-controlling abilities who forces her to live with him and have sex with him. Jessica somehow manages to free herself of his mind-controlling powers and escape.
But, this is not a complete recovery since the traumas and experiences that she went through under Kilgrave’s control still stick with Jessica. Throughout her story arc, Jessica shows many signs and symptoms of struggling with PTSD but never seeks professional help for this.
Signs of Jessica Jones’ psychological issues
Jessica Jones is undoubtedly a very strong person and more than once takes on other superheroes and villains much stronger than herself easily. However, she is broken inside and never really seems to get over her trauma at the hands of Kilgrave.
In the Marvel comics and series featuring her, Jessica Jones shows a number of signs of struggling with psychological issues, particularly her Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Some of the signs of psychological distress and emotional instability that Jessica shows are:
Her alcohol abuse
Jessica Jones is definitely an alcoholic. Her alcoholic tendencies can be clearly seen in the series, Marvel’s Jessica Jones. Even before she starts ‘Alias Investigations’, she has a habit of consuming alcohol and doing drugs with her ex-boyfriend who was killed later.
After Jessica leaves the company of Trish Walker and finds her own place, her alcohol abuse is totally off the rocks. While the alcohol often has very limited effects on Jessica due to her superpowers, it still is an unhealthy habit and a terrible coping mechanism.
Her panic attacks
While Jessica Jones is super-strong as a hero, she is very fragile inside. She often goes through panic attacks and can be seen hyperventilating. She even has a mantra which she uses whenever she goes into a panic attack – reciting the names of lanes which lead to her childhood home.
Panic attacks are often signs of an existing anxiety disorder, and such a disorder might have gone undiagnosed in Jessica. It also seems like she sought therapy or professional help before where she learnt the coping mantra.
Her flashbacks of Kilgrave
Jessica Jones was held captive by the mind-controller Kilgrave for quite a long time, and made to do detestable things for the psychopath. While she eventually escapes his clutches, the traumatic experiences that she went through still stick with her.
Even after her escape from Kilgrave, Jessica often gets flashbacks of him touching her, whispering in her ear, and tormenting her. These flashbacks happen randomly or whenever Jessica is reminded about Kilgrave.
This is a sure sign of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Even when someone uses healthy coping mechanisms to cope with their traumatic experiences from the past, many times they somehow find their way into their current moods and may even disrupt their whole day.
Her many sexual-encounters
Jessica never seems to have a stable and committed relationship with anyone in her story arc. While eventually she does have a relationship with Luke Cage, it is not before sleeping with strangers almost every other night.
She seems to use sex with strangers to ‘feel’ something. This, along with her constant use of alcohol, is a sign of anhedonia. Jessica needs to ‘feel’ emotions in order to feel more human and fill up the void in her life.
Jessica’s memory of killing Reva
Apart from the flashbacks of Kilgrave and her panic attacks, Jessica is also often tormented by her memory of killing Reva. Kilgrave manipulates Jessica to kill Reva and she does so by punching Reva in her chest, instantly killing her.
Jessica feels guilty at the murder of someone, and this actually frees her mind from the control of Kilgrave. She still feels very guilty and heartbroken at the thought that she actually killed someone using her own bare hands.
When she meets Luke, she only understands much later that he and Reva shared a romantic relationship. She feels even guiltier since she tore Luke away from the woman he deeply loved. This guilt is another reason for Jessica’s alcohol abuse and her social isolation.
Her solitary lifestyle
Jessica Jones practically lives by herself and does everything on her own without anyone else’s help. The only person who seems to openly care about her is her sister, Trish Walker. Jessica’s isolation is mainly because of her odd lifestyle and her fear of hurting others.
At the same time, living completely alone and isolated from others shows another traumatic side to Jessica Jones. Hyper-independence is definitely a sign of being traumatized and learning not to lean on anyone else.
Her impulsivity and recklessness
Throughout her story arc, Jessica is known to be highly impulsive and even reckless at many times. However, she also seems to come out safe due to her super-strength. Still, it is still a red-flag of the conflicts between her ‘id’ and her ‘super-ego.’
Jessica’s impulsivity actually makes her a detective who yields results very quickly and easily, which makes her a pick for Jeri Hogarth. At the same time, Jeri later is not so confident in Jessica since her impulsivity often plays havoc with her work ethic.
Causes of Jessica Jones’ psychological issues
Jessica Jones as a superhero is mainly loved due to her authenticity. She does not need a sexualized outfit and nor does she mask her identity. She is raw and does not put on a show to make others like her and stick with her.
At the same time, she is not devoid of personality issues, mainly caused by her past traumatic experiences. Some causal factors which could have contributed to Jessica Jones’ psychological issues have been described in the following section.
- The death of her family: Jessica lost her whole family in an accident and is orphaned. This could have deeply traumatized anyone for the rest of their lives. Jessica is never able to get over their deaths, and even keeps their ashes at her home in boxes.
- Her life with the Walkers: After her family dies, Jessica is adopted by Dorothy Walker who simply does this for public attention to promote her own daughter’s show. Dorothy never really cares about Jessica, further hurting her mental health.
Jessica and Trish never get along really well, but only seemingly develop a bond after Jessica uses her superpowers to protect Trish from her mother. Jessica was basically hurt and traumatized in all her impressionable and formative years.
- Kilgrave’s mind-control: The main causal factor of Jessica Jones’ psychological issues is the effects of Kilgrave’s mind control. Even after she escapes him, the things he had done to her and the things he made her do still stick with her.
Kilgrave even uses Jessica for sex and this is rape since she did not give her consent. Jessica not only still has flashbacks about Kilgrave but is bent on protecting others from his control, which puts her in harm’s way many times.
Conclusion
The current blogpost has answered if Jessica Jones has BPD. We have also revealed the various signs of psychological issues that Jessica Jones depicts. Lastly, we have taken a closer look at the main reasons why Jessica develops these issues.
If you like this blogpost, please leave your comments and questions in the space below.
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