Does Lorna Morello from OITNB have BPD? (+9 Signs of BPD)
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This interesting post will be answering if Lorna Morello has BPD. We will also be listing the various other psychological issues and mental health disorders that Lorna Morello has been theorized to have in ‘Orange is the New Black.’
Does Lorna Morello from OITNB have BPD?
Yes, Lorna Morello has BPD. In the series ‘Orange is the New Black’, Lorna Morello definitely shows a number of signs that she is struggling with Borderline Personality Disorder. At the same time, she also seems to have a number of other mental health issues.
The assumption that Lorna Morello may actually have a mental health disorder is somewhat confirmed in the second season of the series. But, the actual mental health disorder that she is suffering from is never actually confirmed as Borderline Personality Disorder.
Lorna Morello has been studied by a number of fans and critics who have tried their best to pin a diagnosis on her. Some of the signs of Borderline Personality Disorder that Lorna Morello depicts in the series are:
- She shows intense emotional mood swings and thus, those around her were never able to really predict her mood
- She has been known to make more than one irrational decision, which has actually harmed other people
- She has shown signs of dissociation from reality and has a vague recollection of what she did or what happened to her. This can be seen after she stood in the middle of the road and caused the accident of the couple.
After the accident, Lorna walks into the Pelican Hotel and wakes up the next morning with blood-soaked clothes. But, she does not remember any of this. Fugue states like these are also quite common in Borderline Personality Disorder.
- She has a favorite person, in Christopher, although this is completely one-way, since he has absolutely no feelings for her
- She shows delusions of being loved by Christopher, even when there is no solid proof of something like this
- Even though Christopher has not shown any signs of being interested in Lorna, she still fears being abandoned by him. She even takes up many measures to avoid being abandoned by Christopher, even if there is no proof of this.
- She constantly changes her perceptions of others, including Christopher. While at times she simply idealizes him, she then devalues him at other moments. These extremes are quite common in Borderline Personality Disorder.
- She has a distorted image of herself. While she is definitely a confident person, she loves herself at times, and then immediately hates herself and what she is doing. She also shows a lot of guilt for her past mistakes, especially in causing the accident.
- She also shows anger outbursts and violent explosions from time to time, further fueling the theory that she indeed has BPD
Lorna’s Morello’s mental health disorders
In the series ‘Orange is the New Black’, Lorna Morello plays one of the most interesting characters. She depicts a number of signs of struggling with some mental illness. While a confirmatory diagnosis has never been given in the series, many theories have been discussed.
Lorna Morello seems to struggle with not just one, but multiple mental health disorders. She definitely shows many characteristic signs and symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder. Apart from this, she may have the following disorders and issues as well,
Erotomania
Lorna is definitely in love with love. She has a strong delusion that Christopher is in love with her, even when there is no evidence to support this. She lives each day thinking that Christopher is her one true love and even feels afraid that he might abandon her or leave her.
Erotomania can be manifested in a known person and at times, even an unknown person. In the case of Lorna and Christopher, they only went out on a single date. After this, Lorna developed a delusion that Christopher truly loves her.
She starts to stalk him unhealthily, and even interferes with his personal life. When Christopher starts to date someone else, she even strangles the girl. This leads to Christopher placing a restraining order on Lorna.
Lorna originally developed this delusion about Christopher because he resembled a picture of a man that she cut out from a magazine. She puts this picture up on the wall and becomes obsessed about the person even though she never met him. This is a classic sign of erotomania.
When she meets Christopher, she immediately delves into this fantasy world, since he definitely closely resembles her ‘dream guy.’ This made her grow obsessed with him, even if he never reciprocated her feelings.
Bipolar disorder
Another theory that has been assumed by fans and critics is that Lorna might have Bipolar Disorder. More specifically, Lorna Morello might actually have Bipolar Disorder I. This is characterized by clear phases of mania and depression.
In Lorna Morello, this is fueled by the presence of her violent outbursts and her anger episodes which are signs of a manic episode. She also goes into a depressive state often. Bipolar disorder can also be commonly manifested along with Borderline Personality Disorder.
Complex-PTSD
Some fans and critics also feel that Lorna Morello might actually have Complex-PTSD. While this is not clear right from the start of her appearances, her struggles to deal with traumatic incidents are peppered throughout the series.
For instance, she is never able to let go of the guilt of causing the accident. In her backstory, Morello walks home after spending the night drinking with some friends at a bar. Here, she meets a couple who are happily in love and are newly engaged.
This makes her jealous and feeling more empty than not. At the same time, Lorna is trying to reject the advances of a man named Tony. When she leaves the bar and walks home, she breaks her heels in the middle of the road, and stands there to find a solution.
A car passes by and honks at Lorna, which she mistakes to be Tony’s. To avoid more damage to her feelings for the night, Lorna throws a stone at the car which damages the windshield and causes an accident.
When Lorna goes to the accident, she finds that the car’s occupants were the couple from the bar, which leads her to go into a fugue state. This incident and its aftershock never leave Lorna and she forever struggles with the guilt, which is characteristic of PTSD.
Another incident which truly traumatizes Lorna is the death of her child in the seventh season of the series. She does not recognize his death and does not accept it, and continues to treat her child as if he was indeed alive. All of these incidents put together would have led to C-PTSD.
Poor self-esteem
Lorna Morello also seems to struggle from very poor self-esteem. She believes that she is truly unworthy of love and that everyone else is able to find a romantic partner except her. This ultimately leads to her developing erotomania and living in a fantasy world.
While poor self-esteem is not exactly a clinical diagnosis, it certainly can severely impact a person’s mental health and their social relationships with others. In Lorna’s case, her self-esteem was further harmed by her other psychological issues and vice-versa.
Conclusion
This interesting post has answered if Lorna Morello has BPD. We have also listed the various other psychological issues and mental health disorders that Lorna Morello has been theorized to have in ‘Orange is the New Black.’
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