Does Zenitsu have anxiety? (+3 Main causes)
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In this brief post, we will be answering if Zenitsu has anxiety. We will also be checking out the signs and symptoms of Zenitsu’s anxiety. Finally, we will be looking at the different reasons as to why Zenitsu struggles with anxiety.
Does Zenitsu have anxiety?
Yes, Zenitsu has anxiety. In the manga which developed into an anime series, Demon Slayer, Zenitsu is portrayed to be a character who suffers from a lot of anxiety and stress. Apart from being anxious all the time, Zenitsu also seems to be paranoid of everyone around him.
Zenitsu is one of the main characters from ‘Demon Slayer’ who accompanies Tanjiro Kamado on his adventures. While he is known to be an anxious character in many scenes, Zenitsu actually portrays confidence in extreme situations.
One such situation was when Zenitsu was faced with the Tongue Demon. While the Tongue Demon was actually dangerous, Zenitu managed to fight him and defeat him while asleep. While asleep, his anxiety shakes off, which helps him defeat the Tongue Demon.
Apart from having anxiety, Zenitus may also have a split personality disorder. This is mainly seen when he assumes a completely different personality when he is unconscious. His ‘alter’ personality is the complete opposite of him and exudes strength and optimism.
Signs of Zenitsu’s anxiety
Zenitsu’s anxiety has been portrayed very clearly in Demon Slayer. Some of the main signs of Zenitsu’s anxiety have been discussed in detail in the points below.
The evaluation judges him as pessimistic
When Zenitsu undergoes the final evaluation, the results yield him as a very pessimistic fighter. Despite being one of the few demon slayers who have made it through the entire evaluation, the pessimistic attitude of Zenitsu is so evident that the entire Corps realizes and understands it.
He feels that he is useless
Zenitsu constantly refers to himself as a very useless person and does not believe that he can demolish any demon slayers. As a result, he restricts himself in everything he does and prefers not to learn new skills and fighting behaviors.
He finds his job worthless
Another manifestation of Zenitsu’s anxiety is his extreme dislike of his job, calling it worthless or useless all the time. He feels that being a demon slayer adds a lot of anxiety to a person’s life and that the profession does not hold much value.
However, while Zenitsu repeatedly says that he does not prefer being a demon slayer, he actually shows off his skill sets and talents in the face of danger. Therefore, his dislike of the job is mainly because of his self-esteem issues and his anxiety issues, and not because he is terrible at it.
He actively runs away from danger
The series clearly shows Zenitsu running away from danger and hiding whenever he is in the presence of a monster. The character can be seen hiding in a safe place, murmuring to himself whenever he is presented with some danger or the other.
He shows physical signs of anxiety
The clearest signs of Zenitsu’s anxiety are not in his words, but in his physical signs. Whenever Zenitsu faces a demon, he tends to shiver and cower. He can also be seen crying as he is deathly scared of demons. However, this all changes when he passes out.
He limits himself in skills
Zenitsu shows himself to be a very capable demon slayer when he passes out and is asleep. At the same time, this becomes his fallback skill or his go-to skill. He also does not progress in his skillset and seems to limit himself to a couple of preferred choices.
This behavior of Zenitsu is mainly because he is afraid of facing challenges while learning new skill sets. His usual moves and skills also seem to luckily work most of the time for him and for others, further discouraging him from growth.
He constantly fears death
Another sign of Zenitsu’s anxiety is his overt fear of death. He is pretty open about it and regularly announces it as a part of his character and personality. It is this extreme fear of death which causes him anxiety when he is in the presence of danger, such as a demon.
Again, when Zenitsu passes out, this fear completely goes away. He is able to conquer any type of danger, no matter how big it might be, as his ‘alter’ personality is not aware of his fear of death.
He constantly panics
Zenitsu is seen to go into complete panic attacks often, especially at the very thought of facing some demon. He also begs Tanjiro to protect him and can be the useless character of the bunch when he is active and awake.
Causes of Zenitsu’s anxiety
Zenitsu can be constantly seen to be flying into panic attacks and showing clinical symptoms of anxiety, particularly when he is in the presence of danger. This is even if the character is fully equipped and trained to take on the danger.
The actual causes and reasons of Zenitsu’s anxiety are multi-fold but the series does not discuss them clearly. Here, we have explored Zenitsu’s anxiety by going back and analyzing his symptoms and behaviors in the series.
- The main reason behind Zenitsu’s anxiety is that this profession was not his first choice. When Tanjiro quizzes Zenitsu about the reason for his choice to become a Demon Slayer, the character says that he was pushed into this profession unknowingly.
According to Zenitsu, he was charmed and cheated by a woman. As a result of this, Zenitsu came across a lot of debt and had no means to pay it off. An old man did Zenitsu a favor and paid off all his debt.
The old man then went on to train Zenitsu and as a mark of gratitude and respect to the old man, the character took up the training very seriously. However, many times in the series, Zenitsu proclaims that being a Demon Slayer is worthless and he considers it a bad job.
His ideal life is something normal and he also wants to be humble. This major contrast with the role of a Demon Slayer can definitely cause Zenitsu a lot of stress and is one of the root reasons for his anxiety.
- Zenitsu has been called pretty much useless when he is awake. However, his personality changes to the extreme opposite when he passes out or is asleep. When he is asleep, Zenitsu can be seen to be actively taking on danger and destroying demons easily.
While this may be a great strength indeed, the fact that Zenitsu has to fall asleep in order to get his best side forward is a red flag psychoanalytically speaking. This can mean that the character may be suffering from an underlying identity or personality disorder that he is not aware of.
The underlying symptoms of a mental illness may also extensively contribute to Zenitsu’s anxiety and stress when he is awake. If Zenitsu were to consult with a therapist, the sessions would uncover an undiagnosed personality disorder.
- According to many experts on the show, Zenitsu also suffers from anxiety because of his limited skill set. Zenitsu has known for his Breathing Style Form mastery in which he has managed to master only the First Form.
While this becomes his go-to move, the limited skillset can be another reason why Zenitsu suffers from a lot of anxiety. He might feel that he is not capable of anything else if it were not for this particular skill.
Conclusion
In this brief post, we have answered if Zenitsu has anxiety. We have also checked out the signs and symptoms of Zenitsu’s anxiety. Finally, we have looked at the different reasons as to why Zenitsu struggles with anxiety.
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