Psychology In Seattle Podcast Diagnosing Game of Thrones (2017 Rerun)
Mar 12, 2026
A psychologist playfully diagnoses nearly every major Game of Thrones character using DSM thinking and clinical caution. He debates whether brutality, grief, devotion, or power hunger count as disorders. He calls out internet overdiagnosis and explains when traits cross into antisocial, borderline, PTSD, or sadistic presentations. Expect lively character-by-character clinical critique and myth-busting about fictional pathology.
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Check DSM Criteria Before Labeling Characters Or People
- Be cautious applying DSM labels from media portrayals; always compare character behavior to exact DSM criteria before labeling.
- Honda repeatedly walks through specific criteria (e.g., PTSD, OCD, schizophrenia) to show common internet misdiagnoses.
Priestly Theatrics Don’t Equal Histrionic Disorder
- Melisandre’s dramatic priestly behavior is role-consistent, not histrionic pathology; having magic makes 'delusions' irrelevant.
- Honda cautions against labeling religious or role-driven theatricality as histrionic personality disorder without clinical criteria.
Littlefinger’s Lies Are Strategy Not Mythomania
- Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish shows manipulative antisocial traits but pathological lying (mythomania) is distinct from strategic deception.
- Honda differentiates strategic political manipulation from compulsive pathological lying rooted in attachment injury.