I'm not good enough when it comes to discussing terminologies but I'm pretty sure that, delusion, hallucination and illusion carry different meanings. In this article, we are going to discuss, what if Batman, one of the most prominent superheroes in the DC universe, is just a character made up by a deranged mind of Bruce Wayne as a consequence of his parents' death.
Hi and welcome once again to my blog. I'm aware that I've been missing so much for the past couple of months but I've been experiencing a few bouts of depression and two days ago, my psychiatrist changed my medication from Lexapro to Remeron which is kinda delicious if you ask me. There is not much side effect caused by Remeron except for the fact that I've been feeling extremely drowsy for the past couple of days, I'm sure my body tried its best to accommodate with whatever physiological effect possibly exerted by the medication. Enough talk about that, now let's talk about Bruce Wayne, one of the most intelligent fictional characters ever created and I must say, even if he is not a metahuman, he is quite formidable; he had backup plans for each and every one of the Justice League members, in case they went rogue (refer to the video below).
I'm sure every single nerd on this planet would argue to a certain point which they would have committed in their own belief system regarding their favourite superheroes but what if every single superhero ever existed in the DC universe was just a flicker of Bruce's imagination? Can it be that despite being the one who was helping people, disposing criminals inside a mental institution called the Arkham Asylum, he is the one who was admitted and hospitalised in the aforementioned institution? It possible that he was treated by Dr Harleen Quinzel, one of the members of the Suicide Squad, but the treatments were proven ineffective as it caused Bruce to have a much-extended delusion which includes a few others into his superior mind.
In 2012, a book entitled "What's the Matter With Batman?: An Unauthorized Clinical Look Under the Mask of the Caped Crusader" which was written by Robin. S. Rosenberg gained enough attention from the public (at least by those who were actively involved in the DC universe fan-based community). Like any other superheroes who were motivated by their own miserable past to fight crimes, the life of this dark caped-crusader begins when Martha and Thomas Wayne was murdered and robbed in the alleyway, leaving the young Bruce Wayne traumatised. There are a few versions of this story but I'm particularly interested with the one that depicted Bruce Wayne was the one who got killed leaving both of his parents traumatised.
Thomas Wayne soon becomes the Batman and Martha Wayne terrorised the whole city of Gotham as the notorious female Joker. Yeah, I know the story is a little bit distorted, thanks to the Flash which has the ability to go back in time, or in this case, to overcome the reality barrier into the alternate universe. Thomas Wayne was obsessed with his son's murder to the point he beat up every single criminal in the Gotham city while drowning in alcohols; I'm not sure what happened to his wife though, it wouldn't be good, that's for sure. Both of them were struggling with mental disorders that were no longer part of the grieving processes. In the previous version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), if people were grieving for more than 2 weeks without any signs of improvement in moods, the diagnosis falls into the mood disorder category, specifically Major Depressive Disorder.
So we can't simply say that Thomas and Martha Wayne, in that particular alternate universe, were grieving for the death of their child, other causes should have been investigated. Unfortunately, a routine visit to a psychologist or psychiatrist wasn't in a top priority list of superheroes so naturally, they suffer from their own psychopathologies. Alcohol abuse secondary to major depressive disorder could have been diagnosed if a psychiatrist was able to do a proper psychological interview with Thomas Wayne and Martha, who has the persona of the Joker, could have an entirely different psychological disorder; bipolar disorder, dissociative identity disorder etc. If both of his parents were afflicted by mental disorders when the young Bruce was killed, why the same thing can't be happening to Bruce who witnessed the murder of both of his parents at such a young age in the different universe?
None of the artist or director would like to depict Bruce's psychological state after the murder of his parents in the comic book or any of the Batman's movie except for Bruce's struggle to maintain emotional balance as he filled with hatred and vengeance before he met the Demon, Ra's al Ghul. Honestly, I would like to see a Batman's TV-series instead of a movie so that we can watch his progression from the moment he was traumatised by the death of his parents to the creation of alliances between metahumans in a group called as the Justice League; the TV-series "Gotham" comes close but I'm not sure if Batman would be the central character soon.
A grown man dressing like a bat can be a problem and honestly, if he was caught, the most suitable place for him to be kept in is the Arkham Asylum. According to Robin S. Rosenberg, there are a few psychological diagnoses which fit the mental state of Bruce Wayne:
- Posttraumatic disorder (PTSD)
- Major Depressive Disorder with Psychoses
- Anti-social personality
- Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly known as multiple personality disorder)
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Living in The Bat Cave
Do you think it is possible that the Bat cave described in the comic book is just merely a padded cell where Bruce was allocated after being diagnosed? If that's the case, what about his own personal butler, Alfred? He might have been one of the most important characters which were created by Bruce imagination to justify that the guy who brought him breakfast, lunch and dinner are not the asylum workers but instead his personal butler. Any speeches made by his personas which cater to what he wanted to hear might have suggested that his delusional symptoms were complicated by auditory hallucinations which might have been perceived as being outside and not inside of his head per se. It's not a pleasant or simple context but a rather disturbing and complicated suggestion. It would have been easy to think Bruce as a vigilante who would beat up criminals rather than trying to dive inside the head of his. Every single Batman's movie would illustrate a different version of Bat cave with the latest (Ben Affleck version) being the most sophisticated one.
The personality portrayed by Ben Affleck's Batman was a little bit different and contradictory in a rather disturbing context. For example, Batman is well-known as a superhero who does not kill, in any situation, but in the movie "Batman V Superman", he would kill any of his enemies without hesitation. Bruce, in this context, might have been rather forgiving in the past but due to certain circumstances, he might experience a bout of personality changes that make him who he is; do you realised the vandalised Robin costume which might have implied one of the famous Robins being murdered by the Joker? It's couldn't have been easy for the Batman to operate with his original code of honour after losing someone he cared about after his parents. If you realised, over decades, there are a few Batman personas which have been depicted by movies with now (2018/2019) being the most violent; have you watch the season finale of Titans when Dick Grayson was being shown an alternate timeline whereby Batman decides to kill anyone who tries to stop him from achieving his mission. I'm speechless.
So if someone like Bruce, love to spend most of his time in his Batcave, building some of the most advanced techs in his time to subdue his opponent (or kill them in the Ben Affleck's version) while being aided by his most trusted assistant (whom recently is capable of doing what the previous Alfred can't), do you think it is plausible that Bruce might have been the most creative people on earth to have an elaborate delusion and hallucination combined? It's unknown which one came first, his hallucination might have triggered the onset of his secondary delusion or vice versa but whichever it is, it's not indicating a good prognosis for Bruce.
Training Youngsters To Fight Crimes
There are a few speculations regarding Bruce's intention of taking in orphans and anyone who he deems worthy that would later be trained to be his sidekicks. It's pretty much confusing for us when a man who had complicated relationships with women (in this context, nearly non-existence) is willing to assume legal responsibility of taking care of a few others. Regardless, Bruce does care for all of his robins and batgirls, he took them in, train them and dispatches them out to fight for justice, but his intention does seem fishy to me. It's like he used all of this younglings to achieve his ultimate goal in the Gotham city while making it looks like he care for all of them; however, only a few that I'm sure he does really sympathise, felt responsible for and took them in with the sole intention to help them going through what he perceived to be a painful experience; Dick Grayson (the first Robin and later Batman) and Damien Wayne (his son with Talia al Ghul); the rest? well, I'm not sure. His intention can only be judged by his motives, for example, Jason Todd who tried to hack into the Batmobile but failed; Bruce saw some potentials in him and took him as his protege; this seems purely business. Making kids fight for his cause seems irresponsible and what worst, one of those Robins was killed by the Joker.
Although it seems plausible to recruit youngsters as they were quite energetic and willing to try on anything in search of their own true identity, it is a dangerous bet indeed. Adolescent itself can be a quite potent chemical and if we combined it with depression, it could have exploded rather easily. This particular effect can be seen in the TV-series entitled Titans in which Dick Grayson (the first Robin) harboured hatred towards Batman for turning him into a weapon which motivates him to run away from the Gotham city so that he would not be like "him"; "him" in this context is of course Batman. How broken Bruce actually is? I will let you guys decide for yourself.
Now, I would certainly narrow down all of these issues into a few articles so that we can discuss each and every psychopathology in depth, but know that I'm trying to adopt a different approach in making my science-related article interesting. Batman is a fictional character which has been one of the most formidable superheroes ever created despite him being a normal human being. I would wrap it up now if you have any disagreement or just constructive criticism, be sure to drop your comment below. Otherwise, thank you for your attention.
References and further reading materials
- Batman's Mental Health, Part 1. Retrieved on January 7th, 2019
- What if Batman is actually a patient in Arkham Asylum and all of his villains are actually his psychiatrists?. Retrieved on January 7th, 2019
- What if Bruce Wayne was actually in Arkham Asylum the whole time and Batman is just a delusion he has? Would all of his villains be the orderlies and doctors who work there?. Retrieved on January 7th, 2019
- The Possible Non-Delusional Life Of Mental Patient Bruce Wayne. Retrieved on January 7th, 2019
- Dimensions of Hallucinations and Delusions in Affective and Nonaffective Illnesses. Retrieved on January 7th, 2019
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