Yale Mael FO 637-C
Case Conceptualization
Batman, A.K.A Bruce Wayne, is a fictional character is a fictional character created by Bob Kane in 1939 and has since been featured in television shows, movies, books, comics and various merchandise. Batman is a vigilante working in Gotham City at a time of high crime as well as one of the founding members of the Justice League. He is portrayed as having general anxiety disorder, a severe case of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) along with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Batman's father was a well-known doctor and he along with his wife, were well-known philanthropists in Gotham City. When Bruce was 10 his parents were murdered in front of him in a back alley after leaving the opera. Since the death of his parents, Bruce has continued to live in his parent’s manor with his butler Alfred and various sidekicks. Throughout the stories Batman has many social contacts and sexual relationships, he has not really had any close friends besides Alfred until recently when he proposed to Selina Kyle AKA Catwoman. He has states a general feeling of loneliness.
Batman has shown a difficulty sleeping due to feelings of anxiety. Whenever he learns of people in trouble caused by criminals, he finds that he is unable to sleep. He continuously seeks out information about previous crimes and frequents police briefings. He estimates spending nearly half of his waking hours in his Batman suit. Being both Bruce Wayne and Batman is also a source of anxiety. The constant need to lie about his whereabouts in order to protect the people he cares about takes a tremendous toll.
He displays his OCD in multiple ways. For one his obsessiveness with his various foes, especially his arch-nemesis the Joker. Though Batman is shown to have coulrophobia (fear of clowns), he actually hangs a picture of the Joker in his Batcave in order to overcome to fear and “feed” his obsessiveness. He has a compulsion to protect everyone and to do it without the help of others. He also chooses to fight crime at night and his exercise regime would also be most likely classified as obsessive. Interestingly, he has a fear of harming others, a symptom of OCD.
His PTSD shows itself in the fact that Batman is haunted by the murder of his parents every day. It is what drives him to seek justice and it also what keeps him largely isolated and alone. Throughout the mythology Bruce has nightmares and flashbacks of the event, which also causes insomnia. He worries that his chosen way of life will cause anyone he gets close to killed and he would be too overcome by grief to continue fighting. For instance, after the supposed death of his second sidekick, Jason Todd AKA Robin he retreated into himself and did nothing until he was forced out of it by his friends. His usual strong and abrasive manner which tended to keep most people at a distance and allows him to avoid making any strong connections became even stronger. He also tends to engage...
