Galad and Perrin are autistic

Dravid ter'Mand said:

For me, the thing that solidified that Perrin had ADHD in my mind was him forging his hammer. He gets so hyperfocused on forging that hammer that he completely loses his connection to his surroundings. When he is thinking back on it, he doesn't really seem to be able to explain exactly what happened during his fugue state, but he knows that he made a good hammer.

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Cerine Al'Rhynar said:

With all due respect for the perspectives here, and understanding that I am a newcomer-

while I completely agree that Galad is Autistic, I feel as though reading Perrin, Rand, or any other character who hears voices as having DID is doing a disservice to those of us who suffer from DID. Trauma must occur in childhood; with most professionals say before the age of ten, and new research saying before the age of seven. Differentiated ego states are not automatically a symptom of DID, they are comorbid across multiple disorders. There are differentiated ego state disorders, multiple forms of dissociation including Depersonalization; which might fit more aptly as far as Perrin is concerned; as well as schizophrenia and certain forms of Bipolar that experience multiple "parts."

In my own opinion, if one must pathologize the mental states of these characters, it should be done with consideration to the components of the diagnosis not merely the symptoms of the disorder in question. I am however, more than willing to listen if anyone has more information from the books or from Jordan himself on the subject.

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Ebona din Casei said:

I think you raise some excellent points here. I agree 100%.
Also, I still think Perrin has several autistic traits, he's just on a different point on "the scale" than Galad.

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