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Peanuts Cartoon Characters and Their PersonalityDisorders ~ Charlie Brown and His FriendsBy gypsumgirl

I often find myself digging into a fictional character's psyche to try to figure him or her out. Perhapsit's the background I have in psychology that compels me to analyze the personalities of book,cartoon, comic, or TV show characters.

When my thoughts turned to the Peanuts characters, starting off with Charlie Brown himself, I beganto think about which personality disorder he might have if diagnosed. Pretty random, I know. Beforelong, I concluded that each of the characters in this comic / cartoon also exuded characteristics ofthe different personality disorders identified by psychologists and psychiatrists today.

Charlie Brown

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Linus Is Anxious About The GreatPumpkinCharles Brown ~ Charles (Charlie) Brown is the maincharacter in the Peanuts comics and cartoons. A lovableguy who is dominated by insecurities, Charlie Brown isoften ridiculed and taken advantage of by his peers.Charlie is often humiliated, resulting in constant usage ofhis two favorite words, "Good Grief!" This leads me toconclude that Charlie Brown was suffering from Avoidant Personality Disorder (APD). Peoplewith APD are anxious about everyday situations. They constantly feel inadequate and inferior andhave a fear that others perceive them that way. In addition, people diagnosed with AvoidantPersonality Disorder have a small circle of close friends and are inept in social situations.

Linus van Pelt ~ Linus is Charlie Brown's best friend and is often seen with his security blanket.Despite his attachment to his blanket, which his sister is always trying to rid, Linus is one of thebrightest of the group. He is considered the group's philosopher. In this sense, Linus is gifted.Unfortunately, he also portrays a characteristic that is common for those suffering from SchizotypalPersonality Disorder (SPD). People who are diagnosed with SPD have perceptual abnormalitieswhere they often see shadows and things that others don't see. Linus is the only Peanuts characterthat believes in the Great Pumpkin. In his mind, the Great Pumpkin appears annually on Halloweenand gives out presents. Linus van Pelt is a gifted child suffering from Schizotypal PersonalityDisorder.

Lucy van Pelt ~ Lucy is Linus' grumpy, bossy sister. She often bullies others. A recurring scene inthe Peanuts strips was Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown to kick. Without fail, Lucy wouldpull the football away just as Charlie got ready to kick it, causing him to miss and feel humiliated.Lucy will also torment Linus physically and mentally. Despite this tough exterior, Lucy is also veryinsecure and has very low self esteem. She is always seeking compliments from Charlie and Linus,however, when their comments are not positive, she will either sink into depression or startscreaming at the two boys. Lucy's behavior is best aligned with people who have BorderlinePersonality Disorder (BPD). BPD causes people to have extreme moods which change quickly.They have a hard time calming down once they are upset and tend to have impulsive, angry

outbursts. Borderline Personality Disorder patients often have a polarized view of the world.

Schroeder ~ Of all the peanuts characters and one ofCharlie Brown's closer friends, Schroeder is the mostartistic. He has an obsession with Ludwig van Beethovenand is an expert at playing the toy piano. Schroeder triesto ignore and avoid Lucy because she has a major crushon him. She is constantly leaning on his piano to the pointwhere he begins to yank the piano out from under her andwalk away. When the Brown family moves away in lateryears of the comic, Schroeder actually admits that hemissed Lucy and that he had a tough time playing thepiano without her. In fact, his piano playing declinedsignificantly after Lucy moved away. This leads me tosome of the signs of Dependent Personality Disorder (DPD). People who suffer from thisdisorder are clingy and submit to others' desires. They feel a strong need to be taken care of byothers. Although this might be a stretch, let's just say that Schroeder has these tendencies and issomewhere in the range of Dependent Personality Disorder characteristics and symptoms.Schroeder also depends on his piano as a security blanket. When given the opportunity to play areal piano, he failed miserably and immediately went back to his toy. It gives him a certain feeling ofcomfort.

Peppermint Patty ~ Patricia Reichardt, aka PeppermintPatty, is a tomboy who refers to Charlie Brown as "Chuck"and Lucy as "Lucille." Peppermint Patty is the athlete ofthe group. She is aware of how good she is. When shefirst came to join Charlie Brown's team, she was the starpitcher who relegated Chuck to the outfield. Later on, herown baseball team from across town where she lived,played against Charlie Brown's team. During this game,Peppermint Patty's team lost despite her ranting andraving and showing off her skills.

The area of academics is where Peppermint Patty needshelp. She doesn't understand concepts and often pretendsto know so much that she ends up embarrassing herself. Much like people whoare diagnosed with Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD), PeppermintPatty is dramatic and loves to exaggerate. Due to her lack of cognitiveabilities, however, she comes across as vague, shallow and lacking significantdetails in what she has to say. She can also be seen as a character who is soextroverted she doesn't like to be alone, which is another characteristic ofHPD. Histrionic Personality Disorder patients are also very flirty and seductive.One can conclude, from reading the comic strips, that Peppermint Patty doesflirt with Charlie Brown, her crush. She is often seen with her best bud, Marcie.

Marcie ~ The only Peanuts character who wears glasses, Marcie isPeppermint Patty's best friend who also has a crush on Charlie Brown.However, she doesn't flirt with him but says it like it is...she actually flat outasked him what he thought about her. She can be brutally honest. When shegets frustrated or upset, she tends to exude violence. During one scene,Marcie got mad at Charlie Brown and kicked him in the shins. Marcie is astudious individual who does well in school and is the overachiever of thegroup. Of all the characters in the comic, Marcie is the one with the mostparallels with Antisocial Personality Disorder. When she strikes out atothers verbally and physically with charm and wit, she shows the signs ofhaving Antisocial Personality Disorder. People who suffer from this disorderare good at putting on a mask and acting. Although Marcie's behaviors are

more civil than criminal, she can still come across as violating andmanipulating others' rights, especially when she is angry.

Sally Brown ~ Sally Brown is Charlie's younger sister. She is downright laid-back, which comes across, often times, as laziness. She likes to just cruisethrough life without putting forth much effort. She also has a tough time whenshe has to give oral reports as she struggles with malapropisms. She confusesher words and ends up sounding very funny when giving her presentations, like,"Santa Claus and his Rain Gear." Sally is at the bottom of this list because ofall the characters, she doesn't quite fit into a personality disorder. The best Ican do with Sally is diagnose her with Specific Learning Disorder or SLDrather than a true Personality Disorder. This means that she needs specialeducation support, specifically for her reading and writing difficulties as shownby her many goof-ups during school.

Snoopy and WoodstockAs I think about Snoopy, Charlie Brown's pet beagle, and his best friend,Woodstock, I find it difficult to determine if they even have personalitydisorders. Snoopy lives in fantasy world and tries to live out his fantasies all the time. His dreamsrange from being an ace bomber pilot to being Joe Cool when he constantly sported sunglasses. Woodstock is Snoopy's buddy who has a hard time doing what birds do...flying. He follows Snoopyaround and becomes a part of Snoopy's adventures as he lives out his dreams and fantasies. Nothing wrong with that!!