Does Rei Ayanami have schizophrenia?

[viperzero]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PcMJ98sNZ ... cmVuaWE%3D

Interview with a girl with simple schizophrenia, negative symptoms but no or few positive ones. Kinda reminds me a little of Rei.

[Kendrix]

It's worth mentioning that older books with 19th or early 20th century sources (Freund, Jung etc) do not necessarily use such terms in the modern sense;

Even in modern English you'll see terms used with references to earlier meanings & metaphors built on those (like using "schizophrenic" to mean "contradictory")

Another example is how "autistic" was used to mean simply asocial (and I recall there are some intervies where Anno uses it in that sense) but nowadays the meaning has shifted to almost exclusively refer to a spectrum of narrowly defined specific disorders. (and, judging by the individuals I've known, just another annoying health problem thing to deal with, not something that makes you existentially different in any way despite what common stereotypes would have you believe)

Before modern imaging technology, genetics & neuroscience much of it was total guesswork so the present classifications are a lot more specific & narrowly defined.

The impression I get is that Anno at some point simply picked up some books on psychoanalysis and was intrigued by some of the concepts presented in there and that this inspired him somewhat;

The intention to properly research & represent some real-life condition would look rather different. (especially one that, in reality, tends to leave people seriously disabled and unable to function, not capable of showing up at school and reliably working a high-pressure job)

In the end Rei is basically a somewhat abstract self-portrait with phantastical elements as windowdressing, and how she acts makes perfect sense considering her circumstances with no extraneous external interpretation element required.

If you knew that the world is about to end in a few months, that nearly everyone around you treats you as a tool and that they can just replace you at any time and that there's no way for you to escape, you wouldn't be too chipper, either.

[Asunji_Yuko]

I remember the Rei has autism thing. Also Shinji is listed on the wikipedia for fictional bisexual characters

The original 3 children are all autistic af

Yes, even Asuka, she just gets away with it because she's pretty

[Blockio]

Something tells me that you have very little grasp on what autism actually entails.

The only character in the show that I feel confident in declaring autistic is Kensuke, he hits a lot of the checkmarks for aspergers; Rei is debatable in that regard, her overall behavious could be constructed as a combination of some of the rarer traits, but it's a bit of a stretch since she lacks a lot of the usual hallmarks

[Asunji_Yuko]

Something tells me that you have very little grasp on what autism actually entails.

The only character in the show that I feel confident in declaring autistic is Kensuke, he hits a lot of the checkmarks for aspergers; Rei is debatable in that regard, her overall behavious could be constructed as a combination of some of the rarer traits, but it's a bit of a stretch since she lacks a lot of the usual hallmarks

Oh, I wasn't really serious. I meant more in the "eccentric and socially awkward" internet way, not the literal clinical way.

[Kendrix]

Oh, I wasn't really serious. I meant more in the "eccentric and socially awkward" internet way, not the literal clinical way.

You realize how that's ... kind of not a very helpful thing to do, in the same way as using 'gay' to mean tacky or uncool? Even if you mean no offense it still kind of contributes to the actual condition being associated with stereotypical connotations & hence ppl who have it being met with stereotypes.

One of my sisters has it and its literally just an annoying health condition like any other, nothing existential. So on some days she can't with the texture of tight clothing or has trouble following fast explanations - so what? It's not a big deal.
I legit never noticed anything unusual about her but I'm not a head doctor. She & her friends who alre also neurodivergent can spot each other a mile off, though.

I kinda love how I'm the eccentric asocial weirdo (but just because i am / choose to be) and she's the responsible one with a job, because it's like our family is a fuck you to ableist stereotypes.