Freeman's Mental State

[ThePest179]

Okay, so I've done some brief investigation, and here I'll try my best to determine what psychological disorders Gordon Freeman has. If I'm making any glaring errors or if you don't think the disorder in question fits Freeman's personality, let me know; I am not an expert. Without further ado....

 

Antisocial Personality Disorder:

Antisocial (or dissocial) personality disorder is characterized by a pervasive pattern of disregard for, or violation of, the rights of others. There may be an impoverished moral sense or conscience and a history of crime, legal problems, and impulsive and aggressive behavior.

- Wikipedia on ASPD

 

From what we know of Freeman, he has a history of petty crimes (there are hints that he has stolen from Black Mesa in the past and planned to do so in the event he got fired), alluded to trouble with authority figures (namely the police and Black Mesa management), engages in reckless behavior (his frequent consumption of alcohol to the point where he's woken up in dumpsters more than once; his oxycodone addiction; implied sexual harassment of female coworkers) and aggressive behavior (his brief reference to "breaking things" in grad school; unprovoked insults before and after the Resonance Cascade). He also displays little remorse or guilt over his actions, even when those actions cause harm to others (the times he's accidentally killed people usually don't get more than a minute or two of reflection, although in Freeman's defense he's fighting for his life over a period of two days) and has great difficulty holding down relationships (he's talked about how he's been tasered and hit with pepper spray on previous dates). So, all in all, I think that there is a good case to claim that Freeman has ASPD.

 

Psychopathy: Using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist, let's see how many characteristics of psychopathy Freeman demonstrates:

glib and superficial charm - Freeman states that he is a good liar, but we only have his word to go on that. On the other hand, he briefly mentioned getting acquitted for petty theft. This one's ambiguous.

grandiose (exaggeratedly high) estimation of self - Yes and that's all that will be said.

need for stimulation - His previously mentioned alcohol and oxycodone addiction count.

pathological lying - See "glib and superficial charm".

cunning and manipulativeness - There's not enough evidence in-series to suggest this.

lack of remorse or guilt - Already covered in the ASPD diagnosis; yes.

shallow affect (superficial emotional responsiveness) - Kind of hard to determine in-series, but I'm leaning towards no. Freeman is pretty emotive in-series.

callousness and lack of empathy - Freeman considered using a scientist as a human shield at one point, and considered using a guard's intestines as rope, and this isn't mentioning the times he's made fun of the deaths of Black Mesa employees, or tried to steal things from corpses. Then there's his description of how he was going to climb the corporate ladder through kidnapping (Episode 21). I'm leaning heavily towards yes on this one.

parasitic lifestyle - We can't tell for certain in-series.

poor behavioral controls - This one's ambiguous as well. He's delivered insults to fellow employees before and after the Resonance Cascade, as well as overacting several times when confronted with threats, but these can easily be attributed to other factors.

sexual promiscuity - He's been implied to be a sex offender, so it might apply.

early behavior problems - We don't have very much information on his childhood, but he did mention he built pillow forts out of plaster of paris. Again, might count.

lack of realistic long-term goals - Depends on if his dreams of taming a sea turtle, leaving the country for India, and finding another job after Black Mesa could be considered realistic.

impulsivity - Already covered in the ASPD diagnosis; yes.

irresponsibility - See "Failure to accept responsibility".

failure to accept responsibility for own actions - He frequently rationalizes the accidental deaths he causes. I'm leaning towards yes on this one.

many short-term marital relationships - I'm pretty sure he's never married, but it seems like he can't keep a relationship. I'd say it counts.

juvenile delinquency - See "early behavior problems".

revocation of conditional release - Not enough information.

criminal versatility - Implied petty theft, implied sexual harassment, drug abuse, yeah, I'd say it fits Freeman.

 

So, all in all, it would appear that Freeman meets several criteria for being a psychopath. I'd leave the final decision to a psychiatrist, although personally I think he is a psychopath.

 

Paranoid Personality Disorder:

Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) is a mental disorder characterized by paranoia and a pervasive, long-standing suspiciousness and generalized mistrust of others. Individuals with this personality disorder may be hypersensitive, easily feel slighted, and habitually relate to the world by vigilant scanning of the environment for clues or suggestions that may validate their fears or biases. Paranoid individuals are eager observers. They think they are in danger and look for signs and threats of that danger, potentially not appreciating other evidence.[1]

 

They tend to be guarded and suspicious and have quite constricted emotional lives. Their reduced capacity for meaningful emotional involvement and the general pattern of isolated withdrawal often lend a quality of schizoid isolation to their life experience.[2][verification needed] People with this particular disorder may or may not have a tendency to bear grudges, suspiciousness, tendency to interpret others' actions as hostile, persistent tendency to self-reference, or a tenacious sense of personal right.[3] Patients with this disorder can also have significant comorbidity with other personality disorders.

- From Wiki on PPD

 

So, while we don't know if Freeman has a "constricted emotional life", we do know that he doesn't have anybody he considers a friend (something that he's quite proud of), although that's not an instant qualifier. He's definitely suspicious of others (again, something he's proud of), and holds grudges (the whole rant about "the list" in episodes 2-3), however, Freeman doesn't appear to have these as central personality traits, nor does he appear to constantly attempt to validate his fears or overact very often (and the times that he does can be conceivably excused). While he does fear things like frog people and mind-reading owls, these are not instant qualifiers. I'm going to say no for this one.

 

 

I think that's all the ones I wanted to cover. If you think I made any glaring mistakes, either in my psychology or my depiction of Freeman, or if you're more qualified to diagnose these things, please speak up and/or point out my mistakes. So, opinions, comments, criticism, and etc. are all appreciated.

[Vapymid]

I'm sorry, when I am playing Half-Life, Freeman has none of these traits or disorders...

 

Regards

[savvaisnotagirl]

Freeman could be a psychopath, but he's definitely not a sociopath. From my experience in my neighborhood and WebMD, sociopaths have a conscience that is very weak and when they see something new, there not really fazed by it. Because this show is Freeman's "Mind", we don't hear anything from Freeman saying "I don't like killing this guy but whatever", we just hear "Whatever" with most of the people he kills like its a normal afternoon. Also when Freeman enters Xen, he FREAKS THE FUCK OUT. A sociopath, I believe, would be like "Eh, not so bad, I sorta been through this".

 

Actually could Shepard, in Shepard's Mind, be a sociopath? He isn't fazed of being in an alien world last I remember and has a conscience that he generally ignores.

[Zaraki]

Actually could Shepard, in Shepard's Mind, be a sociopath? He isn't fazed of being in an alien world last I remember and has a conscience that he generally ignores.

He's trying to be a proffesional soldier as best as he can.Not exactly a sociopath.

[BTGBullseye]

we don't hear anything from Freeman saying "I don't like killing this guy but whatever", we just hear "Whatever"

Except for that pair of guys at the missile silo that had their backs to him, he didn't want to attack until they got to the part where they were saying they were going to kill him on sight. He also repeatedly tested to see if things were non-hostile, so that he didn't have to kill them.

 

IMO, he was just acting like an unusually well adjusted soldier in a combat environment.

[Alyxx Thorne]

This is amusing

[RandomGuy]

we don't hear anything from Freeman saying "I don't like killing this guy but whatever", we just hear "Whatever"

Except for that pair of guys at the missile silo that had their backs to him, he didn't want to attack until they got to the part where they were saying they were going to kill him on sight. He also repeatedly tested to see if things were non-hostile, so that he didn't have to kill them.

 

IMO, he was just acting like an unusually well adjusted soldier in a combat environment.

He also goes out of his way not to shoot some soldiers he bypassed in the rail chapter.

[ThePest179]

we don't hear anything from Freeman saying "I don't like killing this guy but whatever", we just hear "Whatever"

Except for that pair of guys at the missile silo that had their backs to him, he didn't want to attack until they got to the part where they were saying they were going to kill him on sight. He also repeatedly tested to see if things were non-hostile, so that he didn't have to kill them.

 

IMO, he was just acting like an unusually well adjusted soldier in a combat environment.

He also goes out of his way not to shoot some soldiers he bypassed in the rail chapter.

 

Keep in mind that he doesn't have to kill/act hostile to everything he meets to be a psychopath.

Edited April 5, 2017 by Guest (see edit history)

[Selfsurprise]

I find it quite disturbing how much I identify with Freeman, especially in regards to his relationship with work colleagues. Don't get me wrong, I'm far from reckless and really rather sedate, and I'm too much of a limp-wristed beta-male feminist to be as remotely sexually promiscuous as the titular character in question. But his general sense of cynicism and complete lack of faith in other peoples abilities is something, I'm ashamed to say, I share. I realize this thread is just made for a laugh and Ross's interpretation of Freeman is an exaggerated parody of an unsympathetic outsider

 

I'm leaning towards an antisocial rather than psychopathic explanation for Freeman's behaviour and attitude. I think he is too emotionally invested in his situation and the way people respond to him, from what I understand a higher functioning sociopath would have a degree of detachment from others, including in regards to any praise or criticism they receive - even if they are socially advanced enough to present a veneer of civility. Freeman responds badly to threats both literal or imagined, or otherwise misinterprets others comments in a negative light. He may even have paranoiac tendencies (although he is very articulate in justifying his paranoia) and just general issues management his anger and hostility.

[UncookedMeatloaf]

Sorry to revive an old thread-- But what episode implies that he was a sex offender?

[Halogenlampe]

Sorry to revive an old thread-- But what episode implies that he was a sex offender?

Pretty sure the implication was just that Freeman doesn't have a very successful love life.

In the earlier episodes Freeman thinks about past dates with coworkers. This is also referenced later, after Freeman...

gets knocked out by the soldiers and wakes up with amnesia.

Somewhere in between episode 30-35

[ThePest179]

Sorry to revive an old thread-- But what episode implies that he was a sex offender?

 

It's no problem at all man. This is one of the few things I've done on the forums that I'm still proud of.

 

While I'm posting here, I wonder if Freeman's paranoia issues have to do with his excessive drug usage. A quick Google search suggests that crystal meth use causes the onset of paranoia and delusional thinking, so it's possible that this is where some of Freeman's more...out there beliefs (such as believing owls can read his mind) stem from.

[AP_Pastor]

Sorry to revive an old thread-- But what episode implies that he was a sex offender?

It's his cousin Jessie who was a sex offender, as mentioned in Episode 1.

 

Now that we have Freeman's Mind 2. I can bet that from this point on, Freeman's gonna be losing way more marbles than he's already lost, especially Ravenholm. I'd be surprised if he didn't get PTSD on top of ASPD, PPD and psychopathy after going through zombies and traps.

[danielsangeo]

I have to imagine that the Ravenholm chapter will be nothing but quotes from Romero movies.

[BTGBullseye]

I have a feeling he's going to apeshit over the gravity gun.

[TheGamingBaconator]

I have a feeling he's going to apeshit over the gravity gun.

 

"Wow, this is awesome-wait a damn minute. You said this was a 'Zero Point Energy Field Manipulator'? What the hell? So this thing uses the Casimir Effect or something? How is this even possible?"