Diagnosing Barb from the perspective of a psychologist

Kept the title vague to avoid new video spoilers, but know I’ll be talking about the new vid here.

Credentials: Graduating with a B.A. in psychology with a concentration in personality psychology in two weeks.

I saw someone mention in a comment on another post that Barb is a particularly hard case to treat, and I believe that’s actually the truth for a key reason that goes beyond her Barbness: she very likely has a personality disorder. Personality disorders are famously regarded as immensely difficult to successfully confront because one of their key components is they are largely at the core of how someone functions in larger society (i.e., consistent patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors). Because of this, admitting to having a personality disorder means admitting to being fundamentally flawed to the “core,” which no one wants to do. This isn’t to say people with personality disorders are beyond helping or that they’re inherently evil. It’s just more difficult to admit “I am a psychopath” over, say, “I have a hard time controlling my anxiety.”

All of that to say it’s hard to treat personality disorders because in order to get better, you have to want to get better, and you can’t want that if your personality disorder has convinced you there’s nothing wrong with you (individuals with these disorders tend to think everyone else is the issue, not them —- another key component). If Barb doesn’t admit SHE is the issue (which she clearly hasn’t), she can’t change (which is what clearly has been happening).

If you want my armchair diagnosis of Barb (which I’ll indulge since she’s fictional), I’m honestly leaning between Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder, more towards BPD because of the fear of abandonment and attempts to “attack first” before rejection. (Another cool psychology tidbit, personality disorders cannot be comorbid, so it had to be one or the other, or maybe even a secret third option).

TL;DR Barb has a personality disorder (imo) which is why she would be such a hard case to treat, as individuals with personality disorders have particular difficulty with admitting they have one and therefore cannot “want” to get better. This prevents them from getting better.