Re: Light Yagamis Presumed Sociopathy And Why He Is Objectively Not A Sociopath /psychopath

Re: Light Yagami’s presumed sociopathy and why he is objectively not a sociopath /psychopath

For as long as the Death Note fandom has existed, the question “Is Light a sociopath/psychopath” has existed in tandem. Many essays about this already exist, but to my knowledge none of those posts were written by a person currently training to become a psychiatrist which is why I’m throwing my two cents into the pool. As this post’s extremely subtle title suggests, I’m pretty solidly on the side that argues Light is not a sociopath/psychopath. The idea that Light is a sociopath is misinformed at best and most insidiously might just be a symptom of a broader social stigma on mental health. A psychiatric diagnosis is not pre-requisite for violent crime. Those who have a mental health diagnosis are, in actuality, far more likely to be the victims of a violent crime rather than the perpetrators. 

Bringing the conversation back to Light specifically, the idea that he’s a sociopath cannot be proven with the information presented in canon. This point is not debatable; there is simply not enough information given for any reasonable psychiatrist to make that determination. Furthermore, canon does not support that theory well either. Frankly speaking, anyone who thinks they can call Light a sociopath solely because he appears to meet criteria on a checklists doesn’t have a clue what they’re talking about. Human behavior is incredibly nuanced and determining what is or isn’t pathological is not nearly as simple as meeting criteria on a DSM-5 checklist. It is simply not a well informed argument to say that Light is a sociopath because he meets x amount of criteria. 

While this ought to go without saying, I’ve seen enough people over the years seriously suggest that reading something online means they understand psychiatric disorders that it seems to need stating anyway: the ability to read articles and checklists online does not translate into academic or clinical literacy. 

And by the way, the issue of academic and clinical literacy goes for me too, While half a year of clinical psych is more exposure than is typical for the average person in the fandom, I am also still learning and my opinions are not those of a licensed professional. Do take what I say with a grain of salt, but take people who have no training at all with even more grains of salt. There is a reason people go to grad school to study this stuff. 

So that all said, Light isn’t a sociopath. 

Now you may be going, “Eh, but if nobody can prove he is a sociopath, then you couldn’t prove that he isn’t a sociopath either.” And this is where I sashay in because ruling that out is actually pretty easy because so much evidence goes against it. This post will be going neck deep into the details of why Light is demonstrably not a sociopath. He is messed up certainly, but not a sociopath. 

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the way it ends.

Happy Birthday  @leegarbettart !!

I think the most radical thing the hunger games does is tell young people that the most revolutionary thing you can do is have unconditional love for humanity. Katniss throughout the entire series is guided by a deep sense of compassion for the people around her. It is what causes her to volunteer, to bury rue, to mercy kill cato, its why she tries to save peeta, why finnick telling her to remember who the real enemy is works, and even though her compassion for the larger world falters when peeta is kidnapped, it comes back when she visits hospitals and asks for mercy for other victors and ultimately, it is love and belief in a better humanity that makes her kill coin. Through it all, she maintains an unfaltering belief in the fundemental goodness of humanity, which is diametrically opposed to dr gaul's and snow's worldview. Peeta is even more unwaveringly compassionate

So the series tells young people that the most revolutionary thing you can be is compassionate. Let compassion drive your politics. Let yourself believe in the fundemental goodness of people. And i think that's deeply important in a world that touts the superiority of pure reason or logic, to allow yourself to be guided by something as emotional as compassion. Katniss everdeen tells us that your politics should be rooted in compassion in a world that thinks detatchment or cynicism is intelligence and i think thats v cool

"As long as we're both handcuffed, you and I share the same fate. If I die, so will you."

i spent way too much time on this lmao😭😭😭