Each character in Winnie-the-Pooh represents a mental disorder.
Which one are you?
Winnie-the-Pooh, the anthropomorphic teddy bear and protagonist of A.A. Milne’s iconic children’s book just turned 96.
The book was released on October 14, 1926, as a collection of stories set in the fictionalized Hundred Acre Wood.
Appealing to children and young adults, the stories attained incredible success and were eventually translated into 72 languages, including Latin.
In 1960 the work was licensed to Disney Productions, which dropped the hyphens in the name and made Winnie the Pooh one of history’s most successful franchises.
Pooh has generated billions of dollars in revenue for Disney, second only to Mickey Mouse. It was voted onto the top 100 icons of England and received his own star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 2006, on his 80th birthday.
The main character was inspired by an actual teddy bear the author once bought at Harrod’s as a present to his son, Christopher Robbin. The kid would also become a character in the stories, along with Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, Owl, and Tigger, all of which are toy animals in Christopher’s collection.
Endearing and childlike, the characters in the book are also complex, sometimes exhibiting erratic behavior. In time, some patterns started to emerge, and in 2000 a paper in the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggested some of that behavior was pathological.
Under the title of “Pathology in the Hundred Acre Wood“, the study correlated the behavior found in the stories with actual mental health issues, with each character getting their own diagnosis, as follows:
- Pooh – OCD and eating disorder
- Piglet – Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Rabbit – Narcissism
- Eyeore – Dysthymic Disorder (depression)
- Owl – Dyslexia
- Tigger – ADHD
- Kanga – Social Anxiety Disorder
- Roo – Autism
Christopher Robbin (the character) was not paired to a specific diagnosis, but Sarah Shea, the lead author in the paper, worried about the lack of parental supervision and his habit of talking to animals (schizophrenia?)
In a BBC interview, the researchers indicated that the aim of their tongue-in-cheek study was reminding people that it is OK to have and live with these mental disorders.
If you have ever read or watched one of Winnie the Pooh‘s stories, you probably saw yourself in some of those characters. I know I did. And while we all may identify with a few of those traits, mental disorders are sadly becoming an epidemic, especially among the youth.
Raising awareness about this alarming issue is equally important, and October 10th is now Mental Health Day.
I hope the characters in the Hundred Acre Wood help demystify, identify, and provide solace to those struggling with mental illness.
No one is immune, and many suffer in silence.
Who are you in the Hundred Acre Wood?
How can we normalize the discussion around this topic?
#mentalhealth #history #health
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