What is so magnetic in chaos, destruction and violence? Why are sensationalist titles of crime chronicles the one that sells the best? Are we all vampires? A vampires on a couch, sucking the blood from the breaking news every evening. Staring like zombies, praying to the god of the magic box to bless us with another mouthful of killing, dying and suffering.

Jungian concept

According to Carl Gustav Jung, an answer to the biggest questions of them all, what's the meaning of life, lays in INDIVIDUATION. Individuation is a process of becoming a whole through the integration of the psyche. Expanding and imploding radiantly. Inside and out. Accepting all aspects of self,

including the ones our ego is so desperately trying to hide, burying it in our unconscious. Guarding it captured deep in the dark forgotten realm. Why? To spare us from the painful truth. From the fact that our code holds some terrifying sequences. Dormant, yet ready to be called upon at any given moment.

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C.G. Jung

THE SHADOW

These god forsaken aspects of ourselves Jung names the shadow. The counterpart of our conscious self. If we want to live in peace, we need to awake it and accept it. If destinies decide to become reluctant on us, our shadow will evoke the ugliest of the ugliest, cruelest of the cruelest, and deadliest of the deadliest monsters. Imprisoned in the sodden, sinister dungeons of our unwanted parts of being. The joker hides in all of us. Deep down in our psyche lies a seed to a monster that "wants to see the world burns". But not all of us are ready to accept it. Yet, when we see it on the big screen, with our warm asses

stuck in our cozy couches,nibbling the cheapest potato snack from the supermarket, our shadow, the anti-you, starts to playfully resonate. In harmony with the monster from TV, so far far away. On a safe distance so our shiny, fragile personas wouldn't be harmed by this unacceptable ether. Reminding us that "we are not our Swedish furniture" , as Tyler Durden says in the Fight club. We enjoy seeing killing, as we are made of the killers dust. Yet, we don't kill. Obviously there's much more than just killer's dust in the ashes of humanity. We are all there ever was.

THE JOKER portrayed by Heath Ledger

I certainly won't speculate on the effect this role had on the departed actor, as I'm not familiar with his psychic state prior the movie, nor would I discuss about health of any person publicly. I can just admire his interpretation and thank him for everything he has done to enrich human souls watching this great artist at work.

I've made a rough sketch of Jokers psychic status, according to what we saw in the movie. It would't be enough for establishing the final diagnosis, but according to my past experiences, I'm pretty much sure in what direction this continuum of symptoms would eventually lead.

DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS

While assessing the symptoms and clinical features psychiatrists use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) by the American Psychiatric Association.

BAP (bipolar affective disorder), schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder

Some people may be misdiagnosed as having schizophrenia. Others may be misdiagnosed as having bipolar disorder. And those diagnosed as having schizoaffective disorder may actually have schizophrenia with prominent mood symptoms. Or they may have a mood disorder with symptoms similar to those of schizophrenia. It's really a continuum of clinical features that can present differently depending on the moment and the patient's current state. Psychiatrist's experience is of major importance in diagnostic such a severe disorders. You need to develop the right treatment strategy and maintain appropriate attitude towards such patients. It certainly isn't easy to handle a guy like this, let alone to persuade him to get to treatment. But in case like this, you have the legal rights (and obligation) to make sure that patient is hospitalized, whether he consents or not.

DIAGNOSIS

F25 Shizoaffective disorder

This relatively rare disorder is defined as "the presence of psychotic symptoms in the absence of mood changes for at least two weeks in a patient who has a mood disorder." The diagnosis is used when an individual does not fit diagnostic standards for either schizophrenia or "affective" (mood) disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder (manic depression).

TREATMENT

Combination of antipsychotic agents alongside mood stabilizers. In this case, according to it's severity, I'd go with a combination of clozapine and lithium. It's possible one more antipsychotic agent would be needed in the acute phases (haloperidol or promazine).