Is Spider-Man a mentally ill hero

[SpideyCeo]

A simple objective question. Peter is said to be an everyman, no regular person has as much hang ups and psychological habits than our Peter Parker. I always thought of Peter as a Donald Duck without the brazen determination, but all of the triggered mentally unstable emotions that unleashes more often.

[SuperiorIronman]

Peter definitely isn't well mentally. He is functional for sure but he also isn't well and I'm pretty sure that's largely caused by lifestyle and not something he was born with given the sort of world he lives in.

Peter definitely is easy to trigger into violence. Even further than that he was known to blame people for things that they had no part in like Tony Stark apparently being the reason Aunt May got shot and thus breaking into his home, assaulting him, trying to cause a mid air crash that could've killed them both, and Peter trying to guilt Stark into caring for May. Yeah another reason not to like OMD cause Peter is a jackass in that. Back in the 90's when he had to question the whole clone thing, he not only went evil but assaulted his wife. Not to forget his feelings about Gwen and his partial responsibility in killing her.

Peter is kind of a mess emotionally.

[Spidey5640]

Really? This is what its come to? There is no other more interesting, more relevant issue in the Spiderman realm that is worthy of discussion other than this tripe? Is that where we are as Spiderman fans?

[Soubhagya]

No he is not mentally ill. He lives under tremendous pressure almost constantly. Managing his own personal life, he also has to fight for others. He won't let anyone down. Double lives can be very difficult. Imagine trying to get through everything: job, love, family. People struggle to manage all these different parts. And Spider-Man is yet another life. It is really difficult to be a super-hero.

So, i don't think he has any psychological problems. Unless some writer explicitly mentions he has any problems i won't accept it.

[Spiderfang]

No Spider-Man is not mentally ill, you're thinking of Moon Knight.

[Mister Mets]

The main argument for mental illness is reconciling hundreds of adventures, many of which are traumatic, with one character. That's a thread that shouldn't be pulled, since few prolific characters can withstand it.

[RD!]

It's hard to diagnose a mental illness.

He's a depressive person, can be anxious and socially awkward, and at times, obsessive. He's even expressed suicidal thoughts, but just thoughts. He may fall somewhere on the autism spectrum but is a functional person.

[RD!]

Peter definitely isn't well mentally. He is functional for sure but he also isn't well and I'm pretty sure that's largely caused by lifestyle and not something he was born with given the sort of world he lives in.

Peter definitely is easy to trigger into violence. Even further than that he was known to blame people for things that they had no part in like Tony Stark apparently being the reason Aunt May got shot and thus breaking into his home, assaulting him, trying to cause a mid air crash that could've killed them both, and Peter trying to guilt Stark into caring for May. Yeah another reason not to like OMD cause Peter is a jackass in that. Back in the 90's when he had to question the whole clone thing, he not only went evil but assaulted his wife. Not to forget his feelings about Gwen and his partial responsibility in killing her.

Peter is kind of a mess emotionally.

I disagree with your assessment there.

He's not easy to trigger to violence, the opposite in fact. See his stoicism in the face of Flash and JJJ's taunts most of the time just off the top of my head.

The May incident was an EXTREMELY traumatic time, probably the most stressful situation he ever found himself in -- thus why he was magicked out of it by OMD. Iron Man was partly responsible for Peter's situation.

He never went 'evil' during the Clone Saga, and MJ jumped into a fight between Peter and Ben. Hitting her was an accident.

[theoneandonly]

I wonder. Batman gets eaten by survivors guilt and feeling of vengeance and what not and Spidey does fall in the same boat in that regard with his being more involved in precipitating the tragedy which arguably must make him feel worse than batman. in the disordered minds crossover both come off them are coming off as being scarred deeply by the experience to the point of feeling their world's having ended due to the actions of the gunman. looks like both could have benefitted by psychiatric help but peter was too poor then though why Bruce wasnt able to get help is more questionable. However no one among the superhero community questions Spiderman's sanity though many view him suspiciously but batman seems to always cause concern among his allies and family in this regard with his colleagues thinking he is always on the verge of going too far. superman even made fun of him in this regard in a issue of jl adventures where he attributes his expertise in dealing with schizoids and the like due to his having to deal with himself on a daily basis. In marvel (though DC heores have been retconed to most of them also having issues) most of the heroes have some mental issues like tony bruce frank and matt which arguably are worst than peters so peter doesn't have to put up with anyone questioning his sanity like batman but all heroes do seem to skate on a thin line veering between sanity and insanity. Having said that peter does have the mental fortitude that he hasn't been pushed over a line from where he hadn't been able to return despite the goblins efforts to have him as his heir by pushing his buttons and all the sickness he has encountered although he has come close to breaking like when Norman kidnapped him and tried to condition him through torture and the like and when he was ready to kill the sin eater due to his killing of jean to the point that daredevil had to stop him wondering whether he will not himself get killed in the process at Peter's hands. the beating he delivered was so fierce that it left the sin eater disabled. so yes peter has his dark side and when it comes to the fore he has done questionable things but so have other heroes and they are yet able to act on the angels side can be considered as gods grace as only a single bad/heinous day or twist of fate can blur the line between hero and villain in some instances.

[Grimm911]

Anna Maria once speculated that Peter’s convictions on responsibility may have something of a guilt complex attached to it that was ignited with Uncle Ben’s death that he could have prevented, and was further fueled along the years with other tragedies and hardships taking place like Gwen Stacy’s death and Aunt May being shot during Civil War. This coupled with the fact that Peter tends to bear the weight of his troubles alone both as Spider-Man and in his civvies without seeking help until he’s in over his head.

So no, Peters not mentally ill but he does have issues he needs to address and get help for.

[Cmbmool]

Peter definitely isn't well mentally. He is functional for sure but he also isn't well and I'm pretty sure that's largely caused by lifestyle and not something he was born with given the sort of world he lives in.

Peter definitely is easy to trigger into violence. Even further than that he was known to blame people for things that they had no part in like Tony Stark apparently being the reason Aunt May got shot and thus breaking into his home, assaulting him, trying to cause a mid air crash that could've killed them both, and Peter trying to guilt Stark into caring for May. Yeah another reason not to like OMD cause Peter is a jackass in that. Back in the 90's when he had to question the whole clone thing, he not only went evil but assaulted his wife. Not to forget his feelings about Gwen and his partial responsibility in killing her.

Peter is kind of a mess emotionally.

WELL....Peter isn't FULLY Wrong as Tony does have a partial role in what happened to Aunt May.

The majority of the blame is on Peter, but Peter isn't FULLY in the wrong here.

[Spiderfang]

Anna Maria once speculated that Peter’s convictions on responsibility may have something of a guilt complex attached to it that was ignited with Uncle Ben’s death that he could have prevented, and was further fueled along the years with other tragedies and hardships taking place like Gwen Stacy’s death and Aunt May being shot during Civil War. This coupled with the fact that Peter tends to bear the weight of his troubles alone both as Spider-Man and in his civvies without seeking help until he’s in over his head.

So no, Peters not mentally ill but he does have issues he needs to address and get help for.

Yes the keyword being baggage, Peter has a lot of emotional baggage that he needs sorting through.

[blackspidey2099]

I mean you could say that about any major character, what with all the trauma and sudden personality changes they go through whenever the creative team changes. But, in-character, I don't think he is.

[Huntsman Spider]

If he has a mental illness at all, TV Tropes would call it "chronic hero syndrome," meaning that he has a neurotic, if not borderline psychotic, compulsion to save others' lives at the expense of common sense or pragmatism, much less any sense of self-preservation because deep down, he feels as though his life matters far less than anyone else's around him and even that he doesn't deserve to be happy and successful after all the people he's let down and failed, starting with his Uncle Ben (and Aunt May by proxy). Of course, this is also where his massive guilt complex stems from, and some would call it "responsibility OCD," wherein he lives with constant feelings of guilt and anxiety out of the belief that his actions have brought and are bringing misery, suffering, and even death to the people he loves and cares about.

[boots]

The main argument for mental illness is reconciling hundreds of adventures, many of which are traumatic, with one character. That's a thread that shouldn't be pulled, since few prolific characters can withstand it.

yeah, see waid's "irredeemable" for a superhero who lacks a super mental fortitude