Has there ever been proof that Joker is insane?

[Castiel]

One of the things that's always bothered me (and perhaps many others) about Joker is that he is never really shown to display signs of mental instability aside from his love of killing people in fact he's more than like a psychopath with sociopathic and narcissistic traits but he often displays traits that go against those diagnoses. So it's hard to pin down what he has. My personal belief is that he has a multitude of mental disorders and they all function in a way that make it hard to really diagnose him however he has moments where he's lucid (not crazy or as crazy) but still lacks basic morals.

However if only to justify his constant being sent to Arkham I think maybe there should be a story line where it's flat out shown he is to some degree not sane not just having a lust for killing but genuinely not very stable. Like something that plays to him not being able to remember his own origins for example he's in the middle of a robbery or massacre(possibly a shoot out with GCPD) and he starts spacing out and rambling at a critical time giving even his goons the chills and even doubts as to whether they should be following him. Like he starts calling people by different names and acting like he's somewhere else and to avoid any clues to his true identity their could be serious inconsistencies and what he says could also be lines from famous books and movies. Pretty much something like this

[Dolores - The Worst Poster Ever]

There was that time Martian Manhunter made him sane, which he struggled to do because of how chaotic Joker's mind was. Spectre also entered Joker's mind once and found that Joker's conscience wasn't active, and when he activated it, Joker was horrified at what he had done.

[SicariiDC]

This idea is cool as hell. But part of jokers thing is that nothing about him is concrete. I still love going sane where he had a boring average life

[Castiel]

This idea is cool as hell. But part of jokers thing is that nothing about him is concrete. I still love going sane where he had a boring average life

True, Going Sane is partly what inspired this idea granted if they ever do something like this a cool thing to do would be to imply that Joker is faking his episodes.

[SicariiDC]

I've been debating whether to share this here, but hell with it. I work for a peer support organization that does not adhere to the chemical imbalance/sane or insane/diagnosis defines you system. It's based on the Trauma model. Basically things happen in an individual's life which can manifest in different ways. A lot of the folks we support have had harrowing experiences in the mental health system. From forced medication and confinement to discrimination and prejudice. Anyway, looking thru it with that lens, the Joker must have been through some ****. And people's need (even my own) to diagnosis his "sanity" is symptomatic of a problem in our society. Hope I didn't take the fun out the discussion, but doing this work, it is hard for me to look at it like I used to.

[williamtheday]

A character like Joker just further stigmatizes mental illness.

[Agent Z]

A character like Joker just further stigmatizes mental illness.

This. 10 characters.

[oasis1313]

1000% of forensic psychiatrists can't be wrong.

[SicariiDC]

A character like Joker just further stigmatizes mental illness.

Thank you, sir.

[Agent Z]

1000% of forensic psychiatrists can't be wrong.

They can be if they're written by people who don't actually understand psychiatry.

[Captain Haddock]

The problem with the whole 'Joker is just SO crazy his personality changes' idea (apart from it being totally unrealistic and defamatory to real people with mental illness) is that by now, there is not actually an actual Joker. There's a whole succession of lunatics with white faces, green hair and an obsession with Batman but outside of those pretty much anything would be ''in-character'' in as much as he actually has any character to be in.

[Atlanta96]

A character like Joker just further stigmatizes mental illness.

So what's the solution, retire the character permanently? Confirm that he's not mentally ill in any way and it's all an act to scare people?

[The Overlord]

So what's the solution, retire the character permanently? Confirm that he's not mentally ill in any way and it's all an act to scare people?

I think we should just acknowledge that Joker isn't insane, he is just evil. He is written more like a monstrous psychopath then someone who is criminally insane, I think Joker can tell the difference between right and wrong, he just doesn't care, insane people usually don't intentionally inflict suffering on others to get pleasure, that is what Joker does, that is evil, not insane. Two-Face I can buy as insane, not Joker.

[Nite-Wing]

Joker only pretends to be super insane imo
He does a very good job of it though
He's very evil though
The deeper you look at his character nobody could do what he does without meticulous planning and various schemes that require you not be schizo

[Quiet Raven]

I asked my brother who took some psychology classes and knows a lot more on this subject then I do. He had this to say.

"he clearly has APD, Antisocial Personality Disorder, but the comics themselves have even stated that he suffers from a kind of Dissociative Identity Disorder. Where he is constantly recreating himself, which is why sometimes he is a crazed killer and sometimes a mostly harmless clown robber"