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TheJokeris well - known by risible book fans asBatman’sinsane enemy … but what specific mental illness does he actually have ? The Clown Prince of Crime has seemingly broken ever conceivable law in Gotham City , ranging from lilliputian theft to mass murder on a metropolis - wide-eyed scale . All of his crimes are linked through his perverted common sense of humorand his desire to work " antic " on his victims- and therein lies a clue to the Joker ’s specific genial wellness malady ( and whether or not he can actually be cured ) .
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Bipolar Disorder is a common diagnosing among fans ; the Joker can indeed be have by sudden mood baseball swing and ira - but that does n’t explicate his propensity to murder ( or show little to no self-reproach after the fact ) . Dissociative Identity Disorder ( incorrectly described as Multiple Personality Disorder ) is often impart up as well , but the Joker has seldom shown other personalities likethe split that delineate Harvey Dent and Two - boldness . But one medical diagnosing describes the Joker ’s symptoms to a T : Witzelsucht .
Those who suffer from Witzelsucht ( German from " addicted to antic " or " joke dependency " ) experience compelled to make puns and tell inappropriate joke at out or keeping time . They often have head-on lobe damage and an neutered sense of humor ; they witness slapstick and paronomasia rum than other , long - strain jokes because they often have trouble get in touch the setup of a joke to a punchline . This mean they are perfectly equal to oftellinga joke , but have difficultyunderstandingthe jocularity of others . Joker rarely laughs at the joke of others(unless they ’re the butt of a joke thanks to their own action ) and pain is indeed a large part of slapstick comedy . Unfortunately , it appear the Jokercan’t tell how much nuisance is too much- and even murder is funny to him .
There is a intervention for Witzelsucht : the antidepressant Venlafaxine can alleviate symptoms in some patients . Unfortunately , the diagnosing is incredibly rare , and a belittled sample size of it do blanket studies hard . If he does indeed stomach from Witzelsucht , there is still Bob Hope for theJoker- but his case is particularly wicked , not to mentiondangerous for anyone attempting to aid him .
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