Teaching differential diagnosis with Anakin Skywalker: the duel between borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder

Abstract

Objective: Previous publications have focused on a leading pop culture phenomenon, Star Wars, to teach several issues in psychiatry, which can make understanding challenging themes easier. This article delves into matters of differential diagnoses regarding two psychiatric disorders. Methods: We examine and compare the symptoms and specificities of borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder in the light of the fictional villain of the films, Darth Vader/Anakin Skywalker. Results and Conclusion: Our considerations of his diagnosis should be interpreted as an academic exercise with two main goals: to discuss the differential diagnosis between borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder in an illustrative, soft, and ludic way; and to teach how to connect one’s behaviors with diagnostic criteria - in this case, those related to borderline personality disorder.