Is Hanako mentally unstable?

[Renegade Starlight]

In your opinion, is Hanako emotionally stable or unstable?

[Trivun]

Well, she sees a therapist every weekend, so I'd say there's a strong chance she has at least some instability. I guess I could explore it more in my POV retelling fanfic, but in general she seems to have good mental health to me. It's just that her experiences have left her a broken shell of who she would have become, and it's only through her therapy and through Lilly and Hisao that she improves again over time - but the seeds of instability are definitely there, to my eyes.

[Dream]

Not mentally unstable, but she's closer to unstable than the average/normal of people. Rather than unstable i would say she's deeply troubled and woefully unequipped to confront life or move in the world as a balanced human being, particularly but not limited to the emotional aspect of things. In fact i wouldn't be surprised if she was mentally more inmature/underdeveloped than the other girls, if only a bit.

But basically, i don't think she has any mental problems or would qualify as unstable. It's just what abandonment and lack of a encouranging and emotional, intellectual and spiritual support do to a person. Shinji Ikari would be a much more extreme case, for example.

[Guest Poster]

I don't think Hanako is mentally unstable. She's not delusional and her thought processes have logic to them although they're colored by her extremely low self esteem. Emotionally, I would say she is unstable. Seemingly trivial events are capable of triggering strong reactions of anxiety or depression in her. She's definitely damaged, not mentally but social-emotionally.

[Mirage_GSM]

That depends on your definition of "menatlly unstable".

[Fiandra]

Nah, I don't think Hanako is mentally unstable. She's more of emotionally unstable. Like Guest Poster said.

[Nekken]

That depends on your definition of "menatlly unstable".

This. I'd place her in the moderate range: she is not dangerous, but her attacks do have severe effects on her life.

[ShadeHaven]

I think she's more conflicted than unstable.

[Brogurt]

In your opinion, is Hanako emotionally stable or unstable?

yes

[Xanatos]

Emotionally, yes (but she gets better). Mentally, no.

[Renegade Starlight]

Thank you for the excellent responses, everyone!

That depends on your definition of "menatlly unstable".

My definition of emotionally unstable is more or less what Guest Poster described. ^^ Extreme, disproportionate emotional responses as the result of past traumas and emotional damage. In the 'Would you bully Hanako?' thread, some posters proclaimed that she might murder someone for mistreating her, so she does sound as though both her anger and sorrow can be an incredibly intense force...

[Oddball]

I'd say she was stable.

Severely emotionally troubled, lacking any sense of self worth, and barely functional as a human being, but stable.

[Xanatos]

In the 'Would you bully Hanako?' thread, some posters proclaimed that she might murder someone for mistreating her, so she does sound as though both her anger and sorrow can be an incredibly intense force...

Because any nonsense random forumgoers proclaim is totally canon.

[Guest Poster]

In the 'Would you bully Hanako?' thread, some posters proclaimed that she might murder someone for mistreating her, so she does sound as though both her anger and sorrow can be an incredibly intense force...

Very unlikely...Hanako's flight-or-fight reflex is firmly stuck on flight. The largest part of the negative feelings she has, she has projected onto herself in the "I probably didn't deserve better treatment"-kind of way.

[Magnenntae]

I wouldn't say she's mentally unstable, you know, it's not as if a something could (metaphorically) knock her off balance and cause her to plummet into insanity or anything. But I definitely think she does have a mental disorder, and I know because I had the same thing, even the locking up in stressful social situations. I could go into more detail but I don't guess anyone really cares.

Anyway I think in reality she would be diagnosed with social anxiety disorder and probably put on some medications to regulate the chemicals in her brain to be more normal. She'd still be shy, of course, just not in the same way.


Emotionally unstable? I think somewhat, I mean, just think about [Hanako route spoilers] her bad end, she goes apeshit pretty much, I think part of the reason she's emotionally unstable is because of the way she's kept everything pent up, she's just waiting for someone, or something to trigger a release. Not to mention trauma from the fire and whatnot.