Vegeta's Psychology

[SSJsambosoldier]

Vegeta has always been an intriguing character that has gone through the most character development. You have a cold, ruthless, sadistic and psychopathic prince who craves nothing but achieving more power and inflicting pain on his opponents.


Vegeta seems to be suffering from what looks like PTSD, due to under Frieza's rule he was taken away from his father and held down as a slave and he couldn't do anything about it. You saw the drastic change of his near psychopathic personality in his death bed in the Freeza Saga.

I watched a documentary about child abuse induced Psychopaths and this girl enjoyed inflicting pain on others with no remorse and only cared about their needs but the certain girl was tormented when she was violently molested by her abusive parents, throughout the documentary she remained stoic and unemotional until the end where the certain past was mentioned and she broke into tears and from then on she is doing pretty good in life. This always reminds me of that moment when Vegeta broke down in absolute tears how he was taken away from his father and how frieza killed him and his noble people.

I strongly believe Vegeta is suffering from what looks to be a combination of PTSD and inferiority complex from being under Freeza's rule all his life.


Anyone with knowledge in Psychology could bring in some analysis and info on Vegetas psychological background?

[Eire]

Let's start from the beginning:

I know media love this term in the same vein they like to call being sad "depression" and switching moods as "bipolar". But like the previous ones, PTSD is not a fancy term for "being sad after tragedy", it's a medical condition, described in IDC-10 and DSM-5.

DSM-5

Spoiler:

Diagnostic criteria for PTSD include a history of exposure to a traumatic event that meets specific stipulations and symptoms from each of four symptom clusters: intrusion, avoidance, negative alterations in cognitions and mood, and alterations in arousal and reactivity. The sixth criterion concerns duration of symptoms; the seventh assesses functioning; and, the eighth criterion clarifies symptoms as not attributable to a substance or co-occurring medical condition.

Two specifications are noted including delayed expression and a dissociative subtype of PTSD, the latter of which is new to DSM-5. In both specifications, the full diagnostic criteria for PTSD must be met for application to be warranted.
Criterion A: stressor

The person was exposed to: death, threatened death, actual or threatened serious injury, or actual or threatened sexual violence, as follows: (one required)

Direct exposure.
Witnessing, in person.
Indirectly, by learning that a close relative or close friend was exposed to trauma. If the event involved actual or threatened death, it must have been violent or accidental.
Repeated or extreme indirect exposure to aversive details of the event(s), usually in the course of professional duties (e.g., first responders, collecting body parts; professionals repeatedly exposed to details of child abuse). This does not include indirect non-professional exposure through electronic media, television, movies, or pictures.

Criterion B: intrusion symptoms

The traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in the following way(s): (one required)

Recurrent, involuntary, and intrusive memories. Note: Children older than six may express this symptom in repetitive play.
Traumatic nightmares. Note: Children may have frightening dreams without content related to the trauma(s).
Dissociative reactions (e.g., flashbacks) which may occur on a continuum from brief episodes to complete loss of consciousness. Note: Children may reenact the event in play.
Intense or prolonged distress after exposure to traumatic reminders.
Marked physiologic reactivity after exposure to trauma-related stimuli.

Criterion C: avoidance

Persistent effortful avoidance of distressing trauma-related stimuli after the event: (one required)

Trauma-related thoughts or feelings.
Trauma-related external reminders (e.g., people, places, conversations, activities, objects, or situations).

Criterion D: negative alterations in cognitions and mood

Negative alterations in cognitions and mood that began or worsened after the traumatic event: (two required)

Inability to recall key features of the traumatic event (usually dissociative amnesia; not due to head injury, alcohol, or drugs).
Persistent (and often distorted) negative beliefs and expectations about oneself or the world (e.g., "I am bad," "The world is completely dangerous").
Persistent distorted blame of self or others for causing the traumatic event or for resulting consequences.
Persistent negative trauma-related emotions (e.g., fear, horror, anger, guilt, or shame).
Markedly diminished interest in (pre-traumatic) significant activities.
Feeling alienated from others (e.g., detachment or estrangement).
Constricted affect: persistent inability to experience positive emotions.

Criterion E: alterations in arousal and reactivity

Trauma-related alterations in arousal and reactivity that began or worsened after the traumatic event: (two required)

Irritable or aggressive behavior
Self-destructive or reckless behavior
Hypervigilance
Exaggerated startle response
Problems in concentration
Sleep disturbance

Criterion F: duration

Persistence of symptoms (in Criteria B, C, D, and E) for more than one month.
Criterion G: functional significance

Significant symptom-related distress or functional impairment (e.g., social, occupational).
Criterion H: exclusion

Disturbance is not due to medication, substance use, or other illness.
Specify if: With dissociative symptoms.

In addition to meeting criteria for diagnosis, an individual experiences high levels of either of the following in reaction to trauma-related stimuli:

Depersonalization: experience of being an outside observer of or detached from oneself (e.g., feeling as if "this is not happening to me" or one were in a dream).
Derealization: experience of unreality, distance, or distortion (e.g., "things are not real").

ICD-10

Spoiler:

A. Exposure to a stressful event or situation (either short or long lasting) of exceptionally threatening or catastrophic nature, which is likely to cause pervasive distress in almost anyone.

B. Persistent remembering or "reliving" the stressor by intrusive flash backs, vivid memories, recurring dreams, or by experiencing distress when exposed to circumstances resembling or associated with the stressor.

C. Actual or preferred avoidance of circumstances resembling or associated with the stressor (not present before exposure to the stressor).

D. Either (1) or (2):

(1) Inability to recall, either partially or completely, some important aspects of the period of exposure to the stressor

(2) Persistent symptoms of increased psychological sensitivity and arousal (not present before exposure to the stressor) shown by any two of the following:

a) difficulty in falling or staying asleep;

b) irritability or outbursts of anger;

c) difficulty in concentrating;

d) hyper-vigilance;

e) exaggerated startle response

E. Criteria B, C (For some purposes, onset delayed more than six months may be included but this should be clearly specified separately.)

Saying that someone has PTSD because he had a traumatic event is like saying that he must have be dying from TB because he crossed paths with mycobacterium.

TL;DR- Vegeta as presented in DB doesn't meet criteria even if he is diagnosed as human. Because he shouldn't be.

Psychiatry is very complex and detailed field of medical knowledge and probably the only one prone to cultural differences. Definitions of nearly all disorders have a clause that symptoms, prevalence and treatment vary according to society- something normal for one may seem cruel to another. I think that Lisa See in "Peony in Love" did a great job showing how our expectations measure the reaction.

And I don't even talk about personal differences.

To add to cultural differences, we have a strong base to think that Sayians psychic was drastically different: apart from being warrior culture, they seem to grow in different pattern- kid Vegeta behaves more like calm and thoughtful teenager than little baby he was. Even if we take Minus into account we see that three years Goku is expected to survive on his own. So I think it's a mistake to apply Earthly psychiatry to them.