Sherlock Holmes: A Case Study in Psychopathy

“I’m not a psychopath. I am a high functioning sociopath. Do your research.” To all Sherlock fans, this line brings back a lot of memories. The deductions of Sherlock, his complete ignorance of soft emotions, his cynicism, and all his other oddities make him the apparent psychopath in people’s views. But after all this, Sherlock himself still denies being a psychopath. Why? What is a psychopath then? And is Sherlock one?

What is Psychopathy?

To begin with, psychopathy is a term used here to refer to a type of personality disorder under the broad umbrella of antisocial personality disorder as described by the Diagnostic Statistical Manual V. However, such a classification was not present when Sherlock Holmes emerged as a character. In the nineteenth century, when Doyle was penning his stories about the great detective, a different definition was in place: ‘insanity without delusion’, a lack of sympathy, and performing acts leading to injuries and murder. This was also accompanied by a lack of shame or any moral regard.

Was Sherlock a Psychopath?

Clue 1: the violent psychopath…

Analysing Doyle’s version of Sherlock under this description gives us differing conclusions. On one hand, we have a detective who is involved in activities including murder, violence, and aggression. But Sherlock wasn’t the one committing such heinous crimes. He was in complete control of his emotions and there was only a rare depiction of Sherlock being violent, other than for self-defence. 

Clue 2: The manipulative mastermind…

To add complexity, Sherlock’s cold and indifferent manner makes him seem heartless and unsympathetic. He manipulated people and sometimes even charmed women to get his information. In ‘The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton’ Sherlock gets engaged to Milverton’s housemaid and calls it ‘the most necessary step’. When Watson is surprised, he further adds ‘You can’t help it my dear Watson. You must play your cards as best as you can when such a stake is on the table’ (Doyle, 1986). Anyone would say that such a step clearly shows how heartless Sherlock was.

Clue 3: The heartless hero…

If we deduce something just by the clues so far, let’s just say we won’t be great Sherlocks ourselves. Every Sherlock fan knows how important Watson was to Sherlock. Yes, he was often rude to Watson but his care and affection for Watson are also apparent. His relationship with Watson shows that Sherlock is not as cold-hearted and indifferent that we assume psychopaths to be. 

The verdict...

Sherlock is shown to have a sense of logic that is beyond the capabilities of an average human and thus, being a bit egoistic about it can also seem natural. His self-absorbed comments can be passed off as a result of such a superiority that anyone is likely to feel. There is nothing psychopathic about being straightforward. So, it seems that Sherlock might indeed not be a psychopath as shown by Doyle. However, the BBC adaptation of the stories might differ.

But There’s a BBC Twist to It

The Benedict Cumberbatch version of Sherlock Holmes is very different from the own penned by Doyle. Cumberbatch’s Sherlock is shown to be less perceptive of human emotions when compared to the original Sherlock, who could read and decode human emotions without any trouble. An interaction between Watson and Sherlock in ‘The Study of Pink’ (Gatiss et al., 2010) illustrates this perfectly –

JOHN: You said that the victims all took the poison themselves, that he makes them take it. Well, maybe he ... I don’t know, talks to them? Maybe he used the death of her daughter somehow.

SHERLOCK: Yeah, but that was ages ago. Why would she still be upset?

The Final Verdict: Is Sherlock a Psychopath?

An inability to decode some aspects of human nature is more often seen in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder rather than psychopathy. However, BBC’s Sherlock does show a lot more egotism and a lot less sympathy than the original. In any way, an attempt to make Sherlock a psychopath seems to succeed in some places, whereas it fails in others. So, unfortunately, the case remains a mystery.

Nevertheless, Sherlock Holmes is still a deviation from the conventional media portrayal of a psychopath as a heinous serial killer out there, with a traumatic past. That does not mean that pop culture's portrayal of disorders is true. There are still problems with the pop culture portrayal of such severe disorders, and I’m sure you all know some more of them. To understand psychological disorders in reality, thus, we need such analyses. So the next time you see a “psychopath” or a “depressed” character, check if that’s how the disorder really is. 

For another disorder debunking, you can check out this article on OCD as well.