Pran might be neurodiverse and/or depressed. Here‘s why! Pt.1
I‘m back from the circus after my fake dating theory 🤡
disclaimer: This is a THEORY. This post is not supposed to anyone except theorising about a fictional character. I draw my knowledge from personal and interpersonal experience, and not professional knowledge.
Emotions are weird - what a mood
As we've seen the smiley's are EVERYWHERE. It's a constant reminder for him that emotions exist and which exist. For people who have difficulties interpreting emotions, having a visual depiction is extremely helpful in one's understanding of it.
The whole focus on 'am i happy or sad?' can allude to borderline or bipolar disorder, however Pran's portrayal of his mood-switches is much more reminiscent of chronic depression (dysthymia). His default state is :I with some happy moments ):) and when he gets sad, he reaaaly gets sad (:( which is called a double depression.
Pran has difficulty reading his own and other's emotions, so he uses his post-its to track his mood. He also has difficulties communicating his emotions and needs, which we can see in how he uses a door handle to communicate his emotional state to others.
His parents also were probably never receptive to his emotions or wants, and there was no room for emotional closenessat home (at least from his mom). It didn't matter what he wants (e.g. playing music) and he had to fulfil their expectations: be better than the neighbour's son, no matter what. This creates stress.
Take away the joy → Result: Depression
The secrets Pran keeps combined with the suffering from their parent's feud and the expectation to be perfect, creates so much pressure that it's almost impossible that he didn't develop a chronic depression. Especially when his outlet, music and Pat, was taken away from him for years.
Hide the pain Harold Pran: aka 'masking'
However he still has to keep up the appearance that everything is fine, right? That's where 'masking' comes in. Many people mask on a day to day basis and it's not exclusive to Neurodiversity.
If other people look away or are engaged in another conversation, the mask might slip because it's exhausting to keep it up all the time, as we see Pran do multiple times. Pran puts on the mask to keep up appearances, to not make his true feelings known, or to not make anyone worry.
This does not only include smiles, but also put on anger, disappointment, annoyance, and even putting on a 'i don't care' face. It's not only hiding the pain, but also hiding that you are waaay to excited about something or someone.
When there’s too much drama at school many emotions, all you gotta do is WaLK aWaYyyAYAyy: aka avoidance
The vine said it all. Sometimes everything is too much and you can't just put on a mask and push through it. Escaping the situation completely to prevent emotional outbursts or even meltdowns, is the solution in these cases. Pran often can't deal with being confronted about his feelings in general, and more than often about Pat.
In his mind avoiding it is the path of least resistance. Confrontation is pain. Dealing with something is painful. Consequences are painful. He doesn't want the situation to get even worse than it already is, or throw his in an even deeper hole than what came from the Christmas concert many years ago.
this is just a theory. I've gathered sources and written out the whole thing which got waaaay to long, so you'll get about 4 or 5 parts total, which deal with a different aspect of Pran's mental state and possible ND or depression symptoms. As always: I'd love to hear your thoughts and emotions about this theory.
dailybridgerton
romaincrisis
2087
dededos
