Miraculous Characters in Need of Therapy
The characters in Miraculous have been traumatized over and over again throughout the past five seasons, some more than others. Some characters needed therapy long before the show's events began and for those characters, the need has certainly become more prevalent.
With all that Monarch has put the city of Paris through, everyone could really use some counseling, but I'm just going to touch on the ones who need it most.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug
Despite growing up bullied by Chloe, Marinette's real need for therapy started after she became Ladybug. She may not be a "normal girl with a normal life," but she did used to be. Although Marinette never says it explicitly, she makes it pretty clear that sometimes she longs for the days when her biggest problem was Chloe giving her a hard time.
While Marinette loves being able to help people and protect Paris as Ladybug, she is under constant pressure and it's only gotten more intense throughout the series. She is always saving everyone else. She's saved everyone she cares about from akumatization and in the process shouldered the burden of their troubles on top of hers.
After the season four finale, Marinette now has even more trauma and anxiety weighing her down. She's scared of loving anyone out of fear of it being used against her and getting in her way of stopping Monarch. She's still scared of what happened in Chat Blanc and of losing Chat Noir. In the last four and a half seasons, Marinette has developed trust issues and anxiety that have continued to worsen overtime.
There have been many hints at what will happen when Marinette gives up her Miraculous. However, it's important to remember that when she does give up being Ladybug, she'll also be giving up her role as guardian. When this happens, she'll forget everything and while I dread thinking about her losing her memory, I do wonder if she'll also lose her anxieties or if those are now a permanent part of her psyche.
I could make a whole post alone on why going to therapy would be good for Adrien and why he needs it, but for now I'm just going to hit the highlights.
Unlike Marinette, Adrien's psychological problems began long before he became Chat Noir. Adrien grew up with a loving mother who disappeared after being sick for a while. He grew up with a loving father too, but after his mom vanished, Adrien's dad became distant and unreliable. Adrien never had real friends growing up and didn't know life outside the walls of his home.
Adrien really started living when he began going to school and when he became Chat Noir. Being Chat Noir gives Adrien an escape and a chance to truly be himself. However, he does still face some of the same anxiety as Ladybug when he is battling villains. Chat Noir often worries about disappointing or failing Ladybug, which leads him to put more pressure on himself in the field.
When he's not Chat Noir, Adrien is busy balancing his other dozen responsibilities. Adrien is a people pleaser particularly concerned with pleasing his father. He pushes his limits on everything because if he doesn't, he knows he'll be ridiculed for it. Since Adrien never gets a break, he's never able to fully process or grieve any trauma he faces.
A part of being a people pleaser is feeling you can never open up to anyone when you're struggling because you don't want anyone to see you as "weak." We see this with Adrien when he is unable to tell his friends just how miserable he is as a model. Adrien knows he's loved, but he still can't help but keep things bottled up because that's what he's always been used to.
Adrien has gone through so much and has grown so accustom to trauma that therapy would be challenging for him. It would take a while before a therapist could get through to him and once they did, there would be a lot to sift through. But, Adrien would probably be much better off once he's been given a chance to comfortably open up and process everything he's been through.
Kagami honestly deserves so much better. This girl has gotten the short end of the stick on everything. Her mom is horrible to her, she's in love with Adrien but he's in love with her best friend, and she always ends up as the middle man between Adrien and Marinette. Also, now she's apparently a sentimonster, which really caught me off guard.
Kagami is socially awkward and has a really hard time letting lose and being herself. She's introverted for sure, but she's also been heavily influenced by the harsh environment her mom raised her in. Kagami never got to be a kid or have friends. For so long, Kagami's mom was the only person she was able to have any kind of bond with, which was detrimental to Kagami's social skills and overall life satisfaction.
Since she has spent so much of her life with no ability to experience freedom, Kagami doesn't know how to be independent. She struggles with asking others for help and ends up letting people walk over her. Kagami's mom has always been in control, keeping Kagami from ever branching out on her own to make mistakes or learn anything that her mom doesn't push on her.
Nathalie is like an older version of Kagami, in my opinion. She honestly just wants the best for the people she loves and that often doesn't go in her favor. Like Kagami watching Marinette and Adrien fall for each other, Nathalie has stayed on the sidelines in support while she watched Gabriel and Emilie fall in love and start a family like she always wanted.
For so long, Nathalie and Gabriel were a team working together to get Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous. However, now that Gabriel has gone rogue, Nathalie is desperately trying to keep Adrien safe and far away from Gabriel. This added pressure as well as the deepening guilt and sorrow she feels have been crushing her this season, and for the first time, we are getting some real insight into Nathalie's background and emotions.
From the additional information we have learned this season, it has become more clear how severe Gabriel has been taking advantage of her. Out of all the people Gabriel has victimized, Nathalie's treatment has been among the worst.
As the plot thickens and Nathalie's health continues to get worse, I am interested to see how her story specifically plays out. Nathalie knows everything about Gabriel's history and madness, which means she could easily ruin him. However, it's unclear how bad the truth could hurt Nathalie and Adrien as well.
