We all saw her latest meltdown yesterday when she got outplayed and I think its obvious she has some personality disorders.. (Rafa has OCD so I'm not picking on her, everyone has "flaws"). My guess she has narcissistic and histrionic personality disorders. they might be exactly what's driven her to be so great. does anyone with a psychiatry degree (at least a BA from a 4yr accredited college) care to chime in? I'm interested why she's like this. there are stories she always had a chip in her shoulder since she was little so I don't think success plays the major part in it or. ?
any professional psychologists in the forum?
- Thread starter big ted
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D
Deleted member 688153
Guest
Hmm. Looks like Fed devotees are just pushing more untrue stories about Rafa.
didn't mean anything by it, thought it was a fact...i do like them both btw, tho maybe roger a little more tbh.. lol
D
Deleted member 688153
Guest
Don't worry I'm just channeling another esteemed member of the TTW brains trust there
Just having a joke.
jaggy
Talk Tennis Guru
Rog does look better in a tutu
chikoo
Hall of Fame
She only sees the world from her perspective. She lacks empathy. The world revolves around her, and anything different is just not possible.
Tennis_Hands
Banned
Purplemonster
Hall of Fame
You really need a psychologist ?? She is a self centred person who has no respect for others.
ghostofMecir
Legend
What’s most interesting is you have a person who’s completely bought into the narratives created around her about being a social warrior, women’s empowement activist, etc.You essentially have someone caught up in her own drama and you saw that with her bringing up her daughter, sexism, etc., into the fray.
She actually began to believe everything others (to make money) created about her when in reality, she’s just a really, really bad loser who couldn’t stand having Osaka steal her thunder.
She actually began to believe everything others (to make money) created about her when in reality, she’s just a really, really bad loser who couldn’t stand having Osaka steal her thunder.
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Captain Karma
Rookie
So true ! I used to empathise with her given her story .... but she is indeed a character to watch out for ! She has a mean streak ..
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clutch21
Rookie
No one can definitively answer the question. In theory, a psychiatrist would be the most qualified to do so though, not a psychologist.
With that said, it seemed to me that yesterday was a combination of narcissism/egotism paired with the pressure of feeling like she had to win. The atmosphere felt a bit like the 2009 US Open final and we all know what that led to. I wouldn’t go as far as saying she has a full blown personality though. She seemed to have an awareness about how she mishandled the situation and made a fool of herself. That’s not typical with an actual personality disorder. Disclaimer: I’m an MD in another field, not a psychiatrist.
With that said, it seemed to me that yesterday was a combination of narcissism/egotism paired with the pressure of feeling like she had to win. The atmosphere felt a bit like the 2009 US Open final and we all know what that led to. I wouldn’t go as far as saying she has a full blown personality though. She seemed to have an awareness about how she mishandled the situation and made a fool of herself. That’s not typical with an actual personality disorder. Disclaimer: I’m an MD in another field, not a psychiatrist.
chikoo
Hall of Fame
With personalities like hers, everything happens on her terms. She would even apologize, but it would be because she feels graceful enough to bestow that apology. It is never about helping someone she has hurt, for she will never feel that.
Bartelby
Bionic Poster
Service Ace
Hall of Fame
Probably still traumatized from this match. I believe she even hinted at it during her rant: "this always happens to me here." Remember this match directly lead to the institution of player challenges.
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Yup I seriously think most of her demons rest within this tournament. I mean can we really think of her having breakdowns like this anywhere else?
Stretchy Man
Professional
Let's be fair. Anyone who is treated by the media and everyone around them as the messiah is going to develop a personality disorder.
Bartelby
Bionic Poster
That certainly explains political leaders and the political class, but I am not sure whether that applies to those who do not seek to lead.
Let's be fair. Anyone who is treated by the media and everyone around them as the messiah is going to develop a personality disorder.
Let's be fair. Anyone who is treated by the media and everyone around them as the messiah is going to develop a personality disorder.
in bollietteris documentary he said he yelled at serena when she was a kid for throwing a racquet and she said "nobody talks to me like that!!! not even my father!"
and bollietteri said he was scared of her from then on..lol
so i think it was there before fame and success altho i do think that exacerbated it as well
ollinger
G.O.A.T.
Unlikely as her behavior doesn't sufficiently impair her vocational and interpersonal functioning (married, close to family members, etc.) to qualify as a personality disorder. Everyone has a personality (well, almost everyone) with some undesirable traits but that doesn't usually constitute a disorder.
chikoo
Hall of Fame
See the latest tweets from SW? She is defending and calling for everyone to make it the best moment for Naomi. On her terms. Always.
chikoo
Hall of Fame
It is a gentic condition. She just does not have the ability to recognize others viewpoints. It is like being color blind.
Sysyphus
Talk Tennis Guru
No, there's no real reason to think she qualifies for these disorders.
She suffers from some occasional bad behavior and arguably some less savory (but normal) personality traits. She also 'suffers' from being both black and female and a highly successful one to boot, and therefore many of these traits then get criticized to unreasonable extents, especially within this altar of humanism that we call the interwebz.
She suffers from some occasional bad behavior and arguably some less savory (but normal) personality traits. She also 'suffers' from being both black and female and a highly successful one to boot, and therefore many of these traits then get criticized to unreasonable extents, especially within this altar of humanism that we call the interwebz.
chikoo
Hall of Fame
whoa.... talk about PTSD
Stretchy Man
Professional
She has now lost a grand slam final, a grand slam semifinal, and fined hundred of thousands of dollars over the years for her behavior. I'd say that is impairing her vocational functioning.
ollinger
G.O.A.T.
Only a TTW fanatic could say that someone who reaches grand slam finals and semifinals at age 36 has impaired vocational functioning. No, stretch, that's considered pretty good vocational functioning, and paying chump change fines while raking in millions and millions and millions is not impairment enough.
NuBas
Legend
She earned 1.8 mil.
captainbryce
Hall of Fame
I think that people who obsessively and consistently find multiple, unrelated ways to demonize Serena Williams however possible definitely do have a personality disorder (or psychological disorder of some kind). Whether it be the constant body shaming that we so often see people doing, or comparing her to a male players, or criticizing her choice of outfit, or her being from “Compton”, or having had a baby, or the barrage of racist comparisons people make contrasting her an animals, or accusations of match fixing, or accusations of doping, etc. The famous tennis commentator Mary Carrillo once said it best: “The more excuses people have for something, generally the simplest explanation is the best one”. People who generally don’t like Serena because don’t need a real reason; they simply don’t like her! Serena has always been a target of the insecure and I believe her celebrity and status as a tennis GOAT cements that type of vitriol in individuals of a certain psychology. When people begin to “reaching” (and frankly lying) to find ways of putting her down is where you being to see the desperate nature of their predicament.
It’s sad that people have become so emotional transfixed by one player that they will toss reason and objectivity out of the window. But ironically, I think this is part of the reason for Serena’s continued success. Her willingness to succeed and overcome her detractors and proving them wrong is what allows her to come back and win so often. Of course that just reinspires her detractors, and the cycle repeats. One could say that Serena’s detractors are on of the key ingredients to her success (which is somewhat ironic). It’s also inconceivable that those who demonstrate such bias against her don’t realize that they have created the very “monster” that they wish to vanquish. But an interesting psychological examination to say the least.
Antonio Puente
Hall of Fame
Define professional. lol
Tennis_Hands
Banned
Bartelby
Bionic Poster
In this case, professional would be someone certified as a psychologist by the relevant national association.
Mainad
Bionic Poster
Most of her major outbursts do seem to have occurred at the US Open: 2009 semi-final vs Clijsters (the infamous ball down the throat threat), 2011 final vs Stosur (called the umpire "unattractive inside and a hater") and the 2018 final vs Osaka (calling the umpire a "liar and a cheat"). There was also controversy nearer the start of her career when she was on the receving end of some outrageously dodgy line calls from the umpire in a semi-final vs Capriati. Her experiences at her home Slam have not always been happy ones.
Harry_Wild
G.O.A.T.
->Rafa has OCD
"Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder in which people have unwanted and repeated thoughts, feelings, ideas, sensations (obsessions), and behaviors that drive them to do something over and over (compulsions). Often the person carries out the behaviors to get rid of the obsessive thoughts."
Rafa mental disorder is trying to win tournaments over and over again!
Rafa certainly does that in the French Open tournaments and try to do that in all his tournaments he is in!
"Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder in which people have unwanted and repeated thoughts, feelings, ideas, sensations (obsessions), and behaviors that drive them to do something over and over (compulsions). Often the person carries out the behaviors to get rid of the obsessive thoughts."
Rafa mental disorder is trying to win tournaments over and over again!
Rafa certainly does that in the French Open tournaments and try to do that in all his tournaments he is in!
Djokodalerer31
Hall of Fame
I imagine professional psychologist would have more productive ways to spend his/her time on, than venturing some random tennis forum to post random messages...just sayin'
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Sysyphus
Talk Tennis Guru
why, surely this place is the perfect laboratory to study the outer edges of human oddity
This kind of diagnosis is like a doctor determing a resident's rash from Google Maps. We just don't have enough information to 'zoom in'. That said, we can hypothesise, or we can explore psychology through character creation and fiction, but neither will count as a diagnosis of SW. Why bother? Why care?
Bartelby
Bionic Poster
It satisfies people's feelings of hatred towards her to pathologise her often self-centred behaviours.
jm1980
Talk Tennis Guru
You have to go to med school to become a psychiatrist
Probably. I didn't care for her behaviour. I generally don't like that the game of tennis excuses behaviour that is not accepted otherwise in society. But she deserves dignity and respect nonetheless. Part of that is not having unprofessional diagnoses broadcast online.
Im(moral) Winner
G.O.A.T.
I am an unprofessional one.
Sartorius
Hall of Fame
I have a BA in Psychology and MA in Social Psychology, I guess the "proffesional psychologist" is used here in the sense of clinical psychologist or a therapist - I am neither (I mainly teach, so more on the academic side), but I can safely say such a person would refuse to look at a TV personality (in this case that's what Serena is) and put an actual diagnosis. Sure, you can speculate, talk about a tendency towards a disorder perhaps, but it wouldn't (and shouldn't) go far.
To put it very broadly, a disorder is diagnosed when a person's life is severely effected. Check the DSM (manual for disorders) for narcisistic disorder for instance, it entails much more than a few observed negative reactions to your enviroment. Hence you need a whole lot of information, Again, sure Serena's behavior in her matches is information which one can work with, but by itself it means little for a diagnostic process.
It's common to use terminology of psychology in daily life, about yourself but of course more against others ("that's narcissistic", "She looks depressed" etc) without considering the word you are using actually means something much more severe, and not necessarily a character trait (which also can be, and often is an attribution error).
Oh, I know some, and you would be surprised. Plus there are much more unproductive things to do than participating in an internet forum of a subject that you are interested in.
To put it very broadly, a disorder is diagnosed when a person's life is severely effected. Check the DSM (manual for disorders) for narcisistic disorder for instance, it entails much more than a few observed negative reactions to your enviroment. Hence you need a whole lot of information, Again, sure Serena's behavior in her matches is information which one can work with, but by itself it means little for a diagnostic process.
It's common to use terminology of psychology in daily life, about yourself but of course more against others ("that's narcissistic", "She looks depressed" etc) without considering the word you are using actually means something much more severe, and not necessarily a character trait (which also can be, and often is an attribution error).
Oh, I know some, and you would be surprised. Plus there are much more unproductive things to do than participating in an internet forum of a subject that you are interested in.
Bartelby
Bionic Poster
Nadal's familiars all report that all his on-court behaviours don't happen in his private life.
My guess is that the same is the case for Williams' behaviours outside of important finals.
And, as mentioned above, behaviours have to severely affect someone's life for their to be a disorder.
And so there are no disorders of any kind here.
My guess is that the same is the case for Williams' behaviours outside of important finals.
And, as mentioned above, behaviours have to severely affect someone's life for their to be a disorder.
And so there are no disorders of any kind here.
Mr.Lob
G.O.A.T.
This is my diagnosis....for our patient. As you can see, it's spot on.
Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) is one of a group of conditions called "Cluster A" personality disorders which involve odd or eccentric ways of thinking. People with PPD also suffer from paranoia, an unrelenting mistrust and suspicion of others, even when there is no reason to be suspicious.
This disorder usually begins by early adulthood and appears to be more common in men than in women.
What Are the Symptoms of Paranoid Personality Disorder?
People with PPD are always on guard, believing that others are constantly trying to demean, harm, or threaten them. These generally unfounded beliefs, as well as their habits of blame and distrust, might interfere with their ability to form close relationships. People with this disorder:
Paranoid personality disorder (PPD) is one of a group of conditions called "Cluster A" personality disorders which involve odd or eccentric ways of thinking. People with PPD also suffer from paranoia, an unrelenting mistrust and suspicion of others, even when there is no reason to be suspicious.
This disorder usually begins by early adulthood and appears to be more common in men than in women.
What Are the Symptoms of Paranoid Personality Disorder?
People with PPD are always on guard, believing that others are constantly trying to demean, harm, or threaten them. These generally unfounded beliefs, as well as their habits of blame and distrust, might interfere with their ability to form close relationships. People with this disorder:
- Doubt the commitment, loyalty, or trustworthiness of others, believing others are using or deceiving them
- Are reluctant to confide in others or reveal personal information due to a fear that the information will be used against them
- Are unforgiving and hold grudges
- Are hypersensitive and take criticism poorly
- Read hidden meanings in the innocent remarks or casual looks of others
- Perceive attacks on their character that are not apparent to others; they generally react with anger and are quick to retaliate
- Have recurrent suspicions, without reason, that their spouses or lovers are being unfaithful
- Are generally cold and distant in their relationships with others, and might become controlling and jealous
- Cannot see their role in problems or conflicts and believe they are always right
- Have difficulty relaxing
- Are hostile, stubborn, and argumentative
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Bartelby
Bionic Poster
I always suspected that some or even many posters on TTW are psychiatric patients, but you are the first one to admit it. I command your action Sir. There is nothing to be ashamed of. That is a disease as any other.
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