here to remind y’all that eddie kaspbrak was a hypochondriac (which is an illness anxiety disorder) as well as the victim of munchausen by proxy (a condition where a caregiver creates the appearance of health problems in their child).
you see, eddie did not have asthma but he did have intense anxiety. hypochondriacs often aren’t aware that depression and anxiety produce their own physical symptoms, and mistake these symptoms for manifestations of another mental or physical disorder or disease. so what he thought were asthma attacks were really panic attacks (a good thing the inhaler worked as a placebo to calm him tbh). what is worse is that he was coerced into taking medication he didn’t need for illnesses he didn’t have, while being robbed of the medication he really needed for the illness he did have. making him worse and worse by the day.
and so, as an adult, we see that eddie kept playing the sick role in front of people since he was taught that he was more likely to receive the positive maternal attention he craved… but hypochondriasis can cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning, making it even harder for him. the chance that he also developed psychological disorders such as clinical depression, panic disorder, separation anxiety and ocd is very high.
eddie kaspbrak was physically, mentally and socially abused as a child, and it resulted in severe consequences for him as an adult. eddie kaspbrak lived alongside demons of anxiety, fear and dejection his entire life…
but he died a hero fighting these demons.
Mah heart 💔
