Why I Think Mystery Burns Has BPD
Before this begins, let me preface this by saying I am not a professional nor am I studying to be one. This is going to be created entirely based on my own personal research and my own personal experiences as I have BPD as well.
This is going to be about the Nightmare AND Re-Nightmare versions of this character, so if you're here for Doll Eye... No can do, buckaroo!
I'll also say now that there will absolutely be some headcanons and personal interpretations involved in this, along with me reading *too* deep into the story of Re-Nightmare and Mystery as a whole!
This is just for fun, but if you have any of your own headcanons or theories to provide, let me know!
Let's start with favorite person or FP. What is an FP? An FP is a person that someone with BPD has a very deep emotional bond to that the one with BPD essentially fixates and relies on. It can be very intense and emotionally exhausting, the one with BPD tends to become very dependent on their FP and can sometimes become life threatening.
I believe Alfred is Mystery's FP and that this developed during childhood. It is very common for those with BPD to develop an FP for their best friend or romantic interest, which I have always personally interpreted Mystery as having some sort of complicated crush on Alfred due to how he behaves and has shown clear signs of physical attraction to Alfred.
As a child, we know Jeremy was incredibly isolated from most of the outside world. Arthur was incredibly abusive to him and wanted Jeremy all to himself. Jeremy and Alfred creating such a deep bond is a direct result of that, Alfred was the only *real* person Jeremy had ever had in his life up to 12 years old.
Even as a child, Jeremy was incredibly dependent on Alfred. When he was in danger, the first person he thought to go to was Alfred, not the police. Though, me and my friend have been wondering where the police force even are in this entire series XD
While it's not necessarily implied, I have always believed that this may have been a common occurrence for the two. Arthur's abuse was not a one time thing, so the idea of Jeremy consistently calling Alfred when he needed help is very plausible.
Alfred has always been a symbol of comfort and freedom for Jeremy. When Jeremy thinks of hope, he thinks of Alfred. Jeremy's hope for getting out of a bad situation was Alfred.
Not only that, but Alfred was Jeremy's motivator for everything. Part of what made Jeremy murder Alfred's parents was love and commitment, not just hatred. Jeremy has never known the type of parental love Alfred received, his only exposure to parental love was Arthur's. He must've thought that Alfred's parents were intentionally keeping them from each other, just like how Arthur did.
Jeremy wanted to save Alfred so Alfred could save him, but it resulted in the worst possible thing.
When Alfred was angry with Jeremy, Jeremy's reaction was fear, regret, and grief. Of course this is a natural response for anybody, especially after making such a serious mistake. But the reason I think this is worth noting is because of *how* he reacts.
Jeremy's first instinct is to do something drastic. He threatens to kill himself while begging for Alfred to come out. This is NOT normal, especially not for a boy at this age. FPs evoke intense emotional responses and Jeremy has always been incredibly unstable, he does not understand that he has this problem or how to cope with it.
This could be seen as abusive behavior, but for their age, I don't count it. This is the pleas of a young child who doesn't know how to process abandonment and consequence. Jeremy doesn't know how to exist without Alfred, he cannot be Jeremy if Alfred is not there.
Jeremy's entire life is revolved around one person and it continues to be into adulthood. This is not only an attachment, but an obsession. In my personal experiences, when I have an FP, I feel exactly the same way as Jeremy does here. Something as small as being left on read by an FP can cause an entire breakdown for somebody.
Abandonment by an FP can cause a life threatening breakdown like how we see in the panels above. It is common for people with BPD to threaten suicide or self injury when being faced with potential separation or rejection, especially by an FP.
Even in adulthood, Mystery is still seeking out Alfred's approval and guidance which is incredibly common when one has an FP. Despite at this point in time, Mystery is already a killer who is presumed "heartless", the one person who can evoke any signs of regret/guilt/sadness in him is still Alfred.
It is common, in my personal experience, for FPs to be the only thing that still gets to one with BPD emotionally when they are otherwise emotionally devoid. Note: This doesn't mean people with BPD are people without feelings.
Next, I want to talk about is Mystery's mood swings. Behavioral shifts are very common in people with BPD, especially in regards to an FP.
I've noticed throughout my years of rewatching/rereading the series, Mystery's emotions tend to be all over the place. He can go from sad to angry in a snap, it's not a gradual or natural process. It's common for people with BPD to have these sorts of issues.
Mystery has plenty of self destructive behaviors, he is constantly finding a way to make things around him worse. When he finally created a new genuine bond with someone who wasn't Alfred, he left them in the dust because he believed he didn't deserve someone like Rex. Mystery is not the confident persona he likes to wear, he is a very troubled individual with huge self esteem issues who cannot and doesn't want to learn how to live without Alfred.
He gets irritated and hostile incredibly easily, such as when Vincent didn't let him get what he wanted. His immediate reaction was to straight up kill him while mocking him with the same insult Vincent used. This is not a normal reaction.
Vincent stopped him from obtaining his goal, so Mystery murdered him. In hindsight, this was a pretty stupid decision on Mystery's part. It's very possible that him murdering Vincent could've led to him not re-finding Alfred at all, Mystery is lucky he followed Vincent to the workplace otherwise I doubt he would've found Alfred in the first place.
This further cements the idea that Mystery is incredibly impulsive and does things without thinking it through, another symptom of BPD. If Mystery had calmed down and let him think over his next line of action, I doubt he would've murdered Vincent as quick as he did. Plus, recall back to when Mystery killed Alfred's parents? Another impulsive decision.
Jeremy's act of taking Skull's eye was an impulsive decision in itself.
Just by reading this dialogue, you can tell Jeremy had no idea what he was doing here. This is his first time in the in-between, he would have no way of knowing how to return to Earth if he knew that was possible at all. Jeremy taking Skull's scythe and attacking him was him trying to get Skull away from him so he could find a way out by himself instead of trying to get Skull to help him or some other decision.
Yet another impulsive choice.
Mystery says he didn't want to kill Skull and that it was a very bad choice. This is him directly admitting that this was a decision he didn't think about, he just did it mindlessly. He was desperate to get back to Earth to find Alfred. Jeremy is incredibly confused when he went back to Earth as well, not only because of the crosses but because there is no way he knew that was going to work. Even Arthur himself was shocked and we know Arthur is literally a shinigami.
If Arthur himself didn't know one could come back from the dead despite being a shinigami, this only proves that Mystery does things based off emotions and not based off logic.
Also, regarding his mood swings, in one single scene he goes from sad to angry to manic to calm to sad in only 8 panels.
This is absolutely a symptom. I've experienced similar mood swings like this as well that were influenced by my own FP at the time, just like Mystery is over Alfred in these panels.
Something I mentioned earlier is also Mystery's hostility. There are plenty of people with BPD who react to situations and emotions with verbal and/or physical hostility, this is a defining character trait of Mystery. It is one of the first things we learn about him.
When he does not get what he wants, he responds dangerously. This commonly results in the death of whoever refused to give him what he desired. He tends to get physical when angered or irritated as well.
Mystery's personality is every symptom of BPD scaled to it's highest in an almost comedic way, that's how I've always personally read him. I think Mystery is a great representative for how scary it can be to be a person with BPD, excluding the fact he's a serial killer. Mystery does not have full control over himself because he has never learned any coping mechanisms.
It's very common for those with BPD to develop it during childhood or genetically or by their environment. As we know, Mystery suffered abuse his entire childhood (very physical abuse as well), I think it's incredibly likely that he developed it due to his childhood and possibly even genetically by Arthur.
My reasoning for why Arthur may have BPD are mostly backed up by Mystery existing, but this one specific scene calls out to me:
It's entirely possible Arthur has an attachment to his son, albeit a very toxic and abusive one. Arthur appears to have some sort of jealousy issue regarding Alfred (this is personally how I've always read this scene) and his first reaction to this jealousy is to harm Jeremy.
While I'm not sure if I'd go as far as to say Jeremy was Arthur's FP, I do believe he had an attachment most definitely because of the fact Jeremy was Lilly's son and all he had to remember her by.
The way Arthur talks in this panel only makes me believe further in this idea. Arthur only has Jeremy, but Jeremy has Alfred and doesn't need him, so this jealousy building up until he eventually kills Jeremy makes sense to me.
Just these few traits that Arthur exhibits in these panels alone Mystery shares to a very high degree. It really reaffirms the notion that both of them had BPD and that Mystery developed it through Arthur's genetics AND abusive childhood.
Also, another thing I forgot to bring up earlier, Mystery jumps to conclusions and is very irrational at multiple points of the series. While this isn't an explicit sign of BPD, I do think it's important to note it. It falls in line with the impulsivity and emotional issues he tends to have, I personally have had similar issues where I jump to conclusions and assume the worst due to a situation with my own FP. This is exactly what Mystery does with Kao in this scene:
Mystery seems to not understand the idea of Alfred moving on from him, most likely because Mystery could not move on from Alfred for 20+ years. So jumping to this conclusion makes sense for him, especially given his mental state during this scene.
So basically, I think Mystery has BPD because his toxic obsession with Alfred strongly resembles what it's like to have an FP, he's incredibly emotionally unstable, he has a large array of behavioral issues that are sporadic, all of his relationships are incredibly unstable due to how he is, he's incredibly self-destructive, he has fears of abandonment, and is incredibly compulsive.
I believe there is way more I could say about Mystery and BPD, but for now, this is all I want to say! If anybody wants me to talk more about this subject, just ask! ^w^
