Breaking Bad: Walter White has been a narcissist since episode 1, says psychiatrist

During the five seasons of breaking bad, walter whiteplayed by Bryan Cranston, ranges from a high school chemistry teacher to one of the largest meth manufacturers in the world. However, according to psychiatrist doctor Eric Benderthe protagonist has always shown traits of a narcissist.

During an interview with QA posted on video, the doctor explained how there are many more elements to the series than just a man who slowly becomes a villain, while facing the results of extreme circumstances.

“waltz becomes an antihero very early on, maybe even in the first episode, because here’s this guy we can relate to, feeling bad for him, and he decided to make meth,” he said. “So the opposition force to being a hero is that this guy is going to start doing something highly illegal. Some meth studies suggest that if you start using it and use it continuously, it will shorten your life by about 15 years after the first few times. So he’s doing something that is clearly harmful to humanity.”

“When we met walter, he is almost a pitiful character. But when he starts trying to change his life, he does more and more amoral things,” continued doctor Eric Bender. “Murder becomes second nature. Lying becomes second nature. This guy becomes what some might call a sociopath, which means that society has impacted him enough that he actually developed these psychopathic traits.”

Then the psychiatrist commented on how walter white “has those things in him from the start.” “He had this idea that he was owed something, that he was taken advantage of,” she said.

He starts blaming other people and that’s something narcissists often do, and it’s everyone else’s fault, not theirs. Even though he’s not yet Heisenberghe’s on his way.