Prominent German Psychiatrist Declares: “Only mental illness can explain cosplayer behavior.”
The popularity of the internet and “cosplaying” has ran in tandem for decades but now a German Psychiatrist named Dr. Zelig Scheiße has made the claim that cosplayers suffer from mental illness.
“It’s a disease,” Dr. Zelig explains in a statement to the Gaming Free Press. “This isn’t like the dress up tradition of Halloween that you see in America, or the the costume balls from decades ago. Many of these cosplayers actually believe they are the characters they are portraying, some are disgusted with their lives when people don’t recognize them, and even worst many have depressive and destructive tendencies when they finally give up on their lifestyle.”
The Gaming Free Press typically covers stories of gaming interest and cosplaying certainly overlaps not just anime, comic book, and movie characters but also video game characters as well. Dr. Zelig provided us several anonymous patient histories to better explain his point. In one example he treated a young patient who frequently cosplayed as Cammy from Super Street Fighter II:
“The Cammy character is often depicted as slim with blond braided pigtales while wearing hand guards, boots, a beret, and a camouflage bikini. But if you were to Google Image search Cammy cosplayers you’d discover a variety of frightening interpretations. One of my patients has spent thousands of dollars in wigs, and plastic surgery to look more like Cammy. But this patient is Nigerian, (240 pounds), and has a penis – yet somehow he is disappointed and tried to take his own life after not being recognized out on the street.”
Some of Dr. Zelig’s patients have rationalized the investment into cosplaying stating that one day they will be famous and hopefully rich, but the diminishing returns are not worth it explains the Dr:
“Some of these patients can no longer afford treatment because of their condition. I can only hope that they will one day feel inspired and move on from the lifestyle in a safe a constructive form. Everyone deserves a happy life.”
