Psychology Analysis on Disney Character

Extra Credit
The fictional character I chose to diagnose is Donkey from Shrek. Donkey is a hyperactive, talkative, funny and sensitive donkey with buckteeth. He enjoys singing, senseless chatter and usually speaks Ebonics. He also proves to be rather annoying to those around him. Donkey has a sweet tooth as well. He enjoys parfait, cake and other pastries of the sort. Some of Donkey's quirks include acrophobia, which is a fear of heights. He is also colorblind and suffers from hypochondria; this is a fear of illness.

Donkey is impatient and has a short attention span too.

In my opinion, Donkey has bipolar disorder. Often through out the movie he shows multiple signs of hyperactivity, elation, irritability, flights of ideas, rapid thinking and speaking, and moderate reckless behavior. Donkey showed signs of hyperactivity from the moment he was able to speak. When he was hit with some of that pixie dust, he attained the ability of speech and flight. Even though the ability for him to fly did not last very long, he still retained the talking part.

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Once he realized he was able to talk permanently, that was his way out of every situation he got into.

Donkey's hyperactivity comes from the fact that he was always locked up in a cage and was taken care of by an old woman who treated him very poorly. Since he got his freedom he showed his true colors and abused the fact that he was able to talk or do as he pleases.

Throughout the movie, Shrek would get very aggravated with him because he just would not shut up or stop moving. He could not hold still for five seconds.

Donkey shows signs of elation and euphoria as well. No matter what you do to him or how bad you do it, Donkey always looks at the bright side of things and pretends as if nothing ever happened. Either that or he is just an oblivious animal. This sense of euphoria adds on to his hyperactivity. Since he is always happy and hyperactive, it is hard to get his attention therefore making it an ordeal for others to talk to him because he would
just dose off into his own little world mid conversation and act as if he just won the mega-millions.

Donkey does not get irritated very often, but when he does, he actually becomes quite persistent. After Shrek and Donkey deliver Fiona to Lord Farquaad, Donkey follows Shrek to his fairy tale character free swamp and attempts to live there. Shrek then mentions that he will build a fort around his swamp and Donkey becomes more and more irritated as Shrek wants to be left alone. While Donkey is outside he takes the initiative to build his own fort therefore dividing Shrek's land. When Shrek comes back out he questions Donkey's decision and they start arguing. As the conversation persists, Donkey becomes more and more aggressive with Shrek leading them to become physical to start shoving each other. In my opinion, Donkey is showing signs of irritability because it seems to me that nothing ever went his way. Furthermore, he was always told what to do and was treated insignificantly and undermined.

Since Donkey is always so hyperactive and on the move, he does not allow himself or for his brain to process his thoughts or actions. You can pretty much compare Donkey to a puppy with new chew toy or a cat with a ball of yarn. Since he feels this euphoria and hyperactivity, he is happy. When you are happy you tend to be more relaxed and your sense of awareness goes down a level, therefore causing Donkey to have rapid thinking and speaking.

Aside from euphoria, hyperactivity, irritability, and rapid thinking and speaking Donkey also has flights of ideas. Sometimes he would become so happy and coiled up from one event that he does not think about the future. This leads him to come up with ideas that seem rational and foolproof in his mind but in reality it is very dangerous, stupid and nearly impossible. Because of the fact that he is so happy and looks mostly on the bright side of things, he does not consider the consequences, therefore putting himself and others in danger.

Through out the movie, Donkey does not show much sign of reckless behavior either. The most reckless thing he has done is speak to a dragon while Shrek tried to infiltrate the castle and save the princess. If this situation was looked upon by professionals they would say that Donkey has to be admitted into a mental institution. If you were to ask Donkey how he felt about his actions, I believe he would see it completely normal and would not find any problems.

I believe this reckless behavior also generates from his symptoms of hyperactivity, rapid thinking and speaking and euphoria. Additionally, after Shrek attempts to stop the marriage of Fiona and Farquaad, Donkey comes flying in with the same dragon he was talking to earlier in the movie. It just so happens to be that the dragon is a female dragon. At the end of the movie, when all the antagonists are defeated, Shrek and Fiona go off to the swamp and get married with all their fairy tail creature friends. Again, Donkey comes flying in with his girlfriend dragon, but this time they come in with little baby fire breathing flying Donkeys. To me this would be a reckless thing to do because; well for one he is a donkey and she is a dragon. I would imagine the difficulty to conceive children.

Overall, I believe Donkey's most vital symptoms are hyperactivity, euphoria, and rapid speaking and thinking. In my opinion, these major symptoms trigger Donkey's minor symptoms that are flights of ideas, reckless behavior, and irritability. If the major symptoms were treated or worked upon then Donkey would have an easier time controlling his minor symptoms.

I think that if there was a way to develop some sort physical program for Donkey to take part in, it would help him with his hyperactivity and rapid thinking and speaking but would most likely increase his sense of euphoria. The physical program would be meant for Donkey to spend his energy. Therefore, this would make him tired and he would no longer be hyperactive to the degree he was before he did any physical activity. Furthermore, it would lessen the intensity of his rapid thinking and speaking because when you have no energy or are tired then you seem to be slowed down and more calm. This would essentially lead Donkey to learn how to control his urges of hyperactivity and make him think of what he is actually going to do.