The BBC’s Sherlock made some changes to the famous detective Sherlock Holmes in order to adapt him, his cases, and the rest of the characters from the books to the modern world, and one of the biggest changes was Sherlock describing himself as a “high-functioning sociopath” – but is that really the case or does he have a different condition? One of the most popular and beloved characters in literature is Sherlock Holmes, created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and who made his debut in 1887 in A Study in Scarlet. Sherlock Holmes became widely popular after the first batch of short stories was published, and he went on to appear in a total of four novels and 56 short stories.
The popularity of Sherlock Holmes and his variety of cases has been such from the beginning that they have been adapted to all types of media for over a century, and one of the most recent and successful adaptations is that by the BBC. Created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, the series, simply titled Sherlock, premiered in 2010 and ran for four seasons, one special episode, and a Christmas mini-episode. Sherlock brought the famous detective (played by Benedict Cumberbatch), as well as Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman) and other characters from the books, to modern-day London, adapting them to technological advancements and more, but with this also came changes to the characters’ personalities and behaviors.
Most adaptations of Sherlock Holmes have taken some liberties when it comes to the detective’s personality and how he interacts with other characters, and while Cumberbatch’s performance was praised and became a favorite among fans of the Great Detective, there are some details that do more harm to the source material and ultimately don’t make much sense. Among those is how Cumberbatch’s Sherlock refers to himself as a “high-functioning sociopath” after being called a “psychopath” by Philip Anderson (Jonathan Aris), one of his least favorite people, and fans of the character have questioned this for years, wondering if Sherlock Holmes was truly a sociopath, a psychopath, or something else.
Many experts have studied the behavior of Cumberbatch’s Sherlock to come to a conclusion on whether he’s a sociopath or not or if he has another condition that was never addressed in the series. In The Complicated Mind of Sherlock Holmes, Madeleine Ryan from the University of Dayton suggests Sherlock is not a sociopath and instead could have three other disorders: Asperger’s Syndrome, Bipolar Disorder, or Savant Syndrome. The term “sociopath” refers to individuals living with antisocial personality disorder, and they tend to lie, break laws, act impulsively, and have a lack of regard for their own safety and that of others, and while some of those fit with Sherlock, they’re not enough to diagnose him as a sociopath. Ryan explains that Sherlock could have Asperger’s Syndrome as among the symptoms are social isolation, close attention to detail, extreme focus on their own interests, and photographic memory/thinking in pictures. Sherlock could also have Bipolar Disorder as he displays symptoms (irritability, easily agitated and distracted, and then lack of interest and difficulty to concentrate and make decisions) and episodes of manic and depressive nature throughout the series.
The third possible disorder Sherlock could have is Savant Syndrome, a condition in which people with mental disabilities demonstrate “certain abilities far in excess of average”, mostly related to memory, rapid calculation, map making, or artistic and musical ability. However, even though Sherlock shows some symptoms related to Savant Syndrome, Ryan explains he shouldn’t be diagnosed with it as he doesn’t fit some important criteria. Other experts, such as neuroscientist James Fallon and Michael Felong (via Business Insider), believe Sherlock is actually a “primary psychopath”, who get their defining characteristics as a result of a “combination of genes, brain connections, and environment”, and they don’t respond to punishment, fear, stress, disapproval, and they lack empathy. The version of Sherlock Holmes seen in Sherlock, then, can’t be considered a sociopath, but pointing out a specific condition is a lot more complex than it seems.
