The Psychology of Danny

Psychologically Analyzing Danny

As a psychology major, I often find myself psychologically analyzing characters from books I read. Currently I am enrolled in Abnormal Psychology where we are leaning about how to measure and diagnosis different syndromes and disorders. One of these conditions is Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

One of the ways to measure this is to use the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale, a method in which patients answer rate 1-5 how a much 12 separate statements regarding uncertainty relates to them. The less comfortable they report being with uncertainty, the more likely they are to have an anxiety disorder.

Throughout the book, Danny shows symptoms of anxiety with how she reacts to uncertainty.

The first statement is "Unforeseen events upset me greatly" to which I believe Danny would respond with a 5 (entirely characteristic of me).

Evidence of this includes being extremely upset when her mother turns her back on her when her father is around, she is outed as a superhero by graywytch, her mother removes her from school, and David treats her poorly when she comes out as being a girl.

To all of these unforeseen situations, Danny responds with angry outbursts or crying. Had she anticipated these events were about to happen, it is likely they would not have affected her as much.

The 11th statement is "I should be able to organize everything in advance." I believe Danny would also respond to this with a 5.

When Calamity suggests they fight Utopia after she blows up their last lead, Danny finds herself feeling conflicted as she has not had time to plan an attack, clearly not wanting to be spontaneous with it. In the past she has planned specific times to leave and be back at her house so as to avoid her parents finding out about her secrets.

I won't go into detail about all of the statements but in my opinion Danny would have a relatively high score on this scale. This means she is likely to have Generalized Anxiety Disorder or another form of anxiety. This condition affects how and may explain why she reacts to certain situations the way she does. Living with two huge secrets is bound to have a negative impact on your life and lead you to want to plan everything out meticulously to avoid any further anxiety inducing situations.

I will include a copy of the scale below. Feel free to rate Danny or even yourself on it!

Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale - Short Form

(Carleton, Norton, & Asmundson, 2007)

Please circle the number that best corresponds to how much you agree with each item.

	Not at all characteristic of me	A little characteristic of me	Somewhat characteristic of me	Very characteristic of me	Entirely characteristic of me
1. Unforeseen events upset me greatly.	1	2	3	4	5
2. It frustrates me not having all the information I need.	1	2	3	4	5
3. Uncertainty keeps me from living a full life.	1	2	3	4	5
4. One should always look ahead so as to avoid surprises.	1	2	3	4	5
5. A small unforeseen event can spoil everything, even with the best of planning.	1	2	3	4	5
6. When it’s time to act, uncertainty paralyses me.	1	2	3	4	5
7. When I am uncertain I can’t function very well.	1	2	3	4	5
8. I always want to know what the future has in store for me.	1	2	3	4	5
9. I can’t stand being taken by surprise.	1	2	3	4	5
10. The smallest doubt can stop me from acting.	1	2	3	4	5
11. I should be able to organize everything in advance.	1	2	3	4	5
12. I must get away from all uncertain situations.	1	2	3	4	5