Sherlocks Psychological Profile

Introduction
Recognizably able to understand any type of murder or killing, our detective is someone
that has been noted to be a suspect sociopath or psychopath. Theres nothing more thrilling than
the thought of the next blood stain that could lead to the finding of the murderer, according to
Sherlock Holmes. He lives for high paced adventure that is surrounded with the thought of never
becoming bored or having the need to solve a mystery.
Knowing the background of Sherlock and how the human brain works, there are certain
ideas that lead the watcher and reader to believe that he could in fact have a form of Aspergers.
Some symptoms of this include loneliness, lack of empathy, and someone who seems to be
somewhat antisocial. But also I feel conflicted towards Sherlock because he is in fact not a real
human being. He is only a character that is apart of television shows and movies that are
completely made up. We are so perceived by this character to be some great master mind and be
able to solve all of these mysteries, but we forget the part that he is nonexistent; which leads us
to only have a fictional image of what he really could be.
The hardest part I have often found throughout my research is all of these people
claiming Sherlock to be a psychopath, or even him blaming himself to be a sociopath. We
understand the symptoms that come from people with these types of problems, but I also believe
that a lot of people are skipping over the true thought process of how Sherlock really acts. Many
sources claim Sherlock to have Aspergers which tells us that Sherlock may have a lack of
understanding towards others; but in reality he must be able to understand everything about a
person in order to solve their case. In my paper, I am going to contrast the ideas of Sherlocks
brain functions and how his psychological profile is set up.

Literature Review
The profile of Sherlock Holmes is split into two elements: the connection between the
way his brain is functioning, and how these processes interact with others. Many studies have
been conducted on the way anger, boredom, and a lack of empathy can affect the mind, and this
leads to the curiosity of how exactly these thought processes coincide with one another.
McFarlane and Kolk describe to us the effects that anger can have on the mind, which is
strongly believed to be one part of Sherlocks problems. We understand that Sherlock has been
through some of the most traumatic experiences, and the source describes here what the effect
could have on a person because of those things. In this series, we see Sherlock resorting to other
things because he is angered by the lack of things to do; and this is where how boredom
throughout this specific time has impacted his life. We see all about the negative effects that
come from boredom, which weve actually picked up on many times throughout the series
Sherlock. The research that has been conducted shows that the boredom Sherlock is experiencing
causes diminished job satisfaction and a negative emotional state such as anger. Anger can also
turn towards the disinterest in certain things and people, which Sherlock seems to be fully
capable of doing throughout this story (Bruursema, 2007, p.1). We see his lack of empathy come
to play when he becomes extremely curious as to why a woman would be attached to her
daughter that she had lost during pregnancy. It has been discussed that empathy is necessary in
order to tell what is right from wrong, or in other words, morality (Coplan, 2013, p.211).
Sherlocks thought process is definitely one of the most unique of our time, and that is what it
takes to be advanced in your field today. The three recurring characteristics that we see in
Sherlock Holmes short series are his abilities to recover facts and knowledge on the smallest
subjects, have a lack of compassion towards any human being, and his obsessive ways of always

wanting to solve the next crime. In his blog, Albrecht (2011) is explaining to us why he believes
that Sherlock has been showing symptoms of a disorder called Asperger's. Although Sherlock is
not a real human and merely a fictional character, we perceive him to be as one because of his
rationale through his work and complete focus on certain topics. Some of the symptoms that are
defined as Aspergic are obsessive behavior which relates to his need for mystery, lack of social
understanding which we have seen frequently with his ability to not know what to hold in, and
attachment to regular routines which consist of the crimes that he loves to solve. (Sinicki)
Often times, there has been comments made about the possibility that Sherlock could be a
sociopath; he has even said it himself in the show (Hunter, 2015). Not only can Sherlock Holmes
describe your life in detail just because of the stain on your shoes, but he also seems to take up a
hobby of playing the violin in his free time. This somewhat seems as a way for him to relieve
anger or stress, because during one episode in the television series, he begins to play in spite of
his brothers evil doings and questions. Not only in the BBC series, but in many other instances
and films that Sherlock has been apart of, he is somehow tied to music and the personal level that
he connects with (Williams, 2014).
Entering the Conversation
In todays world, everything is revolving around technology. So what better way than
simulate what Sherlock Holmes does in his day to day life than creating a video game? This
game will be available to users with Android, IOS, Kindle Fire HDX, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3,
Xbox 360, and Xbox One. This game takes place in the same spot as BBCs own series
Sherlock does, which is in 21st century London. The series of events that occur are similar to
the ones that happen on the show, which will make it more realistic to the people who have
viewed it before.

The mysteries that will happen specifically are The Study in Pink, The Blind Banker,
and The Great Game. We see through these simulations how in each episode he will plan his
method of solving the problems. At different segments of each story, there will be pop-up boxes
with short videos to lead us to the dissection of his brain. With having these video boxes, we will
then see what he believes to be true from false, and real from fake in each situation. This helps
with the overall clarity of the game because sometimes it is hard for the viewer to understand
why he makes the choices that he does.
This game will be setup in two different quest modes: side and main quest. The main
quest is an adventure that deals with the three mysteries that I mentioned previously and will be
played to unlock every level. The side quest will be something that each player is able to play,
but isnt necessary to move on to the next level. The main purpose of the side quest in this game
is to receive the player more points, which can be used to buy Sherlock and all of his cast mates
new gadgets for their detective adventures. I believe that adding 2 different quests into the game
with make it more involved and create more of an addiction to solving these mysteries.
I have decided to include the main characters Sherlock, Dr. John Watson, the Cabbie, Soo
Lin Yao, and his arch nemesis/brother, Mycroft. The last three characters that I mentioned are
some that play major roles in their specific episodes, which the gamer will need to know about
before starting the game. So before the next level, there will be a synopsis of what the specific
level will include and how they should go about solving it. This will clarify what player they will
be acting as and what thought process they will go through to figure out certain details.
While in the video game, you can interchange what character you want to be; but on the
main quest you must remain as Sherlock in order to unlock the next level. On the side quest
levels, you are able to be Dr. Watson, or any of the other characters that associate with Sherlock

and show us how he behaves. This aspect of the games makes it easier for the players to go
through the main quest levels as the focus character and not get mixed up with the way that
everyone thinks. The one way that we will simplify this is at specific times during the level we
use certain characters more than other, so you will be able to use two at once.

Conclusion
In the world of Sherlock Holmes, everything operates differently no matter how normal
his friends try to make it. The most intriguing thing about Sherlock is his ability to find out any
type of information, and I hope that Ive helped explain exactly how he tends to operate. By
creating a video game that lets us have an insight of just how he functions, this will allow others
to see everything in a different way. Adding a new contribution, such as a video game will bring
about awareness and can hopefully spark the interest of younger children that could possibly
want to be anything that they set their mind to. This is such an important idea to our society as a
whole because it shows the exact thought process of Sherlock Holmes. Also, it is one of the few
forensic video games that compresses that kind of information onto one game.
References
Albrecht, K. (2011, October 13). Did Sherlock Holmes Have Asperger Syndrome? Retrieved
October 20, 2015
Bruursema, K. (2007). How individual values and trait boredom interface with job characteristics
and job boredom in their effects with counterproductive work behavior. Retrieved October
20, 2015.
Coplan, A., & Goldie, P. (2011). Empathy: Philosophical and Psychological Perspectives. (,
Trans., , Ed., ) Google Books. Oxford, New York: OUP Oxford. Copyright.

Hunter, G. (2105, September 1). Assignment One. Lecture presented at UWRT 1104, Charlotte,
NC.
Lyden, J. (2009, March 29). Author Examines Effects Of Solitary Confinement. Retrieved
October 20, 2015
McFarlane, A. C., & Bessel A. van der Kolk. (2012). Traumatic Stress: The Effects of
Overwhelming Experience on Mind, Body, and ... (, Trans., , Ed., )Google Books. 72 Spring
Street, New York, NY 10012: Guilford Press.
Sinicki, A. . A Psychological Assessment of Sherlock Holmes. Retrieved October 20, 2015
Williams, M. (2014, January 6). Was Sherlock Holmes an accomplished violinist? - The Strad.
Retrieved November 3, 2015.