Basic Trope: An evil psychologist.
- Straight: Dr. Afflictio is a psychologist that tortures his patients instead of helping them - he is often known for giving out lobotomies and painful electric shocks like they're candy.
- Exaggerated:
- Dr. Afflictio is The Sociopath that often kills his patients solely For the Evulz.
- All of the psychologists are evil.
- Downplayed:
- Dr. Afflictio has a tendency to be a rather unkind individual.
- Dr. Afflictio isn't necessarily evil, but doesn't understand his patients' problems very well and often ends up making things worse for them.
- Dr. Afflictio is completely amoral, and his advice reflects this. He rarely makes things worse for his patients, but very often helps empower his patients to make things worse for others.
- Justified:
- Afflictio's qualifications as a doctor are rather esoteric at best.
- Afflictio is a case of The Cobbler's Children Have No Shoes - he went into the field mostly to figure out his own dysfunction, and he knows enough to be blind to what he doesn't know about himself because he still doesn't have the insight to recognize it.
- The story takes place in an era where it was quite normal for psychologists and other mental health professionals to treat their patients poorly.
- Inverted: Dr. Afflictio is a very nice psychologist that is known for helping patients with any issues they may have.
- Subverted: Dr. Afflictio is believed to be evil for whatever reason, but when actually encountered he's Good All Along.
- Double Subverted: Dr. Afflictio has a Face–Heel Turn, though.
- Parodied: Dr. Afflictio gets his psychology degree and immediately becomes a Serial Killer.
- Zig-Zagged: Dr. Afflictio is in a Heel–Face Revolving Door.
- Averted:
- There Are No Therapists, literally.
- The psychologists aren't evil.
- Enforced:
- "We need to add a reason why Alice won't go to therapy." "How about her being scared of psychologists because of an evil one she encountered?"
- The work is trying to call attention to patient abuse in mental health treatment facilities.
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: ???
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Implied: Dr. Afflictio never appears onscreen, but is stated to be a psychologist that many people are afraid of.
- Deconstructed:
- Because of Dr. Afflictio, many people begin to deny needing counselling out of fear, which leads to an increase in mental health problems, and more people start to become Driven to Suicide.
- Dr. Afflictio loses his license once one of his patients speaks out, and winds up facing hefty fines and/or jail time.
The Psycho Psychologist will see you now.
