Ultra Fan Guide to Ayase Haruka
As all fans who love Asian dramas know, Asian dramas are an inexhaustible source of mentally ill people. Obsessive love has been romanticized in literature for centuries, in dramaland as well. If it was not like that a drama like Game Rai Game Rak would not reach an overall rating of 8.0.
Lakorn-writers are the masters of love obsession and even if we all enjoy it, maybe it is time to remember that it is not healthy. The second female lead Pawichaya (Chaya) in the lakorn Tra Barb See Chompoo is a perfect prime example for all the symptoms of an obsessive love disorder who is used in this article to tell you about this disease.
CAUTION: Minor spoilers for Tra Barb See Chompoo ahead
According to MedicineNet, females are more likely to develop obsessive love toward people they know rather than toward a stranger. Obsessive love and jealousy that is delusional, is a symptom of mental health problems and is a symptom that occurs in about 0.1% of adults — regarding this percentage lakorns should already cover all the persons concerned.
That leads back to Khun Chaya: At the beginning of the drama, Chaya belongs to Peats circle of close friends. She always felt attracted towards him but accepted that he sees her just as a friend. Until the day comes that he starts to show interest in another girl. From there onward, her symptoms OLD become more and more clear.
Overwhelming attraction to one person to the extent of self-abandonment
She just adores Peat without wasting a thought on facts or fails of him. Chaya is willing to do everything he asks and even the things he doesn't ask for.
Obsessive thoughts about the person
In her mind, Peat belongs to her and it doesn't matter what anyone says or does, or even what Peat wants.
Feeling the need to “protect” the person you’re in love with
She always sides with her object of obsession, defending, trying to prevent him of falling or being tricked by others, which is obvious he never needed it because he is the one playing the worst games.
Possessive thoughts and actions
From episode to episode she becomes more greedy and demands more of Peat. In the beginning she just expresses wishes, later on, she even demands certain actions from him.
Extreme jealousy
A mentally ill person like Pawichaya is full of jealousy over his personal interactions with others and is afraid to lose Peat. She can tend to do very extreme actions. Actually, it is rather uncommon that obsessive love involves violence, but if so men and women seem to be perpetrators of such violence at equal rates.
Repeated texts, emails, and phone calls
Obvious she has nothing else to do but texting, calling and waiting for Peat the whole lakorn long. Interesting that a lack of full-time employment counts as a risk factor to develop an OLD.
Difficulty having friendships or maintaining contact with family members
With her delusional behaviours, Chaya put all of her friendships at risk and her family is not there for her anyway. She cut herself off more and more which leads to an even extremer dependance on Peat.
Willing to do everything to raise attention out of the person
Every moment when Chaya feels like Peat could gain a little distance from her, she will find a way to become the center of his attention.
Usually, a second female lead like her is the object of contempt to the audience. She is annoying and everyone rolls their eyes. However, in the end, one could feel sorry for her because there is no chance for her to get a happy ending.
There’s no one single cause of OLD. Instead, it may be linked to other types of mental health disabilities such as Borderline Syndrome, Attachment Disorder, Delusional Jealousy or Erotomania. The precise treatment plan for this disorder depends on the underlying cause. However, it often involves a combination of medication and psychotherapy.
Don't misunderstand! Nobody wants to miss obsessive characters in Asian dramas. They are fascinating, extreme and dramatic — everything a fan's heart wants.
It's interesting to see that most drama fans feel attracted towards obsessive male leads but tend to be annoyed by the obsessive second female lead. Funny that there are almost no obsessive female leads in dramaland, isn't it?
(Sources: medicinenet.com; healthline.com; cosmopolitan.com; wikipedia.org; cloudmind.info)
