The Beast in Me: A Psychological Perspective on the ‘Inner Monster’ Metaphor

The series shows how individuals experience internal conflicts and emotional responses when confronted with trauma and uncertainty through the “inner monster” metaphor. This metaphor symbolizes dark aspects such as anger, fear, and guilt, and it helps in understanding grief responses, defense mechanisms, and the maintenance of self-coherence from a psychodynamic perspective.

The phrase on the series’ poster, “Pain Needs a Partner,” provides an interesting insight from a social psychology perspective. It reflects how people experiencing trauma, loss, or intense emotional pain tend to seek connections with others, look for support, or develop dependency in relationships. At the same time, the power dynamics, manipulation, and attachment patterns depicted in character interactions demonstrate how individual suffering is shaped within a social context.

At the individual level, the characters can be analyzed in terms of post-traumatic stress responses, cognitive distortions, and anxiety. Certain behaviors can also be understood through gaslighting (a manipulation technique that makes someone doubt their own perception) and narcissistic tendencies. From a social psychology perspective, power relations, status and charisma, social pressure, and conformity to group norms are prominent themes.

The Beast in Me offers a suitable content for examining and analyzing both individual and societal psychological theories. We recommend the series to students who wish to observe psychological concepts in practice.

Prepared by:
Research Assistant İrem Uyar
Department of Psychology