Pac-Man: Coping with Insignificance and Compulsive Eating

• Diagnosis: Compulsive Oral Fixation linked to Emotional Emptiness
   
• Underlying Issue: Attempts to fill void of self-worth through endless consumption
   
• Personality Notes: ESFP (“The Performer”) in decline; highly reward-sensitive but plagued by low self-esteem
   
• Inferiority Complex: Pac-Man openly compares himself to modern characters (“Mario has movies, Sonic has fans… I have mazes.”)
   
• Core Resentment: Once a pioneer, now largely ignored; bitterness fuels compulsive cycles

• Constant Eating = Emotional Filling: Pellets represent an attempt to stuff down feelings of irrelevance.
   
• Ghosts = Haunting Past: Each ghost symbolizes public memory of his “glory days” that now chase him.
   
• Power Pellets = Desperation for Recognition: Short bursts of empowerment where he feels dominant again — but fleeting, leaving deeper emptiness.
   
• Fruit = Cheap Validation: Chasing novelty rewards as stand-ins for genuine self-worth.
   
• Maze = Career Trap: A looping structure that keeps him repeating old patterns instead of evolving.

Pac-Man is trapped not just in the maze but in his own nostalgia. Once a trailblazer, he now fixates on consumption to distract himself from the reality that the world has largely passed him by. His inferiority complex drives him to measure himself against more “modern” heroes, and every pellet is a hollow attempt to fill that unfillable void. The ghosts don’t just chase him — they embody the fear that he’ll be forgotten.

• Mindful Eating Practice: Replace compulsive pellet-gobbling with intentional reflection on what he’s actually craving emotionally.
   
• Legacy Reframing: Guided therapy sessions to help Pac-Man see his role as a foundational icon rather than a washed-up has-been.
   
• Ghost Work: Assign each ghost an emotional wound (e.g., Blinky = bitterness, Pinky = jealousy, Clyde = irrelevance) and confront them symbolically.
   
• New Mazes: Encourage exploration outside repetitive corridors — new hobbies, new roles, new ways of being relevant.
   
• Peer Support Group: Join other “forgotten icons” (Dig Dug, Q*bert, Frogger) to build collective validation.