Themes: Sanity

Sanity is the ability to think and behave in a normal and rational manner. Many characters lose this ability during the zombie apocalypse. Typically, the loss of one's sanity is attributed to the death of a close family member, friend, or by a harrowing event.

Comic Series

 * Shane slowly becomes insane; facing the fact that he will never have Lori and that Rick now runs the camp. (Days Gone Bye)
 * Carol loses her sanity as no one talked to her and trusted her after her attempted suicide, wanting attention. (Comic Series)
 * Michonne had talks with her dead boyfriend as a way of coping. (Comic Series)
 * Rick loses his mind after the death of his wife and baby. (Issue 48)
 * Morgan breaks down after the surprise death of his son. (Comic Series)
 * Andrea talks to Dale's hat long after his death as a way of coping. (Comic Series)
 * Negan is shown to be slightly unstable as he goes from being cocky and playful to being ruthless and narcissistic in an instant. (Something to Fear - Present)

TV Series

 * Dr. Jenner tries to kill the Atlanta group, after losing hope in finding a cure. (TS-19)
 * Daryl has a hallucination of his brother Merle in the forest after the group loses Sophia. (Chupacabra)
 * Shane slowly loses his sanity after facing the fact that he will never have Lori and Carl for himself and that Rick now runs the camp, eventually leading to him attempting to kill Rick, three different times. (Wildfire - Better Angels)
 * Tomas and Andrew have homicidal intentions against Rick's group. (Sick, Killer Within)
 * Rick loses his sanity after learning of the death of Lori and begins to have hallucinations: having conversations with deceased people over the phone, seeing Shane as one of the Woodbury guards, and seeing hallucinations of Lori in her wedding dress and her previous clothing before her death. (Killer Within, Say the Word, Made to Suffer, The Suicide King, Home, This Sorrowful Life)
 * The Hermit seems to have lost his sanity due to threatening to call the cops after Rick and his group break in. (When the Dead Come Knocking)
 * Michonne tells Rick that she use to have conversations with her dead boyfriend. (Home)
 * The Governor loses his sanity after the death of his daughter, Penny. (Made to Suffer)
 * Morgan is seen to have lost his sanity after the death of his son at the hands of his undead wife, whom he finally had to put down. (Clear)
 * Carl appears to have lost much of his morals after the death of his mother. His thinking appears to be radically different from that of a normal teenager after the final assault of The Governor's army at the prison. (Welcome to the Tombs)
 * Lizzie's sanity comes into question after her sister, Mika, mentions to Carol that she is a little messed up in the head.(Infected)

Webisodes

 * B.J. loses his sanity, killing his co-workers and finding humor in others suffering. (Cold Storage)

Video Game

 * Lilly becomes paranoid after supplies were vanishing around the motor inn and ends up shooting Doug/Carley in a heated argument when interrogating Ben on the side of the road. (Long Road Ahead)
 * C. Oberson becomes a tyrant in Crawford, and begins to persecute and eliminate any residents who were under the age of 14, required special care, or who refused to follow his laws. (Around Every Corner)
 * The Stranger becomes psychotic after Lee's group steals his family's supplies from his station wagon at the end of Episode 2, keeping his wife's zombified head inside a bowling bag. (Season 1)
 * It is possible that Nate grows psychotic after his friend is shot by Eddie. (Wyatt's Story)
 * Nate seems to lose sanity when he reveres the idea of killing the old couple in the diner, going as far as killing them regardless of what Russell has to say. (Russell's Story)

Dead Reckoning

 * Gary Taylor goes insane after killing Paul and is arrested by Shane. (Dead Reckoning)

Social Game

 * Marla seems to be going insane after referencing her son and repeating wanting to go to a better place. (Social Game)

Novel Series

 * Philip Blake loses his sanity after his daughter, Penny, is shot and killed. (Rise of the Governor)
 * Brian Blake goes insane after the death of his brother, niece, and friend. (Rise of the Governor)