After the release of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the fans will not only remember the franchise as a legendary game but also as a spectacular Netflix TV show. The new series was definitely a nostalgic ride for those who have played Cyberpunk 2077, but it was a completely new experience for people who dived into this world for the first time.
Undoubtedly, the series was difficult for some fans to understand due to its fast pace and complicated terms used throughout the show. One such term was Cyberpsychosis, a condition that many characters from the show had to suffer from, including the main character, David. But what does Cyberpsychosis mean, and how does this condition affect David in the series?
What Is Cyberpsychosis?
Cyberpsychosis is a common yet deadly disease in the world of Cyberpunk. Those who deal with this condition are known as Cyberpsychos, and they slowly start to lose their senses, ultimately leading them to their own destruction. Cyberpsychos can be seen in a state of immense anger, which makes them consider others weak and worthless. Not just their enemies, but Cyberpsychos can also be a threat to their own friends and allies.
The symptoms of Cyberpsychosis are not immediate; the victim starts to become less friendly to humans and more attached to machines. They start getting hallucinations, and timely outbursts of anger become common. Although violence is the most common symptom, it's not always the case. Some Cyberpsychos have to deal with split personalities; some become burglars and bandits, while some are seen becoming compulsive liars.
David Was Special, But Not Invincible
Cyber implants are sure to give excessive power to humans, but that's the sole reason for this mental illness. David always thought that he was special in some way or the other, and he was constantly reminded of that by his known ones. This made David believe that he would never have to face the condition of Cyberpsychosis no matter what he did to his body. This belief started with the Sandevistan implant he found in his mother's belongings after her death. Ripperdoc implanted Sandevistan in his body and warned him of its consequences. But, David was able to control himself and use it for a longer period than what Ripperdoc suggested.
This over-belief in himself made David go through multiple implantations in the future, including the one that belonged to Maine.
But soon, he started to show the symptoms of Cyberpsychosis. His first major exhibition of the condition happens when he meets a woman in an Arasaka building. He starts hallucinating guns coming out of her head, his hand starts shaking, and he kills the innocent woman. This incident traumatizes David, so he approaches Ripperdoc, now for even stronger meds. David's hand can usually be seen shaking, and a drastic change comes to his personality with time. He becomes less patient, so we see him getting furious over unnecessary things, which are some strong symptoms of Cyberpsychosis.
David always believed that he had better tolerance than everyone else, and this disbelief of David was used by Arakasa and Faraday, who wanted to test their most advanced implant - Cyber skeleton - on the boy. Their plan becomes successful, and David is forced to implant the Cyber skeleton. With the help of meds, David is able to retain his senses for quite some time, but after the effect of the last dose drops, he becomes a Cyberpsycho, just like Maine and the one we saw at the start of the series.
It can be concluded that when David implanted Sandevistan, he was young, and his body was able to adapt to changes. Also, let's not forget that his endurance was a bit higher than the others. But, he had to meet the same fate as the others after pushing his body to an intolerable limit.
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