The Netflix series Squid Game masterfully uses childhood games as a backdrop for exploring how early trauma manifests in adult behavior and how extreme stress can trigger regression to earlier developmental stages. Each character’s response to the games reveals different patterns of childhood trauma and adult coping mechanisms. For mental health professionals, analyzing these characters provides valuable insights into understanding and treating trauma-related regression in clinical practice.
Understanding Regression Through Character Analysis
Case Study: Seong Gi-hun (Player 456) – Anxious Regression Pattern
Childhood Trauma Indicators: Gi-hun’s behavior throughout the games suggests early attachment disruption and possible neglect. His gambling addiction, difficulty with adult responsibilities, and desperate need for approval indicate developmental arrest around adolescence.
Regression Manifestations:
- Childlike wonder and excitement during games despite deadly consequences
- Inability to plan for long-term consequences (typical of adolescent thinking)
- Seeking parental figures (attachment to Il-nam as grandfather figure)
- Emotional dysregulation under stress
- Difficulty with impulse control
- Need for external validation and approval
Clinical Analysis: Gi-hun’s regression serves protective functions – his childlike optimism and trust help him survive situations where adult cynicism might lead to despair. However, this same regression contributed to his pre-game difficulties with gambling, work, and family responsibilities.
Treatment Implications: Gi-hun would benefit from trauma therapy focused on completing interrupted developmental tasks. Treatment would involve building adult coping skills while honoring the adaptive aspects of his childlike qualities.
Case Study: Oh Il-nam (Player 001) – Cognitive and Emotional Regression
Presenting as Client: Before his identity reveal, Il-nam appeared to demonstrate age-related cognitive decline combined with regression to childlike states of play and innocence.
Regression Manifestations:
- Genuine joy and playfulness during deadly games
- Emotional vulnerability and openness
- Dependency on others for protection (alliance with Gi-hun)
- Simple, concrete thinking patterns
- Increased emotionality and reduced inhibition
- Seeking comfort and connection
Clinical Analysis: Il-nam’s apparent regression (later revealed as performance) demonstrates how regression can serve as both protective mechanism and social strategy. His ability to access genuine childlike emotions suggests either exceptional acting ability or actual neurological changes affecting emotional regulation.
Treatment Implications: Work with elderly clients experiencing regression requires careful assessment to distinguish between adaptive coping, neurological changes, and trauma responses. Treatment focuses on maintaining dignity while addressing safety and functioning concerns.
Case Study: Kang Sae-byeok (Player 067) – Defensive Regression and Parentification
Childhood Trauma History: Sae-byeok’s background as a North Korean defector suggests severe early trauma including political persecution, family separation, and survival threats. Her current role caring for her younger brother indicates parentification – taking adult responsibilities as a child.
Regression Manifestations:
- Emotional shutdown and numbing (regression to pre-verbal trauma responses)
- Hypervigilance and mistrust (primitive survival mechanisms)
- Difficulty with emotional expression and intimacy
- Protective maternal behaviors toward vulnerable players
- Alternating between adult competence and childlike vulnerability
- Somatic symptoms and dissociation during stress
Clinical Analysis: Sae-byeok demonstrates complex trauma patterns where regression serves multiple functions: emotional protection through numbing, survival through hypervigilance, and connection through caretaking. Her parentified role created premature adulthood that masks underlying developmental needs.
Treatment Implications: Sae-byeok would require phased trauma treatment addressing safety, stabilization, and integration. Work would focus on allowing her to experience appropriate dependency and vulnerability while building adult relationship skills.
The Protective Function of Regression
Case Study: Ali Abdul (Player 199) – Cultural and Attachment Regression
Childhood and Cultural Background: Ali’s trusting, deferential behavior suggests secure early attachment within his cultural context, but his regression under stress reveals how extreme circumstances can trigger earlier developmental patterns.
Regression Manifestations:
- Childlike trust and deference to authority figures
- Seeking parental protection from stronger players
- Simple, honest communication style
- Vulnerability to exploitation due to naive trust
- Emotional expressiveness typically seen in younger children
- Seeking approval and validation from older players
Clinical Analysis: Ali’s regression represents cultural and developmental factors intersecting under extreme stress. His childlike trust, while adaptive in his original cultural context, becomes dangerous in the exploitative game environment.
Treatment Implications: Working with clients like Ali requires understanding the cultural context of behavior while building discernment and self-protection skills. Treatment would focus on maintaining cultural values while developing adaptive responses to threatening environments.
Case Study: Han Mi-nyeo (Player 212) – Disorganized Attachment Regression
Trauma History Indicators: Mi-nyeo’s chaotic, attention-seeking behavior suggests early attachment trauma, possibly including abuse or severe neglect. Her desperate attempts to form alliances reflect disorganized attachment patterns.
Regression Manifestations:
- Dramatic, childlike emotional outbursts
- Boundary violations and inappropriate intimacy seeking
- Splitting (viewing others as all good or all bad)
- Attention-seeking behaviors reminiscent of neglected children
- Rapid shifts between dependency and aggression
- Primitive defense mechanisms (projection, denial)
Clinical Analysis: Mi-nyeo’s regression reflects disorganized attachment where she simultaneously seeks and fears connection. Her behavior patterns suggest early trauma that disrupted normal attachment development, leading to chaotic adult relationship patterns.
Treatment Implications: Mi-nyeo would require long-term therapy focused on attachment repair. Treatment would involve building basic trust and emotional regulation skills before addressing deeper trauma issues.
Therapeutic Applications of Controlled Regression
Working with Gi-hun’s Pattern: Play Therapy Adaptations
Gi-hun’s genuine enjoyment of games despite their deadly context suggests how play can serve therapeutic functions even in adult trauma treatment:
Therapeutic Games and Activities:
- Board games to practice frustration tolerance and rule-following
- Creative activities to access non-verbal trauma memories
- Structured play to rebuild capacity for joy and spontaneity
- Cooperative games to practice healthy competition and alliance-building
Treatment Rationale: Gi-hun’s childlike qualities could be channeled therapeutically to access emotional states and memories that purely verbal therapy might miss. His natural playfulness could become a strength in recovery rather than a liability.
Addressing Sae-byeok’s Protective Barriers
Sae-byeok’s emotional walls and survival focus require careful therapeutic approaches that respect her defenses while gradually building safety:
Therapeutic Interventions:
- Art therapy to express emotions non-verbally
- Somatic approaches to address body-based trauma
- Gradual trust-building exercises
- Trauma processing using non-threatening modalities
- Family therapy addressing parentification dynamics
Treatment Considerations: Therapy must proceed slowly with clients like Sae-byeok, respecting their protective mechanisms while creating opportunities for safe emotional expression and age-appropriate dependency.
The Role of Corrective Emotional Experiences
Il-nam and Gi-hun’s Relationship: Therapeutic Parallel
The grandfather-grandson dynamic between Il-nam and Gi-hun (before the reveal) illustrates how corrective relationships can provide healing experiences:
Therapeutic Elements:
- Consistent availability and protection
- Non-judgmental acceptance of childlike qualities
- Gentle guidance without criticism
- Shared enjoyment and playfulness
- Emotional attunement and responsiveness
Clinical Application: The therapeutic relationship can provide similar corrective experiences for clients with attachment trauma. Therapists can offer the consistent, attuned caregiving that was missing in clients’ early development.
Ali’s Trust and Betrayal: Learning Appropriate Boundaries
Ali’s relationship with Sang-woo demonstrates both the healing potential and risks of corrective relationships:
Positive Elements (initially):
- Protective alliance and mutual support
- Respect for Ali’s cultural values
- Opportunity to practice adult relationship skills
Traumatic Outcome:
- Exploitation of trust and cultural deference
- Reinforcement of vulnerability and naivety
- Betrayal trauma that could worsen attachment difficulties
Therapeutic Implications: Therapists must carefully balance providing corrective experiences while helping clients develop appropriate boundaries and discernment skills.
Developmental Arrest vs. Regression
Sang-woo’s Character: Arrested Emotional Development
Presenting Issues: Sang-woo’s calculating, emotionally disconnected behavior suggests early emotional arrest rather than regression under stress.
Developmental Arrest Indicators:
- Limited emotional range and expression
- Difficulty with empathy and emotional attunement
- Compartmentalization of feelings and relationships
- Perfectionism and rigid thinking patterns
- Fear of vulnerability and emotional expression
- Instrumental rather than emotional relationships
Clinical Analysis: Sang-woo appears to have arrested emotional development during childhood, possibly due to high achievement pressure, emotional neglect, or trauma. His adult functioning is intellectually sophisticated but emotionally immature.
Treatment Implications: Working with developmental arrest requires rebuilding emotional skills from the point of interruption. Sang-woo would need therapy focused on emotional awareness, empathy development, and relationship skills.
Case Study: Jang Deok-su (Player 101) – Trauma-Based Regression
Trauma History: Deok-su’s violent, exploitative behavior suggests severe childhood abuse or neglect that created arrested development around aggression and dominance.
Regression/Arrest Patterns:
- Primitive aggression as primary coping mechanism
- Black-and-white thinking (dominance vs. submission)
- Inability to regulate emotions without violence
- Exploitation of vulnerable others
- Lack of empathy or moral development
- Hypervigilance and paranoid thinking
Clinical Analysis: Deok-su demonstrates how severe early trauma can create both developmental arrest and maladaptive regression patterns. His violence likely represents learned survival strategies from childhood.
Treatment Challenges: Clients like Deok-su require specialized treatment addressing both trauma and potentially antisocial personality features. Treatment would focus on emotional regulation, empathy development, and alternative coping strategies.
Therapeutic Interventions for Different Regression Patterns
For Anxious Regression (Gi-hun Type):
- Supportive therapy with consistent, reliable therapist
- Cognitive-behavioral work on impulse control and decision-making
- Play therapy techniques adapted for adults
- Addiction treatment addressing underlying emotional needs
- Family therapy to address intergenerational patterns
For Avoidant Regression (Sae-byeok Type):
- Trauma-focused therapy using phased approach
- Somatic interventions for body-based trauma
- Attachment-focused therapy to rebuild trust capacity
- EMDR or other trauma processing modalities
- Group therapy for safe relationship practice
For Disorganized Regression (Mi-nyeo Type):
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy for emotional regulation
- Attachment-based therapy for relationship patterns
- Long-term psychodynamic work on early trauma
- Crisis intervention skills for emotional emergencies
- Medication evaluation for mood stabilization
For Arrested Development (Sang-woo Type):
- Emotional awareness training and affect labeling
- Empathy building exercises and perspective-taking
- Relationship skills training for emotional intimacy
- Grief work for lost childhood and emotional experiences
- Mindfulness training for present-moment awareness
Prevention and Early Intervention
Identifying At-Risk Patterns in the Characters:
Gi-hun’s Early Warning Signs:
- Gambling as emotional regulation
- Difficulty with adult responsibilities
- Relationship problems due to emotional immaturity
- Financial irresponsibility
Early Intervention: Addiction treatment, financial counseling, therapy for underlying attachment issues, family therapy
Sae-byeok’s Risk Factors:
- Parentification and premature adult responsibilities
- Trauma history and current stressors
- Social isolation and mistrust
- Hypervigilance and emotional numbing
Early Intervention: Trauma therapy, family support services, social connection programs, educational and vocational support
Clinical Implications for Practice
Assessment Considerations:
- Comprehensive trauma history including developmental periods
- Evaluation of current functioning across developmental domains
- Assessment of regression patterns under stress
- Understanding of cultural and family factors influencing development
- Identification of arrested vs. regressive patterns
Treatment Planning:
- Phased approach addressing safety, stabilization, and integration
- Matching interventions to developmental level and trauma type
- Building on adaptive aspects of regression while addressing maladaptive patterns
- Incorporating corrective relationship experiences
- Addressing family and social systems contributing to regression patterns
Therapeutic Relationship Considerations:
- Managing parental transference in therapeutic relationship
- Maintaining appropriate boundaries while providing corrective experiences
- Understanding regression as communication about unmet needs
- Patience with developmental process and setbacks
- Cultural sensitivity in understanding regression patterns
Conclusion
The Squid Game characters provide rich examples of how childhood trauma manifests in adult regression patterns and coping mechanisms. Each character’s unique response to the childhood games reveals different trauma histories and developmental challenges that inform therapeutic approaches.
Gi-hun’s anxious regression, Sae-byeok’s protective withdrawal, Ali’s trusting vulnerability, Mi-nyeo’s chaotic attachment seeking, and Sang-woo’s emotional arrest all represent different pathways by which early trauma shapes adult functioning. Understanding these patterns helps mental health professionals develop more effective, targeted interventions for clients with similar presentations.
The series ultimately demonstrates that regression, while potentially problematic, also represents the psyche’s attempt to heal and survive. By working with rather than against regressive processes, therapists can help clients complete interrupted developmental tasks and build more adaptive coping mechanisms.
The key insight from analyzing these characters is that regression often represents unfinished business from earlier developmental stages. Therapeutic work involves creating safe spaces for clients to revisit and rework these earlier experiences while building adult capacities for emotional regulation, relationship skills, and life management.
Through understanding characters like those in Squid Game, mental health professionals can better recognize, assess, and treat the complex ways that childhood trauma continues to influence adult behavior and relationships.