While there are no direct statements, it's still clear that Max suffers from mental illnesses, such as depression, trauma, and even PTSD.
Max's past experience with trauma — namely, watching the Mind Flayer brutally kill her stepbrother Billy (Dacre Montgomery) in Season 3 — makes her a target for Vecna's manipulation. She's become withdrawn and adrift, pulling away from her friends and sinking deeper into what looks like depression.
Two seasons and three in-show years later, Max is suffering nightmares and bouts of depression after witnessing Billy's death at the hands of a monster from the Upside Down a few months prior.
Physically, yes. Lucas tells his friends that Max is in a coma, and we see her wearing casts on her arms and legs. The Duffer brothers have also confirmed that at the end of Season 4, Max is alive yet "brain dead, blind, and all of her bones are broken." The big mystery is where the redhead is mentally.
Chaiken notes this is based on the symptoms Vecna's victims exhibit, saying “you see them experiencing some symptoms of PTSD, some symptoms of depression, which oftentimes occur co-morbidly.” Moreover, Morton points out that each character is keeping secrets because of the trauma and depression they're experiencing.
Vecna's powers allow him to form psychic connections with people in reality, especially teenagers dealing with trauma and mental health issues. Vecna develops these connections with young and vulnerable teens so that he can get out of the Upside Down and gain access to the real world by opening four gates or portals.
Not only do the monster's actions have a terrifying resemblance to The Nightmare on Elm Street villain Freddy Krueger, but Vecna himself is an allegory for one of the hardest things humankind struggles to defeat; depression and trauma.
In an interview on theHappy Sad Confused podcast released today, the Duffer brothers said that Max is alive, but “brain dead, blind, and all of her bones are broken.”
In episode 7, Vecna is revealed to be Henry Creel (played as a youngster by Raphael Luce), the son of Victor Creel (Robert Englund) and his wife Virginia (Tyner Rushing) shown in the 1950s flashbacks.
Eleven managed to save her from Vecna's curse but the creature had already done some irreversible damage to her, rendering her unable to feel or see anything. She then died in Lucas' arms. That is, until Eleven used her newfound powers to bring her back.
Max essentially has a conversation with Vecna about Billy, and why he was right when he said that Max wanted Billy to die. She says, “he made my life living hell”, and she's right. In the episodes leading up to his death, Billy was consistently abusive towards Max and her friends.
The next day, Max made herself vulnerable to Vecna's influence as a part of a plan to attack Vecna, turning off her cassette player while inside the attic of the Creel house. With Lucas watching over her, she began hallucinating again, and Vecna stalked her through her mind once more.
Following Billy's death, Max distances herself from her friends and boyfriend and feels immense survivor's guilt, traumatized by her stepbrother's violent death. She consequently feels responsible for the dissolution of her family and is so entrenched in her shame that she becomes Vecna's next victim.
Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard opened up about his struggles with anxiety while filming and why growing up in the spotlight is not easy. Stranger Things is a global phenomenon, which means that, for the child actors in the series, the cast had to grow up in the spotlight.
After serving as bait for Vecna, she becomes his “final sacrifice,” getting her bones broken and losing her vision during a low point. Once the fight is over, she dies in Lucas' arms, unable to see or feel anything as Eleven looks on from her mindspace.
Raised in California, Billy moved to Hawkins, Indiana in 1984, after his mother left him and his father married a woman named Susan Hargrove. There, he attended Hawkins High School until his demise. He was the older step-brother of Max Mayfield, who he often mistreated, among others.
Next up, the viewers go on to theorise that One/Vecna is actually Eleven's dad. Yep, told you it was wild. The theory claims that Brenner wanted to create a child with stronger powers, so he waited until One was old enough to become a father.
Vecna's Hand
This is a reference to the D&D character Vecna, for whom this Vecna is named; the D&D Vecna has a monstrous hand infused with dark magic. The design of Vecna's hand is also a nod to Freddy Krueger, the Nightmare on Elm Street villain who had a huge influence on this season in general.
He was initially trained by his mother, Mazzel, in the art of magic, before she was executed by the government of Fleeth for practicing witchcraft. Vowing revenge, Vecna eventually assumed a mastery of the dark arts achieved by no mortal before or since.
So, did Max die? Technically, she did—if only for a moment. According to Lucas, the doctors said Max's heart stopped for over a minute, but then she came back to life. Eleven doesn't say that she's responsible for Max's survival, but Will and Mike flash each other a knowing look to say they've figured it out.
Max jumped through the window to the balcony. But in reality, there was no balcony. So, Max fell down to the ground from the sixth floor and was killed.
Using some pointers given to him earlier by Flint Paper, he learns from them that they were knocked out by General Skun-ka'pe, who somehow has gotten out of the Penal Zone, who then removed Max's brain from his body.
In the visions of her trauma induced by Vecna, Chrissy's mother appeared both mentally and emotionally abusive towards her daughter - and it's implied her comments about Chrissy's figure caused her daughter to develop her eating disorder.
Brenner (Matthew Modine) states in the Stranger Things episode "Papa" that Vecna "consumes" everything about his victims, Vecna targets traumatized victims because it builds for him a well of sad and angry memories to draw from. With each victim, he can become gradually more powerful.
Vecna lives in the Upside Down and preys on people's past traumas and guilt. The monster curses its victims, making them relive their trauma in progressively more gruesome ways until it violently kills them. (And we mean, like, really violently.)