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+--- Thread: On playing characters with mental illnesses (/showthread.php?tid=11614)
RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Fox - 05-15-2015
(05-15-2015, 08:01 AM)Warren Castille Wrote: "Aw, she stutters! I just wanna huggle her up and snuggle and shelter her!"
Edit, in case that's somehow not clear: Don't do this.
C'sien stammers actually, it was something that picked up early from her rp start. It's something that does have reason and background. So yes, I have to agree with this comment.
It does upset her a lot when people do this, it has happened often and people don't understand that doing this gets her more worked up. She doesn't find it cute and sees it as embarrassing.
And in truth it has hindered her even in an rp setting. She does get negatives from it, and while I don't edge-it-up, there are consequences and I take it seriously with the char.
RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Warren Castille - 05-15-2015
In addition: It's possible to be shy without slapping Social Anxiety onto the label. There's a world of difference between "uncomfortable with strangers" and "mentally and physically unable to make eye contact for fear of doing some horrible offense however slight or imagined and oh my god I just don't want to be here I want to lock myself in my room and never look at another person again why can't I just go home go awaaay."
RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Aris - 05-15-2015
But just. The thing is. Mental illness is much more complicated than many people think, or the media portrays.
For example, often people talk about shyness, but as Warren has mentioned above it isn't necessarily social anxiety. Everyone gets a little shy on time to time, some more than others. Most people are able to work through it. Social anxiety on the other hand is intense and in some cases, crippling. It isn't just worrying about a social situation. Worries are going around and around in your head for ages before and then ages after going over the situation and analysing it. You might start to withdraw from social situations entirely. Your entire life is impacted. There's the physical sensations no-one talks about: finding it hard to breathe, wanting to be sick, feeling like you're legs have disappeared, dizziness, sweating, feeling like you might shit yourself, and more. Then sometimes a full blown panic attack.
If you're going to portray a character with mental illness, please do a lot of research on the subject. Proper research. Read stories from the people suffering. Read up on the mental and physical symptoms. Learn about it was a medical perspective as well as a personal one. Don't look to the media for research because as mentioned, it isn't portrayed well.
I second Hammersmith's post here. Think about how your character is managing it, or if they aren't. Depending on circumstances it will slowly leak into every aspect of a person's life . It's called an illness for a reason.
I have so many feelings and things I want to say regarding this thread but I can't put them into words.
RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Fox - 05-15-2015
Agreed with Aris.
Should I choose to do something with my character that is extreme, I seriously read up on it, watch interviews etc.
Edit: I remember watching this video about 'so-called-headmates' which 'fronted', it made me so disgusted because it fantasized schizophrenia and made it almost 'fun' to have it. To have friends like Loki and Sherlock sharing your brain pan. It was seriously fucked up (excuse my language but it was appropriate in this case).
Admittedly I personally deal with social anxiety, not shyness. People who know me know I'm not shy. It sucks a lot. It's scary and really not fun. I have had panic attacks.
I used to play a character that had some pretty traumatic stuff happen in a past mmo, but when I chose to go that path with her I read up on it a lot. It was scary just reading some things actually.
I don't think people should bar it from their rp, but be mindful instead.
On another note something to say, when doing it you have to be really careful as well to mind yourself. There are reasons why Jack Nickleson told Ledger to be very careful with his role.
RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Warren Castille - 05-15-2015
(05-15-2015, 08:42 AM)Foxberry Wrote: Edit: I remember watching this video about 'so-called-headmates' which 'fronted', it made me so disgusted because it fantasized schizophrenia and made it almost 'fun' to have it. To have friends like Loki and Sherlock sharing your brain pan. It was seriously fucked up (excuse my language but it was appropriate in this case).
I'm of the opinion there's an entire subset of internet people who attempt to co-opt actual illnesses specifically for the attention and inferred glamour or exoticism.
RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Fox - 05-15-2015
(05-15-2015, 08:54 AM)Warren Castille Wrote:(05-15-2015, 08:42 AM)Foxberry Wrote: Edit: I remember watching this video about 'so-called-headmates' which 'fronted', it made me so disgusted because it fantasized schizophrenia and made it almost 'fun' to have it. To have friends like Loki and Sherlock sharing your brain pan. It was seriously fucked up (excuse my language but it was appropriate in this case).
I'm of the opinion there's an entire subset of internet people who attempt to co-opt actual illnesses specifically for the attention and inferred glamour or exoticism.
Oh and that was the point of the video too. I can send it to you in PM if you want. But it has quite a bit of language and I don't want to share that publicly.
I agree I do think there is a subset of people who use it for attention. It's wrong and I don't approve of that sort of behavior at all.
RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - cuideag - 05-15-2015
Going to echo quite a few people here. If you must, do your research. Mental illnesses are a pretty serious thing and dressing it up as a cute quirk or whatever doesn't do those who suffer from one thing or another (or several) much credit.
RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - allgivenover - 05-15-2015
(05-15-2015, 08:54 AM)Warren Castille Wrote:(05-15-2015, 08:42 AM)Foxberry Wrote: Edit: I remember watching this video about 'so-called-headmates' which 'fronted', it made me so disgusted because it fantasized schizophrenia and made it almost 'fun' to have it. To have friends like Loki and Sherlock sharing your brain pan. It was seriously fucked up (excuse my language but it was appropriate in this case). Â
I'm of the opinion there's an entire subset of internet people who attempt to co-opt actual illnesses specifically for the attention and inferred glamour or exoticism.
They call it tumblr these days.Â
Before that it was LiveJournal.
Yes I know tumblr isn't all bad. I use mine to follow artists and reblog shit that amuses me.
RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Zyrusticae - 05-15-2015
Well, I confess this thread made me anxious enough that it affected my sleep. Heh. Perhaps this was a mistake.
Well, ignoring it won't make me feel any better, so I'll just keep going.
I realized something earlier - I think I've developed something of a blind spot for this sort of thing because I've been mired in Japanese moé culture for so long where they have absolutely no objections to exploiting highly visible character flaws for that sort of appeal. I always thought that sort of thing was at least a little gross (especially with particularly unrealistic saccharine-type characters that are more bags of tropes than characters), so the thought that I may have been subconsciously engaging in similar behavior was pretty eye-opening. I have this thread's posters to thank for that, so good work! (That's not sarcasm, by the way. Just making sure.)
That being said, people keep mentioning characters being overpowered by traits or exploiting them unfairly, and I feel compelled to mention that, well, that's pretty obviously bad writing. Of course you want characters to feel more like well-rounded characters (i.e. human beings) than a collection of tropes and plot devices. I don't think it even needs to be pointed out since it's such a matter-of-fact thing, but this is something I internalize on a daily basis, so maybe I'm not the target audience for those statements.
On another note, I keep seeing people emphasizing shyness =/= social anxiety disorder. I'm sure folks are just trying to make sure people are on the same page on this, but I keep getting this implication that people feel I am being disingenuous on my claims of possessing such a disorder. As I don't feel like doing an impromptu psych eval or listing off symptoms on a public forum is very appropriate, you'll just have to take my word for it that, yes, I am very well aware of the difference between the two and I am not co-opting the disease for my own gain (although what sort of gain that would be, exactly, I'm not sure). I've already explained why I try to look at these things positively despite the hardship, so I wager I don't need to repeat myself here.
At any rate, I'm still glad I made this thread despite how anxious it's made me, as I am learning quite a bit here and I really appreciate the varied perspectives. I hope I haven't hurt anyone with some of my insensitive statements and I'd like to be able to leave the thread alone with no hard feelings, so don't be afraid to let me know when I'm being a moron, yeah? (Though I would hope you would at least be a little nice and understanding about it, eheh...)
RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Aris - 05-15-2015
Just to clarify and hopefully ease your concerns, I went into a bit more detail regarding shyness not because of anything you've said but in regards to mental illness sometimes being an 'accessory' nowadays (in culture in general, not necessarily roleplaying). Shyness/anxiety is one of the easiest example of that, and I felt it important to reinforce the distinction between the two and hopefully explain how serious it can be for anyone who doesn't know already.
I hope that makes sense.
It is a personal subject for many of us, but imo it's interesting (although a bit strange) to see mental illness in RP being discussed in a practical way and not have had the thread go downhill.
RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Raine - 05-15-2015
(05-15-2015, 11:43 AM)Aris Wrote: Just to clarify and hopefully ease your concerns, I went into a bit more detail regarding shyness not because of anything you've said but in regards to mental illness sometimes being an 'accessory' nowadays (in culture in general, not necessarily roleplaying). Shyness/anxiety is one of the easiest example of that, and I felt it important to reinforce the distinction between the two and hopefully explain how serious it can be for anyone who doesn't know already.I actually thought you were calling me out for my post *phew* I honestly dislike talking to anybody outside of the internet (and even then, I still sometimes feel really sick, even if I'm comfortable with the community). I rarely leave my room at home, and when I have to I take my headphones and music, that way I avoid communication, and I don't look at other people (in the eyes at least, I avoid looking at people altogether unless there's no choice, and for this reason along with my appearance I've been labelled a psychopath and a future murderer in high school, but meh) until going back up to my room, checkout at a store or whatever. When I communicate with family, it's a sentence or two and then I go upstairs. With people on the internet. I can talk with, but I mostly listen to them, chiming in when they want me to.
I hope that makes sense.
It is a personal subject for many of us, but imo it's interesting (although a bit strange) to see mental illness in RP being discussed in a practical way and not have had the thread go downhill.
I don't stutter, so I'm not really sure what it is that's wrong with me, or what it's classified as.
RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Maia - 05-15-2015
T'rahnu, I'm sorry you've lost sleep over the topic. It might help to keep things in perspective: that this is just a thread that holds many different subjective opinions, but isn't necessarily one of scientific fact. At the end of the day, one person's opinions aren't any more or less valuable than your own, because... opinions aren't facts, unless we want to start throwing empirically reviewed postgraduate research up in here. XD
Anyway, just trying to help relieve some of that anxiety! We're just an internet forum for a video game where we all make a hobby of playing pretendsies.
But more to the topic, personally speaking, I have a BA in Psychology, so I may have a pretty different / skewed perspective on this. Many of my jobs in my teens and early 20's involved people who were mentally and physically disabled. I really wish I could convey all the experiences and knowledge I have in my brain to everyone I meet, but that's silly and impossible. So, I'll just relate what I hope to be the cliff note highlights!
One of the first and most important things one learns when undertaking anything with "Abnormal Psychology" is that the person should always come first. When you introduce a friend with a mental disorder, you don't say "Please meet my friend, her name is Schizophrenia!", you say " Please meet my friend, her name is Alis!" Defining a person solely by their mental disorder paints a very nuanced topic with a woefully broad brush, and discredits all of the other aspects that make Alis Alis. Additionally, most personality disorders, like general aspects of personality, exist on a spectrum. Things could manifest more on the slight end, or on the heavy end, and a primary guage of whether or not someone has a -disorder- as opposed to a similar personality quirk has to do with how much it inhibits their capacity to function within society.
When viewing mental or personality disorders in RP, it's regretful that many people don't seem to put in research beyond watching a movie with someone who had X Disorder. (And many movies are notoriously inaccurate in their portrayal of more 'severe' disorders.) As with most people, I toss my hat into the "research a lot before playing" ring, and add to the "don't make this personality disorder be a solely defining aspect of the character."
My actual focus of study as an Undergrad was social and cultural Psychology, which is kind of a gold mine when it comes to thinking about and developing a character. If there's enough thought put into it, a character who suffers from utter shyness can be just as interesting - if not even more so - than one who's stuck with a buzzword Psychology label. One can accomplish many of the same personality goals by researching and using "mundane" personality traits, because people - regular, "normal" people - can act just as unhinged as those who have alternate chemicals firing in their brain to give them alternate perceptions.
So, I guess, I'd just propose giving a good, long thought to the reason why a character is going to be attributed to a crippling psychological disorder. Normal people go through trauma all the time, and it can manifest in a number of interesting ways that can change one's personality and responses forever (without necessarily triggering the ol' stress-diathesis model.)
But again... opinions!
RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Sailor July - 05-15-2015
Aw, don't be anxious, Zyrusticae! There will always be people offended by this RP or that RP, and there will always be people who support those RPs as well. From what I can tell, you're researching and respecting and that's what really counts, I think.Â
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RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Kellach Woods - 05-15-2015
An anecdote while it's fresh in my mind.
Some of you may be aware that there's currently a RPG speedrunning marathon called RPG Limit Break over yonder on twitch for the benefit of NAMI.
So, I'm in chat, someone asks if people want to share stories of mental illnesses/disorders. Since I got a more solid diagnostic... Tuesday, I decided to do so.
First thing I got was someone makin' fun of it. So, yeah. Which is typically the reaction I get from whoever I mention this to.
* * *Â
So yeah, when I mention not interpreting others' reactions to your character, that's kinda where I'm coming from - a place where even people who're sensible to the issue can tell me to fuck right off or the equivalent.
Chances are if you've remotely thought about your character, if you decide to give them a disorder it'll be played marginally better than someone who just thought X character from Y movie with Z misrepresented disorder is so fuckin' cool that they have to essentially "port" them to FFXIV + a difference.
I'd also add "Don't make the disorder the chief explanation for your character's acts". I can understand if it explains certain quirks, etc. But when "They have schizophrenia" is the first thing you utter when someone goes why did you do that, that kinda falls flat.
RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Naunet - 05-15-2015
(05-15-2015, 08:42 AM)Foxberry Wrote: Edit: I remember watching this video about 'so-called-headmates' which 'fronted', it made me so disgusted because it fantasized schizophrenia and made it almost 'fun' to have it. To have friends like Loki and Sherlock sharing your brain pan. It was seriously fucked up (excuse my language but it was appropriate in this case).Â
As the family member of a paranoid-schizophrenic with bipolar, the existence of that video disgusts me on a level I'm not sure I can put into words.
I want to contribute to this thread, as I have experience roleplaying mentally ill characters and would like to share it, but it's going to take me a bit to get over the anger that video has caused. -_-;