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Zyrusticae · **05-14-2015, 11:35 PM**

(05-14-2015, 09:45 PM)Faye Wrote:

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spoiler'd for lengthI'm just going to say that pretty much fits the definition of "mental illness." Like it or not, it's a part of you that's been ingrained into your personality and being and that's a difficult to change. Overcoming mental illness is not easy. The line between "personality" and "illness" is drawn when something becomes objectively debilitating to your life and brings pain to you and those around you, and makes it difficult to see to your health and function as a member of society. Being a little shy =/= social anxiety if it doesn't bother you and/or if you weren't actually properly diagnosed.

Anyway, like most things in writing, if you want to do it effectively, it's all about balance. If you're trying really hard for others to find your character "endearing," you'll probably just annoy them. Plus, as someone who suffers from anxiety and other mental illness irl, I can easily understand why some people might not find it "endearing" at all to begin with. Sure, a stuttering, blushing, shy character sounds cute on the surface. The reality of actual social anxiety, however, is not the least bit cute, glamorous, or endearing.

On the other hand, though, no one likes a woobie, so trying really hard to get people to pity your character also may not be the best choice. You should focus more on how you want to play your character, not so much on how you want others to receive and treat him/her. Ultimately, trying to railroad other role-players into how they should feel and think about your character will likely annoy them.

Very fair points all around. I'm quite cognizant of this and do try to avoid coming across as overbearing.

I know that the way it impacts my life does make it cross the line from 'trait' to 'illness', but I cannot be appreciative of the way it stigmatizes it. I like to think that I can be encouraged to seek treatment without being made to feel like some part of me is "damaged", so to speak. My self-esteem suffers enough without that added baggage, you know?

This is especially pertinent when it comes to autism, which way too many people misunderstand and turn into a horrible nightmare when, most of the time, it's a mild brain specialization that may not necessarily impact the child's life in a profoundly negative fashion. I feel like a big part of the anti-vaccine movement was caused by this sort of unnecessarily harsh stigmatization, and wonder if, perhaps, things would be a lot better if we tolerated aneurotypical individuals more.

(05-14-2015, 10:06 PM)ArmachiA Wrote: I have panic disorder. It is not a part of my personality, it is a mental illness. okay.

I know, I know. I apologize if I downplayed the severity of such disorders.

(05-14-2015, 10:35 PM)industrythirteen Wrote: TBH, I am of the opinion that none of it should be romanticized. Shyness, as another person has said, isn't the same thing as social anxiety; nor are various ticks, and stutters, are which are symptoms of something deeper. If someone is to use that in their roleplay, I think it would behoove them to do some research first, as much as they can, to see some of the underlying causes, behaviors, attitudes, treatments, etc. The DSM, while a big massive tome of information on various conditions, it is first and foremost, for insurance purposes. And, it is constantly changing as the psychiatric community learns more, and is in no way a complete and exhaustive list. Them brains is complicated.Â

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That being said, there is a difference between whether a brain specialization causes one distress or not. To me, that's the big one.Â

So, brain specialization. One of my buddies uses the term, based on what he'd been studying, and his observations, as a trained psychologist. He is also quite deceptively compassionate. He doesn't do the psychology thing professionally, but it does help him with his current occupation. It is 'brain specialization,' as he says, because chances are, I'm pretty good at some other things if I'm not particularly good at something else, and some of these things I or others might take for granted as it's part of daily living. I like it because it sounds pretty spot-on to me because while I, and many others, are often distressed by our conditions, and it can be very harrowing at the worst of times, I refuse to see that there is anything wrong with me, or wrong with others due to how we are wired. Ie, I won't label myself or others as broken, or bad, or incomplete, etc. It does not define me or others as a person. I also don't think there is really such a thing as 'normal.' I wouldn't know where to begin with that. And, it is only one piece. The brain is an organ of the body, and you'll get no disagreement from me that the brain does, indeed, get ill at times; and it is no less worse than any other condition the plagues the body. It is just the level of distress that it causes me in my life that becomes the part I have to deal with.

I quite like this post all-around. Very helpful, thank you. The bit about 'brain specializations' in particular informs a lot of my views on this sort of thing.

I believe it was this Ted Radio Hour episode that got me to really change my views on things typically considered mental illnesses, and how different things could be if we just treated them differently.

On the other hand, it's obvious that I've been somewhat downplaying how debilitating other disorders can be, and I can't discount that. Some of these things really are terrible in how much they affect your life. All the same, it's also important, I think, to realize that these things are not necessarily the fault of those who possess them or anything like that, and to not let these kinds of problems dramatically impact one's self-esteem, lest that lead to even greater problems down the line.

(05-14-2015, 11:14 PM)Nako Vesh Wrote:
(05-14-2015, 10:05 PM)Max Wrote: Anyway, my advice to anyone considering making one:
Don't let the mental illness define the character. Do your research.

^ Thisthisthis. There's certainly respectful ways to RP mental illnesses and I've seen it done and it's absolutely something I enjoy exploring in RP (even for catharsis), but picking and choosing certain illnesses based on "cuteness" is borderline fetishistic. There's no cute side to having disorders. The idea that someone might find my own mental illnesses "endearing" or "cute" greatly disturbs me and creeps me out.

Zyrusticae, you say you want to portray these illnesses as cute because the alternative is negative. But what about your character working through these issues in a realistic way? What about struggling to triumph over them with help from understanding friends who know that your character is so much more? Is that not more fulfilling than superficial pity? And more respectful?

And publicly dismissing mental illnesses as "personality traits" sort of undermines recovery and medical treatment. It's fine to say that for yourself, you define these as "personality traits," but know that many take comfort in the fact that their mental illnesses can be treated medically and therefore aren't a simple fluke of their personality.

Working through them would definitely be great and very interesting. All the same, I will also respectfully disagree - I think extreme personality traits and disorders can indeed make a character endearing. After all, a big part of why people love the Joker so much is because he's such a volatile cocktail of mental disorders that makes him a compelling character. I do take your point about fetishizing it, however - I don't mean to do that, and I certainly can agree that they should not be romanticized regardless. They might make for interesting characters and compelling stories, but IRL they're not nearly as much fun, which is part of why I like RPing this where the consequences are far less real.

And again, I do apologize for downplaying the severity of these disorders. It is ironic, considering my own disorder prevents me from obtaining gainful employment. I just try not to let it get to me too much, lest I also fall into depression, and who needs that?

On playing characters with mental illnesses

RPC has moved! These pages have been kept for historical purposes