I've done the amnesia thing. That's something I wouldn't wish on anyone, and it messed my character up pretty badly. He had ways of handling it, but they weren't good ways, and they came back to bite him.
My current character is a mental and emotional basketcase, but she wasn't always. She was the picture of mental health when I built her and there's situational rationale behind all of her current incapacitating feelings, shattered headspace, and inability to respond appropriately in social situations. I don't think I could label her without the help of some psychiatric research, because the ways she's bent out of shape are myriad and reflective of her past experiences and current reality.
I have more experience with textbook depression than I care to dwell on. I can see giving an endearing quality to coping mechanisms that are harmless quirks maybe, and empathy is something that should be exercised around mental illness, rather than immediately shunning someone who acts and interacts differently.
But I can see how some people can find encountering stereotypical mental and emotional problem tropes so frustrating that the first card they pull out of the deck is not empathy but annoyance. That's not me, but I appreciate where those people are coming from.
My current character is a mental and emotional basketcase, but she wasn't always. She was the picture of mental health when I built her and there's situational rationale behind all of her current incapacitating feelings, shattered headspace, and inability to respond appropriately in social situations. I don't think I could label her without the help of some psychiatric research, because the ways she's bent out of shape are myriad and reflective of her past experiences and current reality.
I have more experience with textbook depression than I care to dwell on. I can see giving an endearing quality to coping mechanisms that are harmless quirks maybe, and empathy is something that should be exercised around mental illness, rather than immediately shunning someone who acts and interacts differently.
But I can see how some people can find encountering stereotypical mental and emotional problem tropes so frustrating that the first card they pull out of the deck is not empathy but annoyance. That's not me, but I appreciate where those people are coming from.
![[Image: g9ASfFg.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/g9ASfFg.jpg)
