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On playing characters with mental illnesses - Printable Version

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RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Sailor July - 05-16-2015

I don't see how playing a character with a mental illness / illness / handicap is insulting? Unless it's done in a gimmicky way to poke fun or the player isn't showing what it's really like. I have had a few blind characters, and I don't believe anyone has ever been offended in other MMOs, though I think the FFXIV community is a bit more strict. I've also played characters with mental illnesses, as well and the same applies.
Role-playing is an art. You're a writer. Playing a character. There have been TV series', movies and books that have these kinds of characters but (again - unless it's gimmicky or stereotypical / completely misinformed) and rarely do you hear about people getting all offended.

RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Kellach Woods - 05-16-2015

Hell, I LARPed a disfigured mute purely for munchkin cheesing and it was the most fun and one of the best characters I ever played.

Y'know why nobody complained? 'cause there wasn't a goddamn mute/disfigured person in the entire vicinity of the game. Damn sure they would have, and they'd be within their rights to do so, if they were.

I'm still learning about my own personality disorder, and at best you'll hear me snark about how not all obsessive disorders are compulsive ya dinguses.

And nobody knows jack shit about hyper-vigilant narcissism so yeah.

Someone would portray those like they're making fun of those? You damn right I would be complaining. Media gets personality disorders wrong so often that a lot of us are numb to it. You don't hear about people being offended because most people who would be don't exactly have a channel to actually get their thoughts out in public. At best it's limited to personal blogs who, let's be real here, won't matter none.

RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Saefinn - 05-16-2015

Playing the characters is by no means insulting, just how you play them. Just find it's a good policy to know your subject matter before tackling it. Else you could end up completely getting the wrong end of the stick, come off as patronising, insulting or just find you are misrepresenting something in general. I think when it comes to mental illness, it's easy to get wrong because there's a lot of misrepresentation and stigma and without first doing a some research (be it personal experience or looking it up), you run into the risk of doing it.

But to go to the analogy of TV writers, generally good writers will know their subject, though arguably, they don't always. *cough* *cough* CSI.

However, I am reminded of this sketch.



Of course, research is the safest way of getting things right. You'll of course play the way you choose, I of course would ask that you do not misrepresent things too grossly, chances are, if what you're doing is bothering me, I'll RP my way out or politely telling you. I don't bother about pissing and moaning, ain't my style. Tongue

RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Naunet - 05-16-2015

(05-15-2015, 05:17 PM)Foxberry Wrote:
(05-15-2015, 03:02 PM)Naunet Wrote: 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. -_-;


Sad I'm sorry Nanut, it's one reason why I didn't post it. It made me angry so I know it would upset others

It's alright. I think I'm better now. It's an extremely personal and traumatic topic for me, probably to the point where I don't think I could actually RP with someone who was RPing a character with that particular illness. There's just too much hurt there. >_<

Regarding mental illness in general, I will agree with what appears to be the general consensus - that it crosses the line into insulting only when it is portrayed in an ignorant way, when it's just played for laughs, when it OOCly demeans real sufferers of these illnesses. But if you approach it from a respectful angle with the full intent of portraying it as honestly as possible, then I don't really have any issue; the same could be said for pretty much any theme in roleplay.

As for my personal experience roleplaying with such topics, it's not something I've gone out of my way to portray, but sometimes things just happen with a character. One of my TERA characters suffers from fully activated PTSD and situational depression that could develop into major, following a series of extremely traumatic events over the course of a year. I don't go around stating explicitly that these are things my character is dealing with, but they come out in how I roleplay her. I did my research - and pulled from my personal experiences - to develop what I hope is not just an accurate but honest portrayal of these issues. The other side is, they're not the core of my character. She doesn't exist purely as a vehicle for PTSD and depression; they are facets that developed but are like an overlay, or fractures in her psyche. 

I think that's another important thing to keep in mind when dipping one's toes into these topics in roleplay - don't let them define your character. People in real life aren't defined by their problems, and neither should that be so for your roleplay character.

RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Shofie - 05-19-2015

I think if you're going to do this, try to be respectful about it and definitely do a lot of research beforehand. 

I'm also not a fan of people who decide to rp a disability only to more or less completely ignore that they have said disability, but this is down to a case-by-case sort of basis. Again, there's a right and a wrong way to handle it, or more accurately, a respectful and disrespectful way to handle it.

RE: On playing characters with mental illnesses - Cato - 05-20-2015

I assume that when people claim to be 'offended' it's less about kicking and screaming about injustices and more about letting out a sigh and shaking their head as yet another role-player decides to embrace the common tropes surrounding a particular physical or mental disability instead of actually taking the time to do some research and approach it with dignity.

This applies to things like sexuality as well. I always cringe when it's implied that if a character is bisexual then they want to sleep with anyone or anything. That's...not how it works. Nor is it a 'phase' or 'fake sexuality'.

I feel that if it's obvious that someone isn't doing sufficient research when embracing something with the potential to be controversial then they shouldn't really complain if and when someone else takes an issue with it. Provided the feedback remains constructive I see no issue with such an approach.