Mental Illness?

No, but those aren't the types of stories I'm trying to tell.

Is it safe to assume you're giving your MC a mental illness for purposes of plot? Rather than just for the heck of it?

Just checkin'.

Although upon reflection, I may have used a "horrible disease." This may not quite count, but in one of my early Urban Fantasy novels, all of the characters with supernatural powers (ie, telekinesis, telepathy) paid a physical toll for using them. Blinding headaches, nose bleeds, possible early death from overexertion. That sort of thing.

Just Jack said:

Does anyone else do this kind of thing? I mean giving their main characers a mental illness,or a horrrible disease, ect?

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I usually maim my characters quite severely and permanently, does that count? And I dunno about mental illness, but they often have some sort of horrendous past to contend with. Which makes them a bit crazy sometimes.

Haven't given any diseases though I have an evil sorceress (Bk 1) and a demon (Bk 2) make folks suffer. A queen (bk 3) slowly descends into madness due to a cursed ruby necklace. Another demon (Bk 3) is taking & making faces for herself from a variety of sources--lost hers in an epic battle end of Bk 2. A mage turned into a large book has a flaking leather cover, 2 brothers are part serpent and they have mangy scales... Do any of these count?

One of my main characters in my fantasy series has a sort of scizophrenia (no idea how the spell that and I'm not looking it up). I say sort of because there is a different reason for it than mental disorder and so some of the symptoms are different. So... Yes. Kind of. His 'disorder' comes into the plot heavily and effects quite a lot.

Just Jack said:

My MC in my WIP has a mental illness. I thought it was a good idea, so I started browsing around on the net for some interesting ones.

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Check out Motherless Brooklyn, by Jonathan Lethem. The protagonist has Tourette's Syndrome.

I would caution you to be ABSOLTELY SURE that your character needs to have a mental illness. The fact that you're just browsing around looking for a "good" one sort of worries me--if it's important to the plot, shouldn't you be making a list of syptoms that s/he has and then "diagnosing" him/her from there? Seriously, unless you have personal experience with the illness I would caution against it, beacuse otherwise it can be really, really tough to protray menal illness in an accurate and compassioante manner.

Schizophrenia. Which is not the same as Multiple Personality Disorder. Just saying.

Treehugger may have a good idea there. List the symptoms, then check out DSM-IV for the diagnosis.

Mental illness runs through my family like sap through a tree. I would offer that this is one area where reading research is not going to be enough. If you're serious about characterizing someone with a mental illness (and there are many different permutations within individual diagnoses), interaction with the real deal and those who love, relate to and work with them is in my opinion imperative. If you're serious about it. It's a serious thing.

Phaeal said:

Schizophrenia. Which is not the same as Multiple Personality Disorder. Just saying.

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Amen to that! If your character is going to have a particular mental illness or disorder, I would go beyond online research. Actually talk to a counselor who deals with that sort of thing regularly. There are so many stereotypes out there; while the average reader might not catch them, anyone in the counseling profession will be mentally giving you 20 lashes with a wet noodle for perpetuating misinformation. I know this because I am a counselor myself and have worked with schizophrenic patients, as well as one with dissociative identity disorder (i.e. "multiple personalities," although it only rarely manifests itself in a Sybli-esque extreme). The contrast in the usual presentation vs. reality is striking.

Most of my characters have serious mental problems. The most sane character in my fantasy books only meets the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for PTSD (and if you have no idea what I just said, then you need to do a lot more research before writing about mental disorders). One thing I like about writing my fantasy books is that since the science of psychology doesn't really exist, all the mental disorders have to be explained without using any terms or labels. This is also nice because people aren't likely to get offended by my portrayals since I don't name names with the disorders. All my portrayals are very accurate because I've spent many years researching psychology (long before I started writing; at one point I seriously considered getting a degree in it), and also have known a lot of people with mental problems and read a lot of true-life accounts.

If you're writing a modern-day setting where the disorder is going to be named, you're bound to upset a few people no matter how much research you do, I think. This is because there are so many ways mental disorders can present, so there is no such thing as 'right' and 'wrong' in any portrayal, but people sometimes will get upset if your description doesn't match their experiences.

I would definitely say that you need to do a lot of research, starting with basic psychology before moving into specific disorders. Otherwise your character's problems will likely feel contrived and one-dimensional, even to people who don't know much about psychology.

Just Jack said:

These are more of...imperfections. lol

Im talking:
lepracy
Insomnia
cancer
ect.

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How about hypochondria or OCD?

Unless you need the particular mental illness for the sake of the plot, DON'T. It would be all right to use symptoms of some common disorder to flavor the character, just to add quirks. Shopping around for a mental illness sounds like it isn't necessary, it might end up a shallow cosmetic thing and not ring true. Leave it in the background rather than naming it, and make sure you do your research.

I happen to work in a mental health resource center...

All of my characters have some personality variations. Mental illness is -- in a way -- only an exaggeration of normal behavior that goes out of control. My MC suffered from a bout of severe depression, but he had good reason, being doomed to death (or so he thought). His depression was triggered by his reaching a final goal. He was planning suicide after that point. In normal circumstances, he is quite stable. Kind of like moi.

One character in an earlier practice-work had asthma. Taking him through a bad attack was an interesting exercise

The Australian Writer's Guild worked with others to put together a great resource on Mental Illness for writers.

Wander over to http://www.mindframe-media.info/ and click on 'Resources for Stage and Screen'

Mac

Just Jack said:

Im talking:
lepracy

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If you mean "leprosy" it's now called "Hansen Disease" or "Hansen's Disease" and it's fairly treatable if caught early enough (especially among people in the industrialized world; there are medication-resistant strains in the developing world, sad to say).

Look at Monk. He's nuts. His whole story is infused with him being nuts. Every scene is filtered through the necessity of portraying him as nuts.

Many of the episodes are about him being nuts. It's a major story theme. It's what the character is about.

Poirot, on the other hand is not nuts. His passion for order is a small part of his life.
Every scene about Poirot must be consistent with this personality trait. It must show -- in a small way -- that passion for order. But it's not the 300-pound gorilla in the scene. There's no chapter in any book written about him 'dealing with' his passion for order.

You can size your obsession to fit the kind of story you want to write.

There's any amount of research on obsessions. Plug 'obsession' and 'abnormal psychology' into Amazon, pick your texts, and then go to your local college library.

You can give your character anything from an abnormal fear of cats to a belief the CIA is sending him messages through his dental fillings.

I think it's important to read personal accounts *by* people with that particular mental illness -- not just from their buddies/families/etc.

For example, accounts by autistics are often drastically different in the perception of what is a "symptom" and what is simply life than accounts by parents of autistics. Sometimes the narrative of a parent will read: "My child was failing to live life normally; we interceded with therapy and now he's much better." And the narrative of that same child will read: "I was exploring the world in a way which made my brain happy. My parents yelled and screamed at me until I stopped, and now I rigidly control my behavior and am afraid to show myself to the world."

Other times in that same situation the child's narrative will agree with the parent's. But in either case it's the person in a particular mental state whose idea of it forms a "main character" story, not the ideas of their observers.

Not really a mental illness, but my MC is an idiot.

Just Jack said:

My MC in my WIP has a mental illness. I thought it was a good idea, so I started browsing around on the net for some interesting ones.

Does anyone else do this kind of thing? I mean giving their main characers a mental illness,or a horrrible disease, ect?

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The two WIPs i'm currently working on, two of the MCs both have some mental problems.

One becomes deeply depressed and trys to himself so he came be with his lover. the second one is in a mental hospital after slaughtering a coulple hundred students @ his high school. He has an alternate reality he slips into when the real world become too much for him.

and the WIP i did complete, one MC is a pyschopath.

Does these count?

Just Jack said:

My MC in my WIP has a mental illness. I thought it was a good idea, so I started browsing around on the net for some interesting ones.

Does anyone else do this kind of thing? I mean giving their main characers a mental illness,or a horrrible disease, ect?

Click to expand...

I'd say that most villians would have some sort of Personality Disorder according to mental health standards. Explosive Personality D/O, Narcisistic Personality D/O.

Also, I'd say that during an Epic, characters are going to wrestle to some degree with Anxiety and Depression, even if they have no ongoing disorder, the circumstances should push people to the point of at least near-breaking.

I just read one of the Thomas Covenant books, and the MC has leprosy and a personality disorder to boot, as he does things that leprosy just don't explain away.

A. J. Luxton said:

I think it's important to read personal accounts *by* people with that particular mental illness -- not just from their buddies/families/etc.

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What was said should be taken as good advice for accuracy.

I'm a paranoid-schizophrenic. I was diagnosed when I was 17 years old. I've been through the hallucinations, the voices, the beliefs in the craziest things (CIA communicating through dental fillings wouldn't be too far fetched during an episode).

I think that if you were going to portray someone with a mental illness, that you should not have to use those symptoms as parlor tricks or as special fx for your plot. I don't think it would be easy, and it would be more debilitating for the character suffering from it.

Another thing to keep in mind is that people who suffer from these type of illnesses might not be like your average citizen of America. I learned from my case manager (a very good one by the way) that a large majority of schizophrenics are not very successful in life. I'll take a guess at what I recall and it was over 50% of schizophrenics who are unsuccessful. They continue to abuse drugs and are poor. Suicide rates are very high among people with schizophrenia. The other smaller percentage (maybe as low as 5% but as high as 10%) are your regular working citizens who earn money and can support themselves. One of my early psychiatrists is a schizophrenic. Magazines for schizophrenics highlight other successful people suffering from this disease. But the truth is very disconcerting. I didn't want to believe it, but I accepted it. I may be one of those unsuccessful schizophrenics. At one point during my worst episode, my voices suggested that I kill myself. At the time, I was suffering through many months of panic attacks every day and night. I lived in fear during those days, worse than what any horror movie could put an actor or actress through. I couldn't sleep. It was hell.

Years ago, I was hospitalized often due to the schizophrenia, which was why I quit my job as a sound engineer. I literally lost my mind. I had many unpaid hospital bills. I couldn't remember even my name. I could hardly speak words and understand what people were saying amidst the chaos in my mind. That's how bad it was. To portray someone with symptoms like these would be very difficult. I can say with confidence that living with a mental illness is like living in a poor world. Literally. I'm on SSI and food stamps. I have a criminal record due to my untreated schizophrenia as a teenager. I saved up money to pay those hospital bills. If it weren't for my father, I would have to go into public housing, which is very difficult to get into in the state of Oregon. I'm what you consider a very fortunate case when it comes to getting the help I need. Others aren't so lucky. I've met other schizophrenics in my group meetings with my case manager. Seeing is truly believing.

My Dad has OCD and I have met another person with OCD in my group meetings at my case managers office. To me it doesn't seem like a very "awesome" mental illness to have.

I spoke about myself to give a better idea of what a real person with mental illness might seem like. I'm a border line between successful and non-successful. I have an opportunity to go back to school soon and hopefully get a certificate or degree in something so I can get a job. Life isn't easy. I might not pass the classes. I'm fortunate in that I can write as well as I can. I'm currently working with the Offices of Vocational Rehabilitation -- a state run place that helps people with disabilities get a job.

Portraying someone with a mental illness should be researched as much as you would a court room drama if you don't have any knowledge of it. Reading the paper work is one thing, but actually seeing these types of people can really give you a different perspective on the character you want to write.

If you have the time, I advise you to go onto Amazon.com and search for the novel Halfway House by Katherine Noel. An excerpt is available on there and I suggest reading it. I read it and I was shocked by the gritty reality of one of the characters. I haven't read the entire book though. In my opinion the writing is excellent.