- Joined
- Nov 19, 2010
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- USA... sometimes.
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- www.racheludin.com
If you *are* a mental health pro, please tell me up front, since this is the internet and I can't see your body language or degree to see if you know what you're talking about. =P Helps with misunderstandings.
I get these things are different, but for this character she seems to have both.
So the character...
She is an actress in Korea (who, historically aren't that friendly towards mental illness), about 23 years of age, average stature and weight. She had a severe episode of depression/anxiety when she was 18.
When she was 18, she was going to college, acting, had her parents divorce, and her stylist died in a car accident driving her home (She was the big emotional support in her life). She also got into a scandal when it was reported she broke up with her boyfriend while he still was in the army (a huge deal in Korea), and then it got worse when it leaked that the whole relationship was staged by her agency.
Since there was the internet, she got pummeled and attacked on several occasions (basically bullied).
She kinda has a habit of ignoring the stress building up. (Denial) And had to pretend while she was an actress the first time that she was not half, but full Korean (by her crappy agency, since there is somewhat of a stigma), which added stress since she couldn't talk about her parents' divorce in any detail to anyone except her stylist and manager (mostly to her stylist). She also tends to procrastinate on issues that would help her on her mental health. (Such as getting a new stylist, finding another psychologist, etc)
And so at 18, she had a kind of psychotic break. (I'm not sure if she attempted suicide, but I'm thinking she might have). This, of course led to a third scandal since the psychotic break was public. She was shipped off to the US for treatment, and for about 5 years, has been steadily recovering and finishing her degree.
She's returned to South Korea, since South Korea has changed a bit towards mental health and she still wants an acting career, despite the high amount of stress. (She tends to define herself through this outlet. She's been doing it since she was a child.)
She is currently on medication, but I'm not sure what.
Her manager is trying to keep her diet healthy and keep her exercising, per the last recommendation of the US Health professional. (It's not easy, since during shooting, many of the actors resort to convenience store food in Korea, which means ramyeon, rice filled balls, etc. And take out, which is mainly jjajangmyeon (not that much in vegetables) and jampon (seafood, salty soup) Also, Korea has a high culture of drinking socially to make connections and caffeine... which I understand she should stay away from...)
Ah, the depression tends to present with her not eating, or not sleeping well. Also procrastination, inaction, oversleeping, and eventually insomnia and not moving.
The anxiety tends to result in panic attacks, and presents with mostly performance and social expectations. (Which means the bullying made her anxiety much, much worse, since she tied a lot of her self image in her ability to work effectively).
Oh, not sure this is relevant, but she's tried a few times to go off her med on her own, without supervision...
As a mental health professional, what drugs would you recommend to her and what kind of treatment options would be the best? Which things would you want to try to address in her history first?
I get these things are different, but for this character she seems to have both.
So the character...
She is an actress in Korea (who, historically aren't that friendly towards mental illness), about 23 years of age, average stature and weight. She had a severe episode of depression/anxiety when she was 18.
When she was 18, she was going to college, acting, had her parents divorce, and her stylist died in a car accident driving her home (She was the big emotional support in her life). She also got into a scandal when it was reported she broke up with her boyfriend while he still was in the army (a huge deal in Korea), and then it got worse when it leaked that the whole relationship was staged by her agency.
Since there was the internet, she got pummeled and attacked on several occasions (basically bullied).
She kinda has a habit of ignoring the stress building up. (Denial) And had to pretend while she was an actress the first time that she was not half, but full Korean (by her crappy agency, since there is somewhat of a stigma), which added stress since she couldn't talk about her parents' divorce in any detail to anyone except her stylist and manager (mostly to her stylist). She also tends to procrastinate on issues that would help her on her mental health. (Such as getting a new stylist, finding another psychologist, etc)
And so at 18, she had a kind of psychotic break. (I'm not sure if she attempted suicide, but I'm thinking she might have). This, of course led to a third scandal since the psychotic break was public. She was shipped off to the US for treatment, and for about 5 years, has been steadily recovering and finishing her degree.
She's returned to South Korea, since South Korea has changed a bit towards mental health and she still wants an acting career, despite the high amount of stress. (She tends to define herself through this outlet. She's been doing it since she was a child.)
She is currently on medication, but I'm not sure what.
Her manager is trying to keep her diet healthy and keep her exercising, per the last recommendation of the US Health professional. (It's not easy, since during shooting, many of the actors resort to convenience store food in Korea, which means ramyeon, rice filled balls, etc. And take out, which is mainly jjajangmyeon (not that much in vegetables) and jampon (seafood, salty soup) Also, Korea has a high culture of drinking socially to make connections and caffeine... which I understand she should stay away from...)
Ah, the depression tends to present with her not eating, or not sleeping well. Also procrastination, inaction, oversleeping, and eventually insomnia and not moving.
The anxiety tends to result in panic attacks, and presents with mostly performance and social expectations. (Which means the bullying made her anxiety much, much worse, since she tied a lot of her self image in her ability to work effectively).
Oh, not sure this is relevant, but she's tried a few times to go off her med on her own, without supervision...
As a mental health professional, what drugs would you recommend to her and what kind of treatment options would be the best? Which things would you want to try to address in her history first?
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