Within the literary world, mental illness is hard enough to play off. Some people and authors manage to do this wonderfully, others manage to do it... Less so. In Roleplay, mental illness is extremely hard to do. I won't go into the general details as other people have done much better than I will be able to.
Instead, I'll cover some things I have personally dealt with. One of which is bringing multiple characters with Mental Illnesses into one Roleplay. Several aspects have to be brought into consideration here. One of which is, how likely is this to really happen? What are the chances of several people with Mental Illnesses with similar interests will end up in that kind of situation? Secondly, will it help the plot? It's one thing for someone with a nervous tick to join a Roleplay, it's another for someone to have multiple personalities.
It's perfectly fine for characters to have mental illnesses, but one question you have to ask yourself, as with many aspects of some characters, is why? Will this help them grow as a character? Some people want to make unique characters, ones that people will pay attention to. Unluckily, sometimes people decide that adding a mental illness is a possible way to make them unique.
I felt like I should make this thread because I've been in several Roleplays off this site where the entire cast of characters had a huge range of mental illnesses. Some characters were entirely based off of this aspect.
What about you? What are your views on this?
Instead, I'll cover some things I have personally dealt with. One of which is bringing multiple characters with Mental Illnesses into one Roleplay. Several aspects have to be brought into consideration here. One of which is, how likely is this to really happen? What are the chances of several people with Mental Illnesses with similar interests will end up in that kind of situation? Secondly, will it help the plot? It's one thing for someone with a nervous tick to join a Roleplay, it's another for someone to have multiple personalities.
It's perfectly fine for characters to have mental illnesses, but one question you have to ask yourself, as with many aspects of some characters, is why? Will this help them grow as a character? Some people want to make unique characters, ones that people will pay attention to. Unluckily, sometimes people decide that adding a mental illness is a possible way to make them unique.
I felt like I should make this thread because I've been in several Roleplays off this site where the entire cast of characters had a huge range of mental illnesses. Some characters were entirely based off of this aspect.
What about you? What are your views on this?
I wouldn't have a problem with this kind of thing if the RPers in question made an attempt to accurately deal with the effects of mental illness, but like you said, it's usually just a quirk. Unfortunately, a lot of authors either lack the maturity or the inclination to accurately portray these conditions, which makes me concerned that they don't actually understand what such conditions are like.
If RPers don't do their research, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Schizophrenia, Synesthesia, Autism, Depression, OCD, and other series conditions end up getting the "Hollywood Treatment."
I've only really done this once, when I had a character with deliberately induced DID, but it was essential to the plot and I did my best to show it off accurately, instead of treating it like a personality trait. I may not have succeeded, but trying it was a rewarding experience that helped me learn a bit more.
If RPers don't do their research, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Schizophrenia, Synesthesia, Autism, Depression, OCD, and other series conditions end up getting the "Hollywood Treatment."
I've only really done this once, when I had a character with deliberately induced DID, but it was essential to the plot and I did my best to show it off accurately, instead of treating it like a personality trait. I may not have succeeded, but trying it was a rewarding experience that helped me learn a bit more.
One of my characters, who has the power to see other's memories at their permission, as well as alter/remove/create new ones, suffers from mild PTSD, only because he remembers everything with precision. So when people ask him to remove stressful memories that they do not want to keep (Such as war, or nasty break up, or anything someone wouldn't want to remember) My character will remember it forever. So all those thoughts pour into him and if something reminds him of it, such as a smell, or a specific feeling, he'll get very anxious and get away from the situation. Because I am not PTSD, and I do not know exactly what it consists of that's why I call it mild, as it's just anxiety that hits him when he is reminded of bad memories.
He has this because it makes sense for him to, and his 'attacks' are only when it's needed in a plot, so it's quite convenient *Such as if I need a way to get him out of the situation*, but I do agree that in RPs the only reason for a mental disorder is to be useful to the plot.
I am not going to drag on a plot with him freaking out when it isn't needed.
However, His background is not done, and I have recorded major events with 'triggers' and it's only going to be tops 2 or 3, that he will react to. This does NOT capture PTSD very well, but I do believe with his 'gift' it would part of him as a character, not to be unique, or diferent, but because I full believe if he were real he WOULD have that disorder.
As far as others, again I don't mind if their character has one, but making things inconvenient (Like people that want to make it all about their character and illness) Irritate the hell out of me. Also they must capture it well, or make it for the most part nonexistent. The later, like I do with my Character with PTSD. I Will only use it if it will advance the plot in some way. Which is not how real people with PTSD works, but I don't want to drag on with nothing, either.
He has this because it makes sense for him to, and his 'attacks' are only when it's needed in a plot, so it's quite convenient *Such as if I need a way to get him out of the situation*, but I do agree that in RPs the only reason for a mental disorder is to be useful to the plot.
I am not going to drag on a plot with him freaking out when it isn't needed.
However, His background is not done, and I have recorded major events with 'triggers' and it's only going to be tops 2 or 3, that he will react to. This does NOT capture PTSD very well, but I do believe with his 'gift' it would part of him as a character, not to be unique, or diferent, but because I full believe if he were real he WOULD have that disorder.
As far as others, again I don't mind if their character has one, but making things inconvenient (Like people that want to make it all about their character and illness) Irritate the hell out of me. Also they must capture it well, or make it for the most part nonexistent. The later, like I do with my Character with PTSD. I Will only use it if it will advance the plot in some way. Which is not how real people with PTSD works, but I don't want to drag on with nothing, either.
That's interesting. I do think the issue doesn't lie so much with mental illnesses as it does with most aspects of a character overall. Many people don't know how to accurately roleplaying almost anything they haven't experienced themselves. It can be a personality trait, a mental illness, a profession, a language, a hobby, taking care of a pet, science and so forth. Even sexuality falls into this trap. (I've seen wayyyy too many pansexual characters who don't fit the pansexual label but are still labeled as such.)
In many cases, there simply is no amount of research anyone can do to portray it accurately. Do you know how much a hernia hurts and what it's like trying to live with one if you've never had it? You can read up about it for the next 6 months, get every description possible, be an expert on it - but until you've been hit with one, you will always lack that vital part of understanding that makes the concept whole. That's not trying to sound condescending or belittling. I'm using a hernia as an example because several years ago, I watched my dad collapse and be unable to do anything. I watched him take morphine and be stuck in bed for 6 weeks, unable to do anything. Yet it wasn't until I went down from the same condition a couple of months ago that I truly understood what my dad went through. The knowledge I had prior pales so terribly in comparison to the experience I had!
I had a character who baked bread and sugary goods as an occupation. I had no idea what I was doing when she went and baked her things. Now that I bake my own breads, I once again realize how doing it myself changes EVERYTHING about how I roleplay it.
In short, I won't berate anyone for getting things wrong if they never went through it themselves. It's tough as shit to portray it properly because it's impossible to hit the nail on the head, and even then methods and experience differ between individuals (my depression is not necessarily expressed the same way as someone else's). No one ring to rule them all here unfortunately. There is a difference between a blatant lack of effort and not getting it right though, and I do encourage people to get the basics right for the sake of their own enjoyment.
Then again, this is roleplay. So to answer the question: why not? We write about the most insane, impossible things all the time and try to string it together in a way that makes sense without having to be true to anything. If several people lump a bunch of characters with mental illnesses together and they're having fun, why should I care? Sure, it's not exactly logical or believable, but they have fun doing it and I have fun doing my own kind of RP. In most cases people will grow out of it because they realize something isn't working out and gain the experience to match things up better, and it's definitely a good idea to reach out and offer help if it's wanted, but I don't think it's a huge deal if it's not.
I mean, there are some people who roleplay characters with German accents and a part of me dies on the inside every time I see it happening because Germans don't speak English that like (English actors trying to speak English with a German accent speak like that). But other than it bothering me there's really no consequence to it. As long as Hollywood portrays things wrong (LIKE SOUND IN SPACE) people will continue to pick up on it and play it like that, until they get exposed to the real deal in one way or another.
In many cases, there simply is no amount of research anyone can do to portray it accurately. Do you know how much a hernia hurts and what it's like trying to live with one if you've never had it? You can read up about it for the next 6 months, get every description possible, be an expert on it - but until you've been hit with one, you will always lack that vital part of understanding that makes the concept whole. That's not trying to sound condescending or belittling. I'm using a hernia as an example because several years ago, I watched my dad collapse and be unable to do anything. I watched him take morphine and be stuck in bed for 6 weeks, unable to do anything. Yet it wasn't until I went down from the same condition a couple of months ago that I truly understood what my dad went through. The knowledge I had prior pales so terribly in comparison to the experience I had!
I had a character who baked bread and sugary goods as an occupation. I had no idea what I was doing when she went and baked her things. Now that I bake my own breads, I once again realize how doing it myself changes EVERYTHING about how I roleplay it.
In short, I won't berate anyone for getting things wrong if they never went through it themselves. It's tough as shit to portray it properly because it's impossible to hit the nail on the head, and even then methods and experience differ between individuals (my depression is not necessarily expressed the same way as someone else's). No one ring to rule them all here unfortunately. There is a difference between a blatant lack of effort and not getting it right though, and I do encourage people to get the basics right for the sake of their own enjoyment.
Then again, this is roleplay. So to answer the question: why not? We write about the most insane, impossible things all the time and try to string it together in a way that makes sense without having to be true to anything. If several people lump a bunch of characters with mental illnesses together and they're having fun, why should I care? Sure, it's not exactly logical or believable, but they have fun doing it and I have fun doing my own kind of RP. In most cases people will grow out of it because they realize something isn't working out and gain the experience to match things up better, and it's definitely a good idea to reach out and offer help if it's wanted, but I don't think it's a huge deal if it's not.
I mean, there are some people who roleplay characters with German accents and a part of me dies on the inside every time I see it happening because Germans don't speak English that like (English actors trying to speak English with a German accent speak like that). But other than it bothering me there's really no consequence to it. As long as Hollywood portrays things wrong (LIKE SOUND IN SPACE) people will continue to pick up on it and play it like that, until they get exposed to the real deal in one way or another.
Sanne wrote:
Many people don't know how to accurately roleplaying almost anything they haven't experienced themselves.
I agree with Sanne, it really has to do with a lack of experience or accurate depiction. You can research how it feels to have depression, but until you've had depression you can't truly understand it.
Sanne wrote:
I mean, there are some people who roleplay characters with German accents and a part of me dies on the inside every time I see it happening because Germans don't speak English that like (English actors trying to speak English with a German accent speak like that). But other than it bothering me there's really no consequence to it. As long as Hollywood portrays things wrong (LIKE SOUND IN SPACE) people will continue to pick up on it and play it like that, until they get exposed to the real deal in one way or another.
I understand this because I grew up in the South in America... when people who are /not/ Southern try to sound Southern it sounds bad and is unrealistic. I cringe when I see people playing Southern characters that are incredibly stereotypical and have exaggerated accents in every single word they say. It's not a depiction of reality, it's a distorted copy of someone's perspective on reality.
I want to quickly make a point on "how likely is this this" train here. One of the things that is repeated over and over in psychology courses is that just about everyone will suffer from some mental illness at some point in their lives, be it depression, anxiety or something worse. Just because it's not chronic doesn't mean it's not there to draw upon.
The second is writing accurately. I don't know about other people, but I'm certified froot loops. The top of the list being paranoid schizophrenia. If you asked me to write a character who was also a schizophrenic, I would stare at a blank screen for hours. I have literally no idea how to describe what goes on in my head. I've tried to describe it to friends/doctors and all that comes out is a jumble of words that sound angry. The best I can do is describe how scared it makes me feel.
I also can't see what I act like outside of my perspective. Do I look like a lunatic? Probably, but I don't know what it looks like. I just know that I'm scared as hell and no one else understands. Part of writing mental illness also comes from how to describe what other people see. When I'm depressed, do people see me as sad or do they see me as attention seeking? (I'd put my money on attention seeking, because that's what I assume everyone thinks of me because that's what I think it looks like from the inside perspective.)
Working with a mentally ill character needs more than one perspective I think. I can't make you sympathize with me if you see my perspective, I really can't, because if you saw me how I see myself, you'd hate me. Now if I could see how someone like Sanne saw me, I'd be like "shucks, how could I ever hate me?"
In order to play this character, I would need to be able to see both sides. That's why, even though I do suffer from a major mental illness, my characters who also suffer from it come off frooty loops and probably far, far too crazy to be believably.
Just my terrible two cents.
The second is writing accurately. I don't know about other people, but I'm certified froot loops. The top of the list being paranoid schizophrenia. If you asked me to write a character who was also a schizophrenic, I would stare at a blank screen for hours. I have literally no idea how to describe what goes on in my head. I've tried to describe it to friends/doctors and all that comes out is a jumble of words that sound angry. The best I can do is describe how scared it makes me feel.
I also can't see what I act like outside of my perspective. Do I look like a lunatic? Probably, but I don't know what it looks like. I just know that I'm scared as hell and no one else understands. Part of writing mental illness also comes from how to describe what other people see. When I'm depressed, do people see me as sad or do they see me as attention seeking? (I'd put my money on attention seeking, because that's what I assume everyone thinks of me because that's what I think it looks like from the inside perspective.)
Working with a mentally ill character needs more than one perspective I think. I can't make you sympathize with me if you see my perspective, I really can't, because if you saw me how I see myself, you'd hate me. Now if I could see how someone like Sanne saw me, I'd be like "shucks, how could I ever hate me?"
In order to play this character, I would need to be able to see both sides. That's why, even though I do suffer from a major mental illness, my characters who also suffer from it come off frooty loops and probably far, far too crazy to be believably.
Just my terrible two cents.
Cacophony wrote:
I want to quickly make a point on "how likely is this this" train here. One of the things that is repeated over and over in psychology courses is that just about everyone will suffer from some mental illness at some point in their lives, be it depression, anxiety or something worse. Just because it's not chronic doesn't mean it's not there to draw upon.
The second is writing accurately. I don't know about other people, but I'm certified froot loops. The top of the list being paranoid schizophrenia. If you asked me to write a character who was also a schizophrenic, I would stare at a blank screen for hours. I have literally no idea how to describe what goes on in my head. I've tried to describe it to friends/doctors and all that comes out is a jumble of words that sound angry. The best I can do is describe how scared it makes me feel.
I also can't see what I act like outside of my perspective. Do I look like a lunatic? Probably, but I don't know what it looks like. I just know that I'm scared as hell and no one else understands. Part of writing mental illness also comes from how to describe what other people see. When I'm depressed, do people see me as sad or do they see me as attention seeking? (I'd put my money on attention seeking, because that's what I assume everyone thinks of me because that's what I think it looks like from the inside perspective.)
Working with a mentally ill character needs more than one perspective I think. I can't make you sympathize with me if you see my perspective, I really can't, because if you saw me how I see myself, you'd hate me. Now if I could see how someone like Sanne saw me, I'd be like "shucks, how could I ever hate me?"
In order to play this character, I would need to be able to see both sides. That's why, even though I do suffer from a major mental illness, my characters who also suffer from it come off frooty loops and probably far, far too crazy to be believably.
Just my terrible two cents.
The second is writing accurately. I don't know about other people, but I'm certified froot loops. The top of the list being paranoid schizophrenia. If you asked me to write a character who was also a schizophrenic, I would stare at a blank screen for hours. I have literally no idea how to describe what goes on in my head. I've tried to describe it to friends/doctors and all that comes out is a jumble of words that sound angry. The best I can do is describe how scared it makes me feel.
I also can't see what I act like outside of my perspective. Do I look like a lunatic? Probably, but I don't know what it looks like. I just know that I'm scared as hell and no one else understands. Part of writing mental illness also comes from how to describe what other people see. When I'm depressed, do people see me as sad or do they see me as attention seeking? (I'd put my money on attention seeking, because that's what I assume everyone thinks of me because that's what I think it looks like from the inside perspective.)
Working with a mentally ill character needs more than one perspective I think. I can't make you sympathize with me if you see my perspective, I really can't, because if you saw me how I see myself, you'd hate me. Now if I could see how someone like Sanne saw me, I'd be like "shucks, how could I ever hate me?"
In order to play this character, I would need to be able to see both sides. That's why, even though I do suffer from a major mental illness, my characters who also suffer from it come off frooty loops and probably far, far too crazy to be believably.
Just my terrible two cents.
That's a very valid way to see this, and one I agree with.
On that note of it being common, you can often tell people are trying a touch too hard to be evil/dark/depressed/schizophrenic/whatever when they make everything about the character being about the condition. The thing with mental illnesses is that in most cases they don't show on the outside. Many people have learned to live with it and put up a front to appear normal. An evil character doesn't have to wear a cape and laugh maniacally to be evil, or be doing evil things all the time. Their evil is pronounced in the subtle actions they take, a specific way of thinking, choices they make. Mental conditions are like that too. I appear normal 95% of the time until I have an episode and turn into a completely different person. It's often triggered by specific events or long-term pressure of some sort.
Funnily enough, most of my friends have some condition or another. You're a super close friend of mine Caco, and we both have a lot of shit on our plates as far as conditions go. It never really comes up that often though, it's a side dish instead of the main course. Then I have numerous other friends, all whom I hang out with a lot, who have something that affects them thoroughly.
So I guess that people try too hard to put emphasis on the condition instead of the person they're playing, which tends to lead to what I perceive as shallow and poorly thought through characters in most cases. If you take away the mental condition, what is left? I'll still be Sanne, and I'll still have a whole personality and dreams and daily activities to do. I'm just better. With the characters who force the condition, if you take that away, you often end up with an unplayable hollow shell because the character IS the condition.
Does that make sense?
Yeah I agree with Sanne a lot here. I don't have a problem with a character having some mental condition so long as that's not all they are.
Lately I've been trying to avoid using mental conditions for portrayal purposes. Hell I can't even portray my owner personality disorder properly
I think it falls under that same issue Cacophany has. And in all honesty aside from having ADHD I never knew I had assburgers until my mom said my doctor thinks I have it.
I've also been trying to avoid using them to avoid offending anyone, which is part of the reason my character Jenny no longe rhas a mental disorder, but a mystical problem for her now.
Lately I've been trying to avoid using mental conditions for portrayal purposes. Hell I can't even portray my owner personality disorder properly
I think it falls under that same issue Cacophany has. And in all honesty aside from having ADHD I never knew I had assburgers until my mom said my doctor thinks I have it.I've also been trying to avoid using them to avoid offending anyone, which is part of the reason my character Jenny no longe rhas a mental disorder, but a mystical problem for her now.
Sketch444 wrote:
And in all honesty aside from having ADHD I never knew I had asburgers until my mom said my doctor thinks I have it.
... Really? I have asburgers... I'm not even kidding either. I was diagnosed when I was seven years old
it was quite obvious when I was younger :p it's not as much now.I talk to myself, I have a voice in my head called Kayla. We disagree on lots of things
but then again I'm probably just reasoning with myself...This is actually right. You might notice that a lot of my characters enjoy drawing in their profiles. This is true
I enjoy drawing in real life a lot of the time .
I'm a little confused. You mean Asperger syndrome, yes? That's a disorder placed in the autism spectrum. It sounds like you guys are labeling schizophrenia and aspergers as the same thing, hence my confusion!
So thats how it's spelled But yes I've known it was a form of autism. Hasn't been much of a problem for me
But yes I've known it was a form of autism. Hasn't been much of a problem for me
I tend not to outright state things about my characters in terms of mental illness on their profiles or in RP, because we're using modern conceptions, mental health is a shifting and changing concept, and most of my characters are medieval-fantasy or Victorian.
That said? Bialis here totally has PTSD. Which I've researched somewhat in that interest. Closely related to this is his phobia of fire. I DO have a phobia IRL which I draw off for his reactions, and what should and shouldn't affect him. And no I don't mean a reasonable fear or a slight squeamishness or whatever. I hear people saying "I have a phobia of dying alone!" and I'm like... nooo... you don't want to die alone. Not wanting an unpleasant thing does not a phobia make. Not being able to even interview for your kindergarten dream job because it's at an aquarium, an aquarium which makes you extremely uneasy when you're working at a completely separate place but it's in view like 500 yards away? That's a phobia.
That said? Bialis here totally has PTSD. Which I've researched somewhat in that interest. Closely related to this is his phobia of fire. I DO have a phobia IRL which I draw off for his reactions, and what should and shouldn't affect him. And no I don't mean a reasonable fear or a slight squeamishness or whatever. I hear people saying "I have a phobia of dying alone!" and I'm like... nooo... you don't want to die alone. Not wanting an unpleasant thing does not a phobia make. Not being able to even interview for your kindergarten dream job because it's at an aquarium, an aquarium which makes you extremely uneasy when you're working at a completely separate place but it's in view like 500 yards away? That's a phobia.
I was going to say a lot, but decided against it. Instead, I'll stick to:
So far as I can recall, I've never focused on a mental disorder or even intentionally involved a mental disorder in creating an RP character. Shades of disorders have popped up in some of my characters, though. For example, awhile back I was doing some research into sociopathy and realized that the traits I gave Gregor fit it perfectly. Trying to make sense of various odd decisions I've made has also left Nashyll with serious Bipolar Disorder, a form of social anxiety, and anger issues. But some of these things, I don't play as mental issues. For example, Nashyll wasn't dealing with brain chemistry so much as with very different primal impulses on the level of what makes prey hide and predators hunt, and pretty much just as different.
So far as I can recall, I've never focused on a mental disorder or even intentionally involved a mental disorder in creating an RP character. Shades of disorders have popped up in some of my characters, though. For example, awhile back I was doing some research into sociopathy and realized that the traits I gave Gregor fit it perfectly. Trying to make sense of various odd decisions I've made has also left Nashyll with serious Bipolar Disorder, a form of social anxiety, and anger issues. But some of these things, I don't play as mental issues. For example, Nashyll wasn't dealing with brain chemistry so much as with very different primal impulses on the level of what makes prey hide and predators hunt, and pretty much just as different.
Did you know that mental illnesses are not clear cut and can be a spectrum? I had a faint idea that they did on certain kinds of mental illnesses about say.. a little over a year ago. Nine months ago I found out that I have bipolar but not the classic bipo0lar 1 that everyone knows of. Not even the bipolar 2. Or even cyclothymia that people have a clue of. But a Not Otherwise Specified. Which means I suffer from bipolar symptoms but fly under the radar being just functional enough to not get the help that I needed. I would have never been diagnosed if it wasn't for urging of a an academic adviser. Even now I struggle to be taken seriously or believed when I say that i have it because I "don't have the symptoms."
That being said, Unless I was a doctor that specialized in Psychology (and even psychologists can get wrong diagnosis depending on what they specialize in) I won't be casting judgement on people who play characters with mental illnesses and don;t fit the bill. I have played characters with mental illnesses and to some degree almost all of them have something 'wrong' with them. It becomes a part of who they are, a marker of their past, something that determines the decisions that they make and so on. The only time it gets to be unfun to play them is that I often run into people who decided they want to "fix" them. Now if this involved long term rp of intense therapy or medication, I'd be all for it! But more often then not it devolved to "Just cheer up!" "Stop being paranoid!" or just sleeping with my character. And when that doesn't work, they gave up thinking I was just trying to be too drama-ish. And that really hurt. It really hurt when I tried to explain to them that these things take time and just dont magically go away. Or someone who has trust issues will not just bawl about their life story to someone they just met.
That being said, Unless I was a doctor that specialized in Psychology (and even psychologists can get wrong diagnosis depending on what they specialize in) I won't be casting judgement on people who play characters with mental illnesses and don;t fit the bill. I have played characters with mental illnesses and to some degree almost all of them have something 'wrong' with them. It becomes a part of who they are, a marker of their past, something that determines the decisions that they make and so on. The only time it gets to be unfun to play them is that I often run into people who decided they want to "fix" them. Now if this involved long term rp of intense therapy or medication, I'd be all for it! But more often then not it devolved to "Just cheer up!" "Stop being paranoid!" or just sleeping with my character. And when that doesn't work, they gave up thinking I was just trying to be too drama-ish. And that really hurt. It really hurt when I tried to explain to them that these things take time and just dont magically go away. Or someone who has trust issues will not just bawl about their life story to someone they just met.
Sanne wrote:
In many cases, there simply is no amount of research anyone can do to portray it accurately. Do you know how much a hernia hurts and what it's like trying to live with one if you've never had it? You can read up about it for the next 6 months, get every description possible, be an expert on it - but until you've been hit with one, you will always lack that vital part of understanding that makes the concept whole.
This!
Personally, I'm mildly autistic and it's extremely difficult for me to try and play neurotypical characters. So all of my characters are aliens/people with various kinds of autism/ quirky people without a defined mental illness. Margit here is an example of a more autistic character with some other 'disorders', but I've become reluctant to mention it on her profile page. Mostly because it may lead people who read it to expect her to react in certain ways based on the little they know about those conditions. It's a very wide spectrum, plus the characters can't be described by just the condition. From my experience, most people only notice something being off about me when I'm tired or upset, if they've known me for a long time or in unusual situations. I try to play my characters in a similar way.
As for a lot of mentally ill people meeting at once, I don't see that as particularly unrealistic. A lot of my friends are weird in one way or another, a huge number of my acquaintainces are on anti-depression meds.
Edited/Added:
I made a 'normal' character once, and I ended up being extremely focused on him being 'normal', because it's very difficult for me to grasp the thoughts, motivations, etc. of normal people. I wanted my character to be not a bit weird. I think he ended up being extraordinarily average and flat, with his defining characteristic being, well, 'being normal'.
So I'm thinking, maybe that might be how some of the players who focus on getting a mental illness right (or, alternatively, right according to the limited information they have about it) get over the top. Having no experience with it, they ask themselves, "what would a person with PTSD do here?" instead of "what would my character do here?", so the mental illness aspect gets too much attention, just like the normalcy of my only 'normal' character got too much of my attention, enough to kill the character's personality.
Margit Ingesson wrote:
Having no experience with it, they ask themselves, "what would a person with PTSD do here?" instead of "what would my character do here?", so the mental illness aspect gets too much attention, just like the normalcy of my only 'normal' character got too much of my attention, enough to kill the character's personality.
I think this can happen with any trait that the writer/player feels is "foreign" to his own. For example, the way that a man trying to do a woman's voice will burst out in an unearthly screech that no woman has ever used, outside of playing a pantomime witch. People get so hung up on the one trait that they forget they are creating a character, not a "type".
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