Is there no way out of the mind?
Gender:Female
Age: 25
Nicknames:Claude
Occupation: Pianist
Sexuality:Heterosexual
Nationality:American
Years Spent at St. Dymphna's:3
Mental Disorder(s):Manic Depression/Bi-Polar Disorder
Room Number: Female; Room
Height:5’7”
Weight:125lbs
Build:Tall, thin, delicate but not a weakling.
Hair Color:Blonde
Eye Color:Green
Scars?:Numerous, small and unremarkable
Written Appearance Description: Claudia stands at a slightly above average height of 5’7” and weighs in at 125lbs, having lost weight since her arrival at the institution. She tends to have a straight posture, but will often hug her long legs and arms close to her as if for protection. Her mid-length dirty blonde hair is slightly wavy and is often flying around her pale, oval face. Her eyes are a light green and give her a quizzical look, which can also seem quite shattered and frail at times. Though when she smiles it transforms her whole countenance, brightening her face and showing what a truly attractive girl she was before the grips of her illness.
Skills:
+Piano prodigy– Has studied the piano since the age of five and spent most of her school years at a conservatory.
+Inherently Kind – Although her disorder sometimes causes her to be a bit on the callous side occasionally, Claude is a generally nice, decent person. She tries to extend to people the same common courtesy that she hopes to be treated with.
+Sense of Humour – While it is a bit on the dark side, Claudia uses her understated, subtle, witty sense of humour to get her through the mind numbing days in the asylum.
+Open-minded – The twenty-five year old is extremely open to other views and mindsets, finding them to be interesting, especially if they oppose hers. She never bristles or takes offense, just considers.
+Hiding – Claude has always shown a penchant for running and hiding away, especially if the pressure is too much to take. At St. Dymphna’s it’s a little harder seeing as she always under supervision, but has found various little hidey holes to take refuge in since she arrived over a year ago.
Quirks:
+Is an avid fan of symmetry. Will go out of her way to improve upon something’s symmetry, be it a picture, knick-knacks or medical equipment.
+Tends to play the Question game without letting anyone know. Which means she answers every question with a question and if she doesn’t she’s lost the game. It is very frustrating for anyone who tries to engage her in any serious sort of conversation; this means it’s usually reserved for the staff.
+Redesigns her plain, state-issue dress with whatever she can find from the art room. Glitter, paint, glue, shells. Nothing is safe; this is something that usually happens during a manic episode.
Likes:
+Music
+Fashion
+Alcohol
+Night Clubs
+Tea and a book.
+Rainy afternoons
+Being clear-headed
+Intelligence
+People who don’t live in denial
+Tuinal
+Black Beauties
+Smoking
Dislikes:
+Being bored
+Being treated like a crazy person
+Losing control
+Being sober
+Bright Lights
+Loud Noises
+Questions
+Medications prescribed to her.
+Plainness
+Naiveté
Fears:
Losing her talent and creativity due to medication and the stifling environment of the institute. – Being committed so long that she forgets who she was to begin with – Having a lobotomy. – Never leading a normal life, whatever normal was.
Written Personality Description:
Claudia is a bit of a mystery, she’s never one to over share or make situations about herself. She’s much more apt to ask questions and to learn more about you than the other way around. Protective and guarded is how one might describe her when first meeting Claudia, but that was really the only way to be in a place like St. Dymphna’s. To be an open book would mean you could be hurt, and not even staff members could be trusted. They were human after all and if you asked Claude some of them would fit in quite nicely as patients.
Though a bit particular, Claudia is never mean or nasty. At least not most of the time, she’ll occasionally go out of her way to make someone feel better, or to make them feel more at ease usually when it comes to the younger, sadder cases. She can be quite funny, absurd and irreverent with quite a dark sense of humour. For her nothing is taboo and she has often paid the price for it.
Suffering from bi-polar disorder meant that she went through a roller coaster of emotional cycles on a regular occasion, especially since she didn’t have a fondness for taking her meds. This led to her being wildly manic; not sleeping for days, harming herself, dressing flamboyantly, being much more impulsive, drinking and abusing pills which made it all worse. These cycles would last for a few days or weeks and then she’d be okay or she’d dip into a depression that could last just as long or longer. During these times she tends to keep to herself, indulges in drinking and drug abuse, suicidal thoughts and a general feeling of hopelessness.
Love Interests: Only if mentioned in a premade character's bio.
Brief History:
Claudia was born and raised in Manhattan, the only child of wealthy parents who were so busy with their own lives that they virtually ignored their daughter. She was raised primarily by nannies and maids and sent away to school before she was seven years old. Before then she'd been playing the piano and even her Father realized that Claudia had a gift that should be nurtured. Finally feeling a bit of pride for the daughter who should have been a son, he enrolled his daughter in an expensive conservatory where she spent the next twelve years of her life, only returning home during summer and holidays.
When Claudia would return home she was often met only by her parents' staff, her family deciding that they vastly preferred to travel than to see their daughter every few months. Claude had only ever known a solitary, lonely life so it didn't seem strange for her to be on her own most of the time and as she became a teenager she began to feel even more alienated and alone. It was after she graduated and returned to an apartment paid for by her father that she began to break out of her shell. She was eighteen, talented and beautiful armed with nothing but her own naivete.
Claudia didn't quite live up to her father's expectations of a great concert pianist, because even at this time Claudia began showing signs of instability. There were times when she was chronically late or didn't bother showing up, other times when she was so hyper active and frantic that she could barely contain herself. She took to giving piano lessons to children or whoever could afford to pay her and this was how she met her first and only boyfriend. He found her charming and innocent and she thought he was handsome and sweet, their love affair was passionate and her parents distinctly disapproved. After her father used his massive amount of resources to get rid of the young man in her life, Claudia had a minor breakdown. Refusing to eat, bathe or leave her apartment which frightened her parents beyond belief. The last thing they wanted to hear was how their daughter was going to throw herself off a bridge or out of a window.
Growing more and more dramatic and her illness becoming more pronounced, Claudia found out she was pregnant much to the disgrace of her family. She had found something to live for finally but instead of her family being happy she'd broken free of her depression they were ashamed and sent her away to a home for unwed mother's where Claudia's child would be taken from her at birth to be adopted by a nice, young couple and to never stain her or her family's reputation. After spending three months at the home Claudia gave birth to a perfect, healthy son that she was able to see once before he was whisked away. It was then that Claude broke with sanity.
She'd returned home and once again began her cycles of mania and depression although they had become more pronounced. She barely slept, rarely ate and often hurt herself. After she tried to commit suicide by slitting her wrists her parents had finally had enough and sent her to St. Dymphna's where hopefully they fix their once bright and beautiful daughter.