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Writing the Mentally Ill in Roleplay

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Writing the Mentally Ill in Roleplay

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Rulke on Thu Mar 17, 2016 12:43 pm

As many of you know Roleplay is the efforts of more than one person usually portraying one character, simple enough. Well there is an issue if the character is mentally ill for instance they are skitzophrenic and see someone not there, but it is not clear, how do you handle it? Handling or writing mentally ill characters well is a challenge too, you don't want to succumb to parody when writing them. It is an incredibly difficult task, because even if one person can write it well responding to that one person can be difficult. Writing the mentally ill though popular with Edgy types who love those Gary-Sue or Mary-Sue type psychopaths say the words but don't understand it. Even a psychopath does not always kill, it is difficult conumdrum and I am curious how others handle mentally ill people in your roleplay or even roleplaying one.
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yet still they donโ€™t respect us.

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Re: Writing the Mentally Ill in Roleplay

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby Kurokiku on Fri Mar 18, 2016 2:34 am

For me, the answer is simple: research. If you want to write a character who has a mental illness, make sure you understand it as well as you can: symptoms, how it correlates with early life events if at all (to write a responsible character history), variances in presentation, treatments, side-effects of treatments where applicable, and so on. This applies, I think, even if it happens to be a mental illness one has some experience with. Correctly writing a character who has one can be done, and to great effect, but itโ€™s much, much easier to do it poorly.

Then again, thatโ€™s true of writing most anything.
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Re: Writing the Mentally Ill in Roleplay

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby cl.love on Tue Oct 11, 2016 2:16 pm

I agree with Kurokiku: research is key. I recommend looking through different illnesses that fit what you're trying to achieve with your character, choose one that fits best, and then look up everything you can on said illness. Medical websites that originate from hospitals or health care centers are probably the best thing to go to, since you're more likely to get genuine information rather than just opinions. It would also help to look up testimonies - articles/interviews where someone who has said illness is explaining how it affects their daily life.

Your character's history should reflect how the illness has impacted your characters ability to learn, socialize, and perform everyday activities. For example, one of my characters has Asperger's Syndrome, which affects one's ability to socialize and communicate with other people. He's very awkward - stutters often when he speaks, has a hard time controlling his volume, and doesn't do well with meeting new people. Your character's personality traits should also reflect your character's illness, for example, if they have Schizophrenia, maybe they tend to go on long rants or talk to themselves for long periods of time. If they're mentally challenged, perhaps they trust others too easily or don't catch on to regularly used non-verbal cues.

Once you've gotten the hang of what your character's illness is and how it affects them as a person, its pretty easy to write for them. Just be careful to avoid stereotypes, they can make your character too generic, and can cause offense.
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