DISCUSSION: Writing Mentally Ill Characters

[Juliko]

I do have one other tip to offer about writing about people with mental illnesses: Don't treat them like they're children or babies or man-children who constantly throw tantrums 24/7. Just because someone is diagnosed with something like Autism or Down Syndrome or something of the like, doesn't mean they're so brain damaged that they act like children all their life unless their cases are extremely severe, and the majority of them aren't. You'd be surprised at how many fiction books starring autistic characters always portray them as feeble-minded children with no concepts of anything who constantly throw tantrums over the slightest thing all the time and we're supposed to think, "Oh! Raising an autistic child must be soooo hard on the poor parents! They're such a burden, aren't they?" Yawn. That stereotype needs to die. This might apply to other disorders, mental or physical, too.

I advocate being unashamedly indulgent where fanfic is concerned. Friends of mine have got really into an MLP/Fallout crossover of all things. You're not writing professionally for a broad market, right? You're writing for yourself and people who're into the same niche shit you are. That's a good thing. You can be creatively free. And hey, if you're self conscious about it, no pressure. It's up to you when and how you approach your project.

Seriously, I cannot echo this statement any harder. Fan fics exist so people can explore things that the show or book itself never went into, and that's the beauty of it. You can write super grimdark and edgy stories for light hearted shows for kids, or fluffy, comedic, lighthearted fics for serious media like Shin Megami Tensei, Bayonetta, Grand Theft Auto, Fallout, NieR, and so on. The possibilities are endless!

 

[Ereshkigal]

One thing I have been wondering about is the idea of mixing real disorders with ones invented for the setting.

For example, my fiction treats really strong psychic powers as a form of disorder in how it affects people. This has effects, in that some of them need to constantly wear psychic inhibitors just to function. Others suffer some loss of development as they either learn to cope or find methods to dampen down their powers. This tends to leave the most powerful ones, the Araki-tier psychics, prone to exaggerated levels of panic over relatively-minor things, due in part to an impaired ability to properly judge the impact of choices resulting from the necessary line of separation between them and the rest of society.

So imagine how much worse it would be dealing with someone with depression who has enough telepathic power to cause everyone around them to feel the depression they feel, making it so that the depression-induced viewpoint that they make everyone around them miserable is backed by their psychic powers making that quite literal. Or if having a panic attack over whether or not they turned off the stove causes a panicked riot of everyone in a shopping mall.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

I assume they read Fallout: Equestria? I've heard of it, but I'm not old enough to read it, and even if I was, I wouldn't have the patience to read something over a million words long.

That's the one. I'm just not interested, high word count or not, but my friend enjoyed it thoroughly, I believe.

I do have one other tip to offer about writing about people with mental illnesses: Don't treat them like they're children

I hate "mental age" rhetoric. Adults with severe learning disabilities aren't children, they're adults with severe learning disabilities. People have a tendency to infantilise and disrespect anyone whose communication or social prestige is inhibited.

Oh! Raising an autistic child must be soooo hard on the poor parents! They're such a burden, aren't they?

*gags* Autism Speaks is a goddamn hate group.

Seriously, I cannot echo this statement any harder.

Ey, thanks. Appreciate it.

mixing real disorders with ones invented for the setting.

I'd caution you about that. As I said earlier in this thread:

5. Be aware that mental illness isn't a fantasy element, it's a host of medical conditions that are as mundane and vexing as physical ailments. Don't treat it like a superpower or a magic curse or whatever.

It sounds like your intent is to write characters who happen to be psychic and also to separately have mental health conditions, and about the interaction between those circumstances. On its face, that's fine. Nevertheless, the "mentally ill person is a liability to everyone around them" trope is present here, which I resent. Things that would soften this include mentally healthy psychics being a liability, mentally ill characters who are not psychics, and positive relationships in this character's life so that they're not a representation of, essentially, a mentally ill reader's worst nightmare.

Additionally, I recommend you frame the presentation so as not to tie into the "mental illness is supernatural" trope. One way to achieve this is to stress early on that the causes of the two conditions are distinct, using a real-world diagnosis for the anxiety or depression.

 

[Ereshkigal]

I'd caution you about that. As I said earlier in this thread:

It sounds like your intent is to write characters who happen to be psychic and also to separately have mental health conditions, and about the interaction between those circumstances. On its face, that's fine. Nevertheless, the "mentally ill person is a liability to everyone around them" trope is present here, which I resent. Things that would soften this include mentally healthy psychics being a liability, mentally ill characters who are not psychics, and positive relationships in this character's life so that they're not a representation of, essentially, a mentally ill reader's worst nightmare.

Additionally, I recommend you frame the presentation so as not to tie into the "mental illness is supernatural" trope. One way to achieve this is to stress early on that the causes of the two conditions are distinct, using a real-world diagnosis for the anxiety or depression.

I have the psychic powers themselves acting as a primary impairment when they are strong enough (the Araki-tier psychics). Some of the characters who suffer as a result have nothing wrong with them except that they're psychic. Being an Araki-tier empath, for example, requires extremely-expensive specialized materials in construction and highly-specialized facilities to even function without being overwhelmed by emotions; the one in the story isn't seen much in public as a result.

Psychic powers are not treated as supernatural; while Arceus, Giratina, Dialga, and the like are viewed as gods the psychics strong enough to warp reality are known as being perfectly mortal and their powers not only being capable of being measured, but even somewhat controlled and contained by human technology (lack of full control and containment is more a case of material limits than limitation in understanding). Psychic inhibitors exist, and there have been technological replications of psychic powers (teleporters, for example). I know this means they would need pretty accurate mathematical models of how psychic powers interact with the rest of the laws of physics, so I assumed that psychic powers would be treated as just another part of the laws of physics from the start and not really seen as anything unusual for most people in the same way electricity isn't; all they've done is add another category to the long list of known human limits and another category to the "humans can excel at this" list.

And people do show up with mental disorders who are not psychic. PTSD is pretty common among Trainers, and it's mentioned at one point that most of the older Trainers have some form of major mental disorder as a result of spending long times, often years, out in the wilderness entirely alone and the dangers they've faced. There's a number of good reasons why the entire way trainers are treated changed since Red first started his journey, and this is one of them.

Also, I will admit that liability is meant to be more on the psychic powers, not on the mental disabilities. In-story, a number of people with mental disorders, including pretty serious ones, hold highly-valued positions or are valued for their contributions to society. The Heal Ball is mentioned as having been developed by someone with depression and a very unusual case of dissociative personality disorder. And most older trainers, despite their various mental disorders, do as fine as they would otherwise with society in general.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

It sounds like you have this in hand, then, @Ereshkigal.

Hmm, it occurs to me that for all my input here, I haven't mentioned my own work.

My novel features socially isolated, neurotic characters working to maintain the secrecy of extraterrestrial life. They are typically struggling loners when recruited, and they often develop anxiety or depression as a result of having to inhabit a separate consensus reality to the public. The secrecy and loneliness causes many of them to develop maladaptive coping mechanisms, such as becoming a workaholic, or relying on various vices, or just straight up being extremely eccentric or an asshole or whatever.

Different Eyes... Oof, well. There'll be some characters along who "happen to have" mental health concerns. Morphs, though? Not to put too fine a point on it or anything, but almost all morphs are necessarily a mental health concern. I don't like the trope where every superperson of scientific creation has to have PTSD or whatever, but many morph candidates are traumatised before the process, or struggle with the consequences in any case. After all, they inhabit new bodies and possess categorically more sophisticated mental faculties, and they live in a controlled environment in which they have very little power or understanding.

As for my own mental health, readers may recall I said I had:

mental health stuff that I'm Really Good at handling

Well, it's wintertime now! And SAD is absolutely hammering me as it always does. Fortunately, I'm putting up the best fight against it of my life so far. I'm winning. To anyone reading this who has struggles with depression or anxiety: you can overcome a great deal more than you might expect. I don't believe this stuff ever really goes away, but you can grow stronger than it. Best of luck.

 

[Juliko]

Well, it's wintertime now! And SAD is absolutely hammering me as it always does. Fortunately, I'm putting up the best fight against it of my life so far. I'm winning. To anyone reading this who has struggles with depression or anxiety: you can overcome a great deal more than you might expect. I don't believe this stuff ever really goes away, but you can grow stronger than it. Best of luck.

*hugs* Great job! What does SAD stand for, if you don't mind me asking? Or did you just capitalize the word sad?

 

[Nitro Indigo]

@Juliko I think it stands for Situational Anxiety Disorder.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Seasonal Affective Disorder, I believe, a type of depressive disorder

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

What does SAD stand for, if you don't mind me asking? Or did you just capitalize the word sad?

I don't mind at all. As Beth says, it's Seasonal Affective Disorder. Basically there's a goblin who lives in my brain and he comes out at winter to steal all my serotonin. I keep him at bay with UV lamps, vitamin D supplements, and what not.

Situational Anxiety Disorder

Nope, although I do get anxious.

 

[Juliko]

Oooh, I didn't know that was a thing. I'll have to do some research on it! Thanks!

 

[Snuggle Tier List]

I recently released a poem (shameless plug) documenting my involuntary commitment to an inpatient unit due to mental health issues, so I feel a little obligated to post something regarding mental health in fan fiction. While I'm not a mental health practitioner myself, I have spent over a decade in proximity to the field getting opinions from doctors, nurse, clinicians, and quacks. I also have a relative with a Bachelor's in Psychiatry, whom I have a close relationship with. While I'm not "an expert", I feel qualified enough to know who the experts are and what they have to say. So, without further adieu:


1. What makes a person "mentally ill"?

I'm an American, so let's gear this towards America. The American Psychiatric Association, or APA, defines mental illness as such:

Mental Illness refers collectively to all diagnosable mental disorders — health conditions involving:

• Significant changes in thinking, emotion and/or behavior
• Distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities

Note the second bulletpoint. If you're writing a fic in the Pokemon universe, and one of your characters is "mentally ill", yet they are able to competently function in social, work, and with family, then they are likely not mentally ill by the APA's definition. And the APA's definition matters, because they are also the custodians of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, AKA the DSM, AKA "the big book of diagnoses". The DSM is currently on its fifth revision, AKA the DSM-5. The DSM-5 itself undergoes minor revisions from time to time; you can see a list here, under "Updated Disorders".

Side note: there's been some controversy surrounding the DSM-5. Concerns I've seen include a relatively opaque development cycle and a greater share of contributing doctors with ties to the pharmaceutical industry. I will not be mentioning this further due to skirting on the edge of political flame bait, but I should mention these controversies have kept the DSM-4 in use. For instance, at a social services agency of which I am a patient, they specifically require a DSM-4 diagnosis as one of their justifications for treatment; the DSM-5 don't cut it. Sorry I can't link to sources, but I'm getting uncomfortably close to home; if you're interested in the subject, I recommend you research this yourself.

So what does this all mean? The very definition of mental illness is likely different in the Pokemon world, if the concept exists at all. For instance, someone in the real world that qualifies as mentally ill may find the Pokemon world just doesn't have the triggers that would cause:

• Distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities

For instance, a person in the real world who would be diagnosed with an anxiety or depressive disorder might find Pokemon culture therapeutic. They might slot into Pokemon world society much better than our own, to the point where their way of thinking isn't technically a mental illness. It might even be the source of their accomplishments!

But then there's that first bulletpoint:

• Significant changes in thinking, emotion and/or behavior

In other words, if someone is "special" (uughh) enough, they might qualify as mentally ill even if they are otherwise productive citizens of Pokemon society. For instance, some forms of Autism Spectrum Disorder may persist even if the person in question is living a perfectly fulfilling life as a competent Pokemon trainer.

Yeah, this stuff is blurry, even in the real world. On the other hand...


2. How does someone get a mental illness diagnosis?

...the APA helpfully has a slew of tests in .PDF form for free download from their website. These tests are designed to be given by a licensed practitioner (typically a specially trained psychiatrist) and can serve as helpful aids for diagnosing your characters, as they give definitive point scores that can be used to narrow down a diagnosis. In the real world, never do this, people are more complicated than self-reported test scores, but they can help you hone in on what diagnosis your "crazy" character has, if any.

My personal experience getting diagnosed in the real world has been...complicated. Generally, you need a referral from a qualified medical profession to even request testing, not to mention paperwork, wait lists, paperwork, paperwork, paperwork...uughh. In addition, testing that is "out of date" (AKA performed too long ago) may not serve as proof of diagnosis by some institutions. For instance, if you were diagnosed under an outdated version of the DSM, your diagnosis might not even exist anymore. All of this combined means I personally can't tell you what exactly my diagnosis is, because I don't know either. Hooray, bureaucracy!

But this is fan fiction! How someone in the Pokemon universe might get diagnosed with a mental illness isn't established (quick, someone tweet Satoshi Tajiri!), but considering how much better their healthcare system is overall, I'd imagine it'd be a much smoother process. Pokemon Centers may have their staff trained in basic psychiatry and psychology (two VERY different things, which we will be getting into later). Or the general public's appreciation of science may make professional psychiatrists and psychologists (again, VERY different things) more common. They may even be clinically-recognized self-testing available online thanks to advances in psychiatry. Whatever way you choose, if you want your character to have a clinical diagnosis, then you might want to take a think. The real-life process doesn't make interesting reading. Have I mentioned the paperwork?


3. How is mental illness treated?

I'm going to be very broad here, as the best treatment is highly personalized and depends on the individual. When it comes to treatment, there are two fields of practice:

• Psychiatry, which is primarily concerned with diagnosis. And drugs. If you get prescription medication for your mental illness, you get it from a psychiatrist. Psychiatrists are licensed by the APA.
• Psychology, which is about laying you down on a couch and talking about your feelings. No drugs, though it's not uncommon for people to have both a psychiatrist for prescriptions and a psychologist for talk therapy. Psychologists are licensed by the American Psychological Association, AKA the...APA. Yeah, it gets confusing.

I'm extremely oversimplifying here, but from the patient's perspective this is mostly how it appears. Note that not everyone studied in the field of psychiatry/psychology is necessarily a doctor; for instance, clinicians at a mental hospital might have Bachelor's or Master's degrees relevant to the field.

Speaking of mental hospitals, let's talk about hospital services. Medical hospitals usually have some degree of mental health providers on staff. This usually takes the form of a Crisis Team, aka "ambulance for crazy people". These generally aren't part of emergency services (911) and can usually be reached by contacting their own phone number, though they may coordinate with emergency services if necessary. For instance, if a certain fan fic writer is having a panic attack and crisis is called, they may bring along police officers to physically hold me down and cuff me during transit to hospital, where a doctor will stick a needle up my butt to make me calm down. Not that this has ever happened. More than once. Not more than twice. Definitely not more than twice. Probably.

Of course, medical hospitals are ill-suited to long-term mental healthcare, which is where the mental hospital comes into play. Or not. Most people living with mental illnesses never require hospitalization, instead utilizing regular appointments with a psychiatrist and/or psychologist. But if more intensive care is needed, there are options:

• Day treatment programs are the least intensive form of hospitalization. Patients spend the day in a therapeutic environment at the hospital, then go home. They are often voluntary, meaning the patient can leave or even stop attending at any time. Note that not all day treatment programs come from mental hospitals, though most mental hospitals offer some form of day treatment.
• Inpatient units are the next step up. Patients sleep at the hospital and spend their entire day in treatment. Inpatient units take many forms, but if you're looking for the full-on padded cell experience...
• ...you'll want an involuntary commitment. This is usually the result of a doctor or court forcing a patient into an inpatient unit. I've been to a couple, they all have their own ways of doing things, some better than others. It's, uh, a touchy subject in the American healthcare system. I'll leave it at that.
• And then there's NGRI, or "not guilty by reason of insanity". Treatment is essentially the same as an involuntary commitment, but segregated from the hospital's other patients and with much greater security. In theory. In practice, well, uuuuhhhhh...look, I'm not prepared to give a speech about the American criminal justice system, okay? Just know NGRI means segregated treatment in a rigid, high-security environment. And that's all I'm going to say about it.

Side note: speaking of the stereotypical padded cell, my experience with pillow boxes has been more of a "time out room" than an actual cell. Patients usually sleep in dorms, as placing a bed in a padded cell creates a potential vector for self-harm. Seriously, security in inpatient units can be extremely strict. I've been to places where all plastic cutlery was confiscated after meals, including spoons. Yes, plastic spoons were considered weaponry and thus dangerous contraband. Don't heck with the spoons.

So you've written a mentally ill character and they need treatment. Problem is, they're on a Pokemon journey. If they've been prescribed any prescription medication, it's not unreasonable to assume they can pick up refills at Pokemon Centers, provided they show their trainer card. If they have a psychologist, they may be able to schedule appointments over the phone instead of in-person; I've personally had social workers check in via the phone if I'm, say, sick and contagious. Expect appointment policies to vary from doctor to doctor.

____


I've covered the bone-dry basics here, but it would be a disservice to consider this a complete guide to mental illness. Individual disorders, even individuals with the same disorders, may experience wildly different symptoms and require wildly different treatment. Autism Spectrum Disorder is a classic example, with high-functioning autistics potentially blending into society perfectly while low-functioning autistics may need constant, highly-visible care. Keyword is "may"; when it comes to treating (and writing about) mental illness, it's important to remember people are not their labels. Not only is it dehumanizing, it leads to less personalized, less effective care for their mental illness. And this isn't even considering the possibility of multiple diagnoses, something that is far more common in real life than in fiction. Depressive disorders are common in cases where the patient's treatment is stalling, as well as anxiety disorders in cases where treatment leaves the patient socially isolated and thus unable to develop social skills.

If you really want to write a mentally ill character, I can offer only this: do the research. Write what you know. Don't think you know what an autistic person is just because you've seen one played on TV. Read the APA's fact sheets on autism, find testimonials from those working with autistics, and (and this a big one) find accounts made by autistic people themselves. Just because someone has a diagnosis does not make them blind Zubats unable to communicate. If anything, it makes them experts. Because who better to describe what it's like to be you, than you?

____


Here's a fun brain teaser to end off on. Can Pokemon be mentally ill?

It's widely accepted that animals can be abused and subjected to psychological trauma. But what about other illnesses? Can a Pikachu have Schizoid Personality Disorder? Can a Charmander have Seasonal Depressive Disorder? Can a Dugtrio have Social Anxiety Disorder (oh, the irony)?

Just food for thought. Depending on how sapient your fic's Pokemon are, you might want to have a think if any individual Pokemon has:

• Significant changes in thinking, emotion and/or behavior
• Distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities

Hopefully I've cleared up the basics. If there's anyone out there with more expertise, feel free to chime in. If you need me, I have some paperwork to do.

____


EDIT: Changed "where is where“ to "which is where" because grammah

EDIT 2: Updated broken link

 

[Ereshkigal]

Note: Not every mental illness that exists in fanfiction has to exist in real life. Consider that they live in a world where a ghost possessing you is a very real possibility, and there's probably a couple of psychics in every town. You're going to need a couple of new categories and a whole slew of new diagnoses just to cover the possible effects of those. And that's not counting what can result from things like time travel, teleportation, going to another dimension...

There's a lot of stuff people can suffer in the Pokemon world that would drive the entire APA into a mental institution just trying to classify. And even in the Pokemon world, I can imagine there still will be afflictions so odd they do the diagnostic classification equivalent of going, "I can't even GUESS how to diagnose this."

An example? A person who, through psychic powers, shares their head with a complete mental copy of someone/something else.

 

[Juliko]

Here's a fun brain teaser to end off on. Can Pokemon be mentally ill?

It's widely accepted that animals can be abused and subjected to psychological trauma. But what about other illnesses? Can a Pikachu have Schizoid Personality Disorder? Can a Charmander have Seasonal Depressive Disorder? Can a Dugtrio have Social Anxiety Disorder (oh, the irony)?

In my story, I gave a red Gyarados signs of PTSD, though it's not named in-story because the trainers, who are all eleven-year-old kids, don't have knowledge of that stuff, and the Pokemon in question isn't formally diagnosed. But the Gyarados' trainer isn't able to handle her despite loving her with all her heart and has to send her to a mental health facility so she can receive professional help, something she herself can't provide.

 

[diamondpearl876]

@Snuggle Tier List Thanks for your thorough post and relating it to Pokémon fics specifically! I only really have one thing to add.

In other words, if someone is "special" (uughh) enough, they might qualify as mentally ill even if they are otherwise productive citizens of Pokemon society. For instance, some forms of Autism Spectrum Disorder may persist even if the person in question is living a perfectly fulfilling life as a competent Pokemon trainer.

There's a reason mental illness has so much stigma attached to it: it can be invisible. Mental illness can feel like a large and scary unknown, both to people with mental illnesses and people without them, because physical, observable symptoms and effects aren't always present to try to analyze and understand. When someone's got their friendships intact, has a stable career, what have you... denying a diagnosis based off of that dangerously skirts along the lines of trying to make a mental illness be a physical, observable illness.

To reciprocate on the personal experiences you shared, I can't count the amount of times people said they would've never guessed I have social anxiety or bipolar disorder because on the outside I appear on the outside to be high functioning. According to professionals, I am not, in fact, high functioning lol. So that comment alone is invalidating, as if they wouldn't believe me if I told them my experiences/emotions which stem from those disorders.

 

[canisaries]

In my world, mon have the capability to develop sapience if they're raised right during a crucial learning period, so in my case mon definitely can be mentally ill. Of course, lots of mental illnesses are (or are at least strongly theorized to be) the result of something being off about the brain, be it neurotransmitter imbalance or structural oddities. With a creature that doesn't have a human brain but some other lifeform's brain, their physiology will likely be different, and they may have different illnesses (and healthinesses!) relating to it. Hell, being civil or feral could be considered a condition by some in itself. However, alien psychologies are pretty deep into speculative territory and if an author doesn't want to account for that so that they can focus on something else in their world or characters, that's fine. (Totally not just covering my own ass.)

As for the systems for mental health treatment, I "wrote what I knew" in Hunter, Haunted and so based what was featured on what I knew of my own country's healthcare via experience and research. I plan on including more mental health treatment stuff in its planned sequel (working title: The Bringer), although it's going to get trickier as what I'm getting treatment for differs a lot from what the protagonist, Red, is getting treatment for.

Him being a shut-in, his problems don't really differ from what they would be in real life due to the Pokémon element. He does have odd causes contributing to them, but they're more general fantasy reasons (the Twitch, his ancient evil god) than reasons related to the Pokémon society's differences.

On a small additional note, there seems to be a lot of confusion on what the differences between psychologists, psychiatrists and therapists are in the general public, and even within people with experience of mental health issues. I think I've had reviewers mistakenly refer to my psychologist character, who is introduced as such, as both of the other professions. Hell, even I accidentally typed her as a psychiatrist at first in the previous sentence because the words just sound so damn alike. But a psychologist is who I was sent to see first, so it's who I sent Red to see first for the same reason - evaluation. Only I went there of my own free will and not because my brother pressured me to, and I didn't try to feign being normal so no one would catch onto my secret homicidal tendencies. Not that I, uh, have those. Those are his thing.

Finally, on the subject of the feared "padded room", I kind of played with that in Vivarium. Red wakes up in a small white room where the nurses on the other side of the wall treat him like an animal and give him horrifyingly painful shock therapy. I actually got a reply on another site that took issue with my portrayal of mental health and its treatment and how it was old-fashioned and ill-informed, but understood me when I explained that the intention was to showcase the protagonist living in his own fears and misconceptions of what society would do to him if it found out what he really is. And then I dabbed because I'd technically won an internet argument.

Anyway, I expect I'll have to do a bunch more research when I get around to writing that sequel, but currently I'm too occupied with my other projects.

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

@Snuggle Tier List Chiming in here mostly to say that I'm impressed with your recent post here, and that although it might only cover the basics, it is certainly a useful resource and interesting read.

Also to say that I would always caution against using the word "crazy" unless you really need to. It's the wrong thing to call someone, and I think it even feels retro when used by antagonistic characters, the same way "freak" was played out back in 2009.

 

[Snuggle Tier List]

@Snuggle Tier List Chiming in here mostly to say that I'm impressed with your recent post here, and that although it might only cover the basics, it is certainly a useful resource and interesting read.

Also to say that I would always caution against using the word "crazy" unless you really need to. It's the wrong thing to call someone, and I think it even feels retro when used by antagonistic characters, the same way "freak" was played out back in 2009.

I like being called crazy. But then, I'm crazy.

Seriously, maybe it's because I grew up with too many skateboarding games, but I've always taken "you're crazy, man" as a compliment, in a similar vein as Austin, TX likes calling itself weird. "Crazy awesome, dude!" "That was crazy, man!" And so on.

But that's not a universal opinion. Still, I fear stigmatizing the word "crazy" might be turning a compliment into an insult. I'd recommend establishing context before having a character use the word crazy; following up with a high-five, giving a thumbs-up, etc. Just to be on the safe side.

Oh, and thank everyone for your comments and support! I wish I could reply to you all, but I'm budgetting my time in the Written Word a little more tightly. And also, your avatars don't have cats. Real shame, that.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Note: Not every mental illness that exists in fanfiction has to exist in real life.

This reminds of the Warhammer 40K RPG line, which involved the possibility of characters developing mental illnesses. They were mostly far too silly to really have much story usage, but one interesting idea was a rule involving telepaths involuntarily picking up mental illnesses from other people. Looking at how psychic powers, or (Sigh) aura might interact with mental illness could be interesting

 

[unrepentantAuthor]

@Snuggle Tier List does my avatar not count as a cat?

Anyway, I hear you on the "you're crazy, man" thing. Context is important! Of course in the way you describe it, it has nothing to do with mental health, being on the same level as "look at this mad lad" memes. I was discussing it in the sense of its pejorative use.

 

[Snuggle Tier List]

@unrepentantAuthor Your avatar DOES have a cat. That's why you get a reply (and will live to see the new world, brother).

Oh, and, uh, general reply to no one in particular; I've seen some discussion about "fantasy" mental illnesses, and to me, some dude on the internet, that's a little...close to home. Just, if you're going to write a fantastic mental illness, be aware of the potential allegory you're making. It's not always an Everyone topic, if you're catching my drift.

Not that it can't be done. Just, be careful. Please. The new world won't arrive for at least a couple minutes probably, and until then people are going to have opinions. The wrong opinions. As in, not my opinions. About cats. I'm always right, because I'm me. It's true, because I'm always right. I am very good at logic.

I think I lost my train of thought. Nothing to see here, moving on!

EDIT: Fixed a tyop