HOW TO HAVE A PROPER CHARACTER WITH A MENTAL ILLNESS!

[Missunderstood]

GUIDE WHEN HAVING CHARACTERS WITH MENTAL ILLNESSES!
[Might be a sensitive topic, just an FYI]


WHAT IS A MENTAL ILLNESS?
​

A mental illness is something that disrupts mood or how a human is supposed to function- mentally. It can also affect behaviors, they are usually deemed as a hinderance.

WHAT ARE THE TYPES?​

• Clinical Depression.
• Anxiety Disorder.
• Bipolar Disorder.
• Dementia.
• ADHD.
• Schizophrenia.
• OCD.
• Autism.
• PTSD.

[There's probably a lot more that I didn't list out, but these are the most common types]

HOW SHOULD I TREAT IT WHEN ROLEPLAYING WITH IT?
​

DO NOT use it as some sort of quirk. Don't think of these as social advancements either, use it with care. Try your best to to be respectful with it due to the fact it can be incredibly insensitive if you represent it the completely wrong way such as having 0 knowledge on it. If you plan on having a character with any mental illness, make sure to rope play with it properly. Even if you don't normally seriousrp, please seriousrp when it comes with things like this.

HOW ARE THE WAYS I COULD ROPE PLAY WITH IT IF I CHOSE TO
​

• Make the symptoms subtle, rather than something that's in front of everyone's face [PLEASE RESEARCH ON THE SYMPTOMS OF IT INSTEAD OF JUST PROVIDING FALSE INFORMATION ON THE SYMPTOMS]
• Make your character have an intake on their illness... perhaps they'd view it as normal rather than accepting themselves as some sort of crazy person. Make how they view their world interesting and engaging.
• Make sure to add some habits that could be caused by it in your /mes

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO LISTEN TO SOME POINTS IN THE GUIDE IF YOU CHOSE TO DO SO?
​

Many, many, times have I seen stuff like depression used rather without care in this server. I don't mean to place shade on anyone but having multiple illnesses in your character won't make them any more developed or unique. The fact mental illnesses isn't something that needs to be applied for anymore doesn't mean that you shouldn't be insensitive or over excessive on it. Even so, making it some sort of joke won't make role play more fun for you.

WEBSITES THAT ARE USEFUL IN GAINING MORE KNOWLEDGE ON THEM

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases...pert-answers/clinical-depression/faq-20057770
https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/anxiety-disorders#1
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/schizophrenia/symptoms-causes/syc-20354443#:~:text=Schizophrenia is a serious mental,functioning, and can be disabling.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases...pulsive-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20354432
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases...-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU SEEM TO HAVE A RELATION TO SOME OF THE PROBLEMS YOUR CHARACTER ACTS ON?

Visit a psychiatrist. Don't self diagnose, while also not disregarding it either. Please seek professional help. If you don't feel like you're ready or you need someone to rant to, my discord is always open: wwish#4154.

SHOULD I FEEL AS IF I HAVE TO HAVE A MENTAL ILLNESS FOR MY CHARACTER?
No. Don't feel like that, you can have a perfectly mundane character yet they could still be interesting to other people while also being enjoyable to role play with.

VOCABULARY -[INPUT FROM @TechnoSchnauzer ]​

This part is mostly for people who want to roleplay characters with disorders and DON’T have any. It focuses on respectful vocabulary that is agreed upon by the majority of the mentally disabled. Person First Language < Disability First Language While it might seem respectful to refer to disabled people in a way that comes ‘person first’ (ex: Person on the Autism Spectrum) people who are disabled have generally decided we prefer Disabled First Language (ex: Autistic Person). Actively deciding to still use Person First Language is patronizing toward the disabled community. Needs > Functioning You’ve probably heard ‘High Functioning Autistic’ before; While high/low functioning continues to be the medical term, High Needs / Low Needs are the preferred terms as it gives a better view of the condition. ‘Suffering’ While some disorders are based around some level of suffering (Depression, Anxiety Disorders, OCD), and other disorders have a chance of causing suffering (Disorders causing Hallucinations, Untreated ADHD/ADD/Autism), having a mental disorder does not equal suffering. And when under treatment disorders like Depression and OCD can move from suffering to coping. With treatment, most suffering is removed from disorders.

NOTE: Research on it before role playing as it please!


​

 

[Toto]

u give me mental illness

 

[Missunderstood]

u give me mental illness

that is a lie

 

[Vibeey]

Holy hell, how do you manage to write so many damn guides?

Well, apart from that, I think it's a really good idea that you clarified certain things here, like for the quirks, research, as well as the OOC part with the self-diagnose. I've seen people do it in the past... not fun.
Awesome job you did there, keep it up!
(You have too much free time I'm jealous)

 

[Missunderstood]

Holy hell, how do you manage to write so many damn guides?

Well, apart from that, I think it's a really good idea that you clarified certain things here, like for the quirks, research, as well as the OOC part with the self-diagnose. I've seen people do it in the past... not fun.
Awesome job you did there, keep it up!
(You have too much free time I'm jealous)

thank youuu

free time? i dont think my outstanding homework agrees with that

 

[Vibeey]

free time? i dont think my outstanding homework agrees with that

I wish I could say I don't relate, honestly :/

 

[suneater]

Oh to add OCD to a character as a quirk. fck researching. Don't need that.

 

[Luca]

Uhh. Rope play?

 

[suneater]

Oh to add OCD to a character as a quirk. fck researching. Don't need that.

Just going to reply to this. Cause haha. But yeah, mental illnesses don’t always have to be subtle. Like OCD for example? Not subtle at all. In my case you’re literally just repeating the same thing over and over again, in which is a very out there thing to do. Mental illnesses in some cases are very bad, so they don’t always have to be shown subtly when role playing a character with them. You just have to decide how bad your characters case of whatever you’re giving them is, and then roleplay out how it would be displayed in their case.

 

[Missunderstood]

Just going to reply to this. Cause haha. But yeah, mental illnesses don’t always have to be subtle. Like OCD for example? Not subtle at all. In my case you’re literally just repeating the same thing over and over again, in which is a very out there thing to do. Mental illnesses in some cases are very bad, so they don’t always have to be shown subtly when role playing a character with them. You just have to decide how bad your characters case of whatever you’re giving them is, and then roleplay out how it would be displayed in their case.

yeahhh some r really obvious but if you plan on something smaller that's more obvious unless they take time to read the character's actions/ words though how severe it is is entirely on the player let's say you were doing a long action like

/me would walk in the door, before glancing through the room with a rather nervous gaze, going back and forth around 3 times if you were to carefully take care of the girls' actions before relaxing her shoulders and entering the room.\

this would be rather obvious while

/me would stare at her desk, shifting her pencil a few inches closer to her book, using the rim of her skirt to wipe the book before placing the book back on the table, adjusting it to align with the pencil

this is a little less obvious


Personally, I find it more fun when it requires someone else actually reading through your actions or behaviors to figure out what's wrong- however the case of severity you want on your character is on you, or how obvious it may be

 

[Missunderstood]

Uhh. Rope play?
View attachment 15683

rope play

 

[TechnoSchnauzer]

would it be okay if I added onto this with some first-hand advice as someone with disorders?
:0c

 

[Missunderstood]

would it be okay if I added onto this with some first-hand advice as someone with disorders?
:0c

feel free to head to my DMS, wwish#415

 

[Missunderstood]

VOCABULARY -[INPUT FROM @TechnoSchnauzer ]

This part is mostly for people who want to roleplay characters with disorders and DON’T have any. It focuses on respectful vocabulary that is agreed upon by the majority of the mentally disabled. Person First Language < Disability First Language While it might seem respectful to refer to disabled people in a way that comes ‘person first’ (ex: Person on the Autism Spectrum) people who are disabled have generally decided we prefer Disabled First Language (ex: Autistic Person). Actively deciding to still use Person First Language is patronizing toward the disabled community. Needs > Functioning You’ve probably heard ‘High Functioning Autistic’ before; While high/low functioning continues to be the medical term, High Needs / Low Needs are the preferred terms as it gives a better view of the condition. ‘Suffering’ While some disorders are based around some level of suffering (Depression, Anxiety Disorders, OCD), and other disorders have a chance of causing suffering (Disorders causing Hallucinations, Untreated ADHD/ADD/Autism), having a mental disorder does not equal suffering. And when under treatment disorders like Depression and OCD can move from suffering to coping. With treatment, most suffering is removed from disorders.

Added ^

 

[V_Is_Fruity101]

Me, personally, I'm going under an autism diagnosis and once I heard my friends go, "Oh yeah person's name has level 5 autism and another name has level 1 autism!" and honestly.. My brain was dying because that is NOT how stuff works anymore. Being, most likely, under the spectrum does affect playing slightly as I think of it sometimes as more of a, 'Oh this person can relate to their oc' type so it's not like they "know more" despite having said condition/disorder. I do believe you explained this perfectly!

 

[halfabraincell]

personally I really appreciate the way you wrote this guide!! <3 As someone with a mental illness that is not generally well understood and often stereotyped, i do feel like it it is extremely important that one does their research when giving a character any sort of mental illness. I have schizophrenia and it is actually so phenomenal how little most people know about the disorder, alot of times people assume schizophrenics are crazy or cant be normal, and its also frequently confused with DID. With proper medications and care, people with all sorts of mental illnesses can actually appear totally normal, you wouldnt even guess. :) this includes myself. I also know someone that is on the autism spectrum who learned to manage his symptoms in a way that he is now able to go about life with most people completely unaware of this, even without medication (though it is extremely important that if you need medication, you take it!! learned that the hard way. But alot with mental health its a case by case basis, and someones treatment plan should always be tailored to their individual needs <3). So i 100% vouch for a more subtle approach with roleplaying mental illness, if thats something you want to go for with your character. Of course its up to the individual on how they want to play their character, but it is always important to make sure you are being considerate and showing respect towards the mental illness you are representing if your character has one. <3 Anyway, enough of my ranting haha. Props to you if you read this whole thing. I just really go all out with writing comments sometimes, its crazy- though I personally think mental health is an important topic to spread awareness on, and even though I am no psychiatrist I like to share my experiences for the benefit of any people it may help along the way <3

tl;dr - schizo appreciates your courteous guide. also, take your meds kids.

 

[soratheonly]

This is beautiful, on behalf of all those who are often misunderstood or their conditions are misunderstood, this is extremely helpful to help reduce the number of characters that are depicted wrongly when given a mental illness. It's awesome, keep up the great work.

 

[gold fish]

I kind of wish i was good enough at roleplaying Tobis mental illness to write a guide :sob: even then it wouldnt feel right

 

[ErikFinster]

I am usually most comfortable with roleplaying afflictions that I have or had in my youth. I also roleplayed afflictions that I didn’t suffer from, but I usually invest quite some time researching when I do. I don’t expect others to invest that much effort into their roleplay, but I suggest them to do it, because it can be an enriching experience.

 

[Wrath ⛥]

also would suggest coming up or deciding in a different route to take with a character than DID. NOT ONLY is it extremely overused to an uncomfortable degree, but there is an abundance of unclear, unsure, fictional or outright fake information on it, making it very difficult to properly translate through roleplay effectively due to how rare the condition actually is within medical investigation. I’m not saying it should be off limits.. but it should be.. refrained from, i think .