Fletcher
March 23rd, 2021, 03:25 PM
Hey all!
So I love roleplaying, and as some of you know I'm in college studying Psychology! I know writing and playing characters that have abnormalities like physical disabilities and mental illnesses can be interesting and serve for a more realistic character- but a lot of people often misrepresent these things in roleplay as they don't fully understand them!
I thought I'd make this thread to help anyone who wants to write more realistically mentally/physically ill characters, as well as LGBTQ+ characters, who are often equally as stigmatized. Please note that this is not me saying LGBTQ+ people are mentally ill lmao, I just didn't want to have to write a whole other post for one category of people.
These tips can be used with any character, it doesn’t matter if they’re a cat, human, or something else.
Preamble: Why should I care?
A lot of popular mental illnesses in characters (Schizophrenia being a popular one) are often stigmatized and in fiction portrayed as emotionally unstable monsters who talk to dead people. Schizophrenia varies wildly from annoying to flat out debilitating for some people.
Because of how a lot of schizophrenic characters are portrayed, people think Schizophrenia is some scary horrifying mental illness, and it makes people who DO have it alienated, it's hard for them to make friends because of how people see their illness.
I know a lot of people on this site are younger, and I'm not blaming you if you've written characters like this! I just want to spread information and make people aware of these kinds of things.
The biggest thing you need to remember, is that a character with a mental/physical illness should be considered character, and not just a walking case of depression.
In other words: If you have a character with depression, they don't need to be severely depressed, low on motivation, and numb every single roleplay- people that have depression are allowed to feel happy, angry, fearful, loving, any other emotion a normal character does!
Mental illness should be part of a greater identity- not the whole personality.
THE BIG DON'T: Do NOT portray a bipolar character as 'just having mood swings'.
There’s not a lot that comes with depression that I need to cover, as it’s one of the most common disorders. It’s important to know the clinical definition, though, being a low mood of numbness and sadness that lasts for at least two weeks.
Grieving or feeling generally crummy is not depression, and depression is a lot more than just feeling sad, it’s a complete lack of wanting to do anything, while it varies in severity, people might gain or lose weight, stay in bed for weeks at a time, stop bathing, stop talking to people, and more.
Depression is not pretty, and it’s important to recognize that beyond a character just being sad- they probably have messy rooms, greasy hair, unkempt beds, you name it.
Bipolar disorder is a bit more complicated, and a lot more stigmatized. The common stereotype is that Bipolar people will be happy one minute, and suddenly be pissy and upset the next- that is not how it works in the slightest.
Bipolar I is characterized by very large dispositions in behavior, known as manic episodes and depressive episodes. The episodes generally last between a few hours to up to a week.
Depressive episodes share a lot of symptoms of depression, and are often very severe.
Manic episodes are interesting, a manic person may start talking fast, seem extraordinarily energized, be more productive, and seem very confident.
While that sounds cool or even desirable, it can also be a very big problem. Manic episodes can result in irritability, frustration, risky behavior, and outbursts that could harm them and others.
Obviously, the severity varies for Bipolar I as well. One manic episode could have you hospitalized after thinking you could jump from one building after another, and another episode could just have you be slightly more hyper than usual.
THE BIG DON'T: Do NOT portray an anxious character as helpless.
Anxiety is one that people often miscategorize- your character does not have anxiety if they’re nervous, or shy. As with any mental disorder, what makes it a disorder is if the anxiety interferes substantially with someone’s life.
If a character stutters and is uncomfortable white speaking in front of a group, that alone wouldn’t classify as anxiety, as the character was able to complete the presentation!
Now, if the character faints, or vomits, or runs away either before or during the presentation because of their anxiety, it’s a problem.
People need at least a little bit of anxiety to function normally, but in order for it to become a problem, or disorder, it has to impact the person to the point where they can’t function normally and it causes them an amount of distress.
THE BIG DON'T: While you shouldn’t demonize any personality disorder, try not to excuse the character either. If a Borderline character does something mean, don’t use their illness as an excuse. If a Dependent character relapses into an unhealthy state of relying on another person, don’t portray it as cute or romantic.
I’ll only cover BPD and DPD, as those are the ones I have the most experience with, and if I covered every personality disorder I’d be writing for days!
Say that you had to lie to your best friend- you tell them that you can’t make it to your birthday party, because your grandma is ill, when in reality, you’re just too exhausted to go.
Your friend might be hurt by the lie, but also understand that you weren’t lying to hurt them, and that you also were having a very tough time.
If your friend had BPD, or, Borderline Personality Disorder, they might, instead, think that you’re lying to them just to hurt them, that you don’t care about them or like them.
People with BPD have a hard time finding a middle ground on things, they generally take a black or white stance on most issues, this thing is either good, or bad.
Borderline personality disorder is a disorder characterized by an incredibly unstable mood and powerful emotions. People with BPD may become quickly attached to others, possessive over their friends, and might not take well to compromise.
Sometimes, for no good discernable reason, they may snap at their best friend in a moment of high emotion, they might say awful things and then find themselves a few hours later begging for them back.
BPD is a serious illness, people with the disorder often struggle to keep any kind of relationship, and the ones they do have might be incredibly unhealthy. They may attach strongly to a single person, becoming so attached, in fact, that the person they’re idolizing is held on a pedestal. If that person made a wrong move, or wanted the person with BPD to give them space, the person with BPD might actually break down.
While with therapy and medication, people with BPD are able to control their thoughts and actions better, it’s not the case for everyone.
Dependent personality disorder, on the other hand, is a disorder where the affected person often feels helpless or unable to take care of themselves.
They have a strong anxiety that they’re not good enough, and that they need very close relationships to keep themselves stable. This is obviously a terribly sad disorder, as a lot of people with DPD will end up getting attached to people that treat them badly.
People with DPD might ask others to make important decisions for them. They might be incredibly opposed to moving out or living alone, and, as mentioned, they often can find themselves in very unhealthy relationships.
Other actions could be, the person won’t voice their opinions. They might be very easy to convince and persuade, they’re often considered ‘door mats’, and they tend to have incredibly low self esteem.
People with DPD can become incredibly volatile if a relationship that they value is threatened or cut off, they might impulsively seek new relationships, and lower their standards just to find someone to distract them from their anxiety.
When writing a character with DPD, it’s very important that you do not portray their behaviors as sweet or cute, especially if they end up in a relationship of any kind with a character who treats them badly
THE BIG DON'T: Do NOT portray a character who suffers from psychosis as someone who "sees" or "talks to" dead people. Do not describe a schizophrenic character as ‘insane’.
Psychosis, or, hallucinations, are not just exclusive to schizophrenia. Did you know that severe enough depression can cause hallucinations, as well?
It’s important to note that schizophrenics cannot ‘communicate’ with their hallucinations. Sure, they can look at a hallucination, acknowledge it’s there, and talk to it, but it’d be like talking to a brick wall, or a pile of dirt, it doesn’t have a mind of its own, it won’t have a conversation with them.
Not only that, but Schizophrenia includes a lot more than simply hallucinating- only 70% of schizophrenia hallucinate at all!, there are subtypes of Schizophrenia that hone in on exactly what the person is dealing with.
For example, if someone was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia, they might be CONVINCED that their neighbor is trying to kill them- even if their neighbor is a sweet person who would really never hurt anyone.
If someone is diagnosed with Schizophrenia with Delusions of Grandeur, they will think they are such an incredible person, that others simply can’t compare! They might think that they should be owed jobs at well known companies, or that a celebrity should fall in love with them, despite the fact that they might be just average.
Delusions, which are something people with Schizophrenia may experience, are very strong beliefs that do not line up with reality, like someone being so convinced that they can fly that they jump off of the roof of their house.
They may also have issues with processing information, and especially, speaking. If under a very severe case of untreated schizophrenia, a person might speak in ‘word salad’, which is a disjointed sentence of words that make no discernable sense.
“[NON SCHIZOPHRENIC] “I like your jacket. I’ve always wanted one. In fact I’m going to buy one at the jacket store.”
[SCHIZOPHRENIC REPLYING] “Jean jacket racket. Cow stole mine. Run away poster. Sing with a rock. Go go throw. Sing with a ring. Moon shines alarm.”
The whole point of the conversation is lost. Your lost but I’m not. I’m talking about the jacket. You’d proably walk away and talk about your experience.”
https://www.quora.com/What-is-an-example-of-word-salad-during-regular-conversation-with-someone-else-or-in-a-group Is the source of the above example!
As a last point- people with Schizophrenia often don’t develop it until late adolescence and early adulthood. It is EXTREMELY rare to see a child with Schizophrenia.
THE BIG DON'T: Do NOT portray characters with DID to have a 'good side' and a 'bad side', and that they can 'flip between them in an instant'.
Additionally, I referred to it as Multiple Personality Disorder, as that is what a lot of people know it as. Please note that the proper term is Dissociative Identity Disorder.
Dissociative Identity Disorder is a rare disorder in which people react to trauma by seemingly creating different ‘identities’, known as alters.
It is extremely important to note that Dissociative Identity Disorder is EXCLUSIVELY formed through childhood trauma, there is no other way for the disorder to manifest itself.
People with DID typically refer to their alters collectively as a ‘system’, and typically have around 7-15 per body, though some have reported to have over 100.
Alters can be different ages and different genders from each other! You can have a host that has a young male body, and have an Alter that presents themself as an elderly woman.
An alter can be out, or ‘fronting’, for anywhere from less than an hour to days or even weeks. It’s sometimes hard to tell when one alter fronts and another one switches out, unless they have very different distinct ways of acting, many people won’t be able to tell at all!
THE BIG DON'T: Do NOT confuse Sociopathy and Psychopathy, and do not, by default, make your character a murderer.
A very simple, but not all encompassing explanation between the difference would be this:
A Sociopath would not mind pushing you out of the way to get to their destination quicker, but a psychopath would enjoy pushing you.
Sociopaths, despite popular belief, can feel things like guilt, shame, and regret. They can do a bad thing, and recognize ‘I did a bad’. They cannot, however, feel empathy for others. They might feel embarrassed for being caught doing a crime, but they won’t feel bad if they end up getting someone fired because they stole something.
Sociopaths are often smart, charismatic, and manipulative. They don’t tend to do things that don’t benefit them, and their relationships are usually vapid and superficial.
While Sociopaths disregard others feelings, Psychopaths are active dangers that will often end up incarcerated due to their extremely aggressive and relentless behavior. Sociopaths can often hold jobs and even relationships- though they hold little emotional meaning. Psychopaths will actively hurt and destroy relationships and job opportunities.
THE BIG DON'T: Do NOT claim your character 'is OCD' just because they like things neat or in order.
I know someone with OCD, he did not hug me for over five years because of his disorder. OCD is a disorder that causes anxiety, frustration, or fear towards something (obsessions), to the point where they will cause issues in their lives trying to ‘fix’ it (compulsions).
Some people will check if they locked the door a few times. Someone with OCD might spend a half an hour testing the door to make sure it’s locked, and then worry about it obsessively after they leave.
They might alter their diets out of fear of a certain ingredient messing with their body, they might clean their room for hours and get violent if someone disrupts what they’re doing. They might wash their hands until they hurt because they’re afraid they’re not truly clean.
THE BIG DON'T: Don’t portray your character with Autism, ADHD, etc, as ‘stupid’ or a savant- being that they have very low intelligence except for in one certain field or activity, in which they seem to be a genius. NEVER use ‘ooo butterflies!!!’ jokes with people that have ADHD
Autism is a very very broad term for a collective of symptoms. Autism could be as simple as having trouble talking to people, and so severe that someone with it will not and cannot speak to anyone.
I can’t tell you much about how to write a character with Autism, as there is a lot to cover, and a lot of different severities!
However, the most common expressions of the disorder would be things like a character fidgeting, being very hands on and tactile, becoming obsessed with a certain show/movie/media to the point where they might not talk about anything else, or being unable to gauge social cues.
While watching a movie, a person with very mild or absent symptoms of autism will keep their gaze fixed on the actor’s face, following their eyes, and watching their expressions. An autistic person, on the other hand, may watch the movie differently. They might look at what the actors are wearing, or listen to the words they’re saying but not HOW they’re saying them.
This is why a lot of people online use tone tags, you may have seen them around. Things like /s /j or /srs. They help people with autism and other social learning disorders easily tell between people who are making a joke and people who are being serious, as it’s even harder for them to tell online.
If you say ‘I hate you’, even as a joke, someone with autism might not be able to understand that.
I hate you /s
Or
I hate you /srs
Have VERY different meanings, and sometimes autistic people aren’t able to tell the difference. They might become anxious that they’ve done something wrong, because they can’t tell if you said ‘i hate you’ as a joke or not.
In physical conversation, it’s easier, but not perfect. Autistic people might not be able to discern annoyed and happy tones, if someone is being mean to your character, but is only showing it through tone of voice and body language, there’s a chance that the Autistic character won’t recognize or process the aggression.
ADHD is often lumped in with Autism, and while the two do share similarities, it’s not the same disorder by any means.
With Autism, ADHD has nothing to do with intelligence. People with ADHD can be as intelligent as anyone else!
People with ADHD have trouble focusing, which is the understatement of the century. They might be working on a school project, when their partner brings up a subject they both like. The person with ADHD might try to multitask and work on the project while talking, but may find their mind drifting off.
Even the slightest distraction can send someone with ADHD on a completely different track, to the point where they could accidentally spend an hour talking about something, just because someone else made a joke or funny noise.
Someone with ADHD may make a bunch of plans at once, and then either forget or become overwhelmed when they had scheduled things.
Another problem people with ADHD face is executive dysfunction, or, struggling with things like planning, time management, and problem solving.
THE BIG DON'T: Do NOT say that an LGBT+ person or character has ‘changed’ or ‘become’ their current sexuality or gender. You do not choose your sexuality or gender, you don’t suddenly ‘become’ trans, or gay, or bi. A character can go through many different struggles before figuring out who they are and what they like, and they may switch labels, but they are not ‘becoming’ anything.
Also- No, being LGBTQ isn’t a mental illness, obviously! But a lot of characters who are LGBTQ+ are portrayed in not so nice ways that make people uncomfortable.
Try to avoid stereotypes, don’t make a lesbian whose entire character is being a buff tomboy, don’t make a gay man who’s just extremely feminine and meek.
It’s totally fine to make gay, feminine men, and masculine lesbians, but don’t make that their entire personality. Straight male characters can be just as feminine as anyone else!
And NEVER make a character whose entire personality is based around their sexuality. It can be a huge part of their identity, but being gay/lesbian/bi+ is not a personality trait.
If you’re making a transgender character- for the love of god, don’t misgender them or use their dead name. This seems really simple but I have seen people out there who refer to their transwoman characters as ‘he/him’ and it’s gross.
Try not to give your character an extremely abusive backstory, it associates being transgender with abuse and dysfunction, and can also be extremely triggering and offensive for some people who went through things like that.
Don’t make being transgender seem fun, or quirky. A lot of the time, being transgender- especially when being stigmatized, can be a hellish experience of discrimination.
But that being said- not every trans person hates themselves. Not every trans person hates their body! Imagine you had two flavors of ice cream, generally speaking, even if you don't hate one of the flavors, you'd prefer one over the other. A transgender person does not have to hate their body to desire a body that fits their identity more.
As for nonbinary characters-
Just because your character is NB doesn’t mean they have to be androgynous! Nonbinary people can use he/him, she/her, or whatever pronouns make them comfortable. They don’t have to be completely neutral- they’re allowed to have feminine and masculine traits.
Please. Do not ever romanticize mental illness. Never give your character a mental illness because you think it's cool, or edgy, or fun. Do not give a character a mental illness if your only experience with said mental illness is through media or secondhand experiences. Do research.
And a final note: Do not gatekeep these disorders. Symptoms can express themselves very differently, and as long as someone is portraying a disorder accurately and respectfully, they should be taken no less seriously than anyone else.
I only covered disorders that I feel confident in covering- if you have any questions or suggestions to add to this post, please reply below! I’d be more than happy to explain things or make edits as needed :)
So I love roleplaying, and as some of you know I'm in college studying Psychology! I know writing and playing characters that have abnormalities like physical disabilities and mental illnesses can be interesting and serve for a more realistic character- but a lot of people often misrepresent these things in roleplay as they don't fully understand them!
I thought I'd make this thread to help anyone who wants to write more realistically mentally/physically ill characters, as well as LGBTQ+ characters, who are often equally as stigmatized. Please note that this is not me saying LGBTQ+ people are mentally ill lmao, I just didn't want to have to write a whole other post for one category of people.
These tips can be used with any character, it doesn’t matter if they’re a cat, human, or something else.
Preamble: Why should I care?
A lot of popular mental illnesses in characters (Schizophrenia being a popular one) are often stigmatized and in fiction portrayed as emotionally unstable monsters who talk to dead people. Schizophrenia varies wildly from annoying to flat out debilitating for some people.
Because of how a lot of schizophrenic characters are portrayed, people think Schizophrenia is some scary horrifying mental illness, and it makes people who DO have it alienated, it's hard for them to make friends because of how people see their illness.
I know a lot of people on this site are younger, and I'm not blaming you if you've written characters like this! I just want to spread information and make people aware of these kinds of things.
The biggest thing you need to remember, is that a character with a mental/physical illness should be considered character, and not just a walking case of depression.
In other words: If you have a character with depression, they don't need to be severely depressed, low on motivation, and numb every single roleplay- people that have depression are allowed to feel happy, angry, fearful, loving, any other emotion a normal character does!
Mental illness should be part of a greater identity- not the whole personality.
THE BIG DON'T: Do NOT portray a bipolar character as 'just having mood swings'.
There’s not a lot that comes with depression that I need to cover, as it’s one of the most common disorders. It’s important to know the clinical definition, though, being a low mood of numbness and sadness that lasts for at least two weeks.
Grieving or feeling generally crummy is not depression, and depression is a lot more than just feeling sad, it’s a complete lack of wanting to do anything, while it varies in severity, people might gain or lose weight, stay in bed for weeks at a time, stop bathing, stop talking to people, and more.
Depression is not pretty, and it’s important to recognize that beyond a character just being sad- they probably have messy rooms, greasy hair, unkempt beds, you name it.
Bipolar disorder is a bit more complicated, and a lot more stigmatized. The common stereotype is that Bipolar people will be happy one minute, and suddenly be pissy and upset the next- that is not how it works in the slightest.
Bipolar I is characterized by very large dispositions in behavior, known as manic episodes and depressive episodes. The episodes generally last between a few hours to up to a week.
Depressive episodes share a lot of symptoms of depression, and are often very severe.
Manic episodes are interesting, a manic person may start talking fast, seem extraordinarily energized, be more productive, and seem very confident.
While that sounds cool or even desirable, it can also be a very big problem. Manic episodes can result in irritability, frustration, risky behavior, and outbursts that could harm them and others.
Obviously, the severity varies for Bipolar I as well. One manic episode could have you hospitalized after thinking you could jump from one building after another, and another episode could just have you be slightly more hyper than usual.
THE BIG DON'T: Do NOT portray an anxious character as helpless.
Anxiety is one that people often miscategorize- your character does not have anxiety if they’re nervous, or shy. As with any mental disorder, what makes it a disorder is if the anxiety interferes substantially with someone’s life.
If a character stutters and is uncomfortable white speaking in front of a group, that alone wouldn’t classify as anxiety, as the character was able to complete the presentation!
Now, if the character faints, or vomits, or runs away either before or during the presentation because of their anxiety, it’s a problem.
People need at least a little bit of anxiety to function normally, but in order for it to become a problem, or disorder, it has to impact the person to the point where they can’t function normally and it causes them an amount of distress.
THE BIG DON'T: While you shouldn’t demonize any personality disorder, try not to excuse the character either. If a Borderline character does something mean, don’t use their illness as an excuse. If a Dependent character relapses into an unhealthy state of relying on another person, don’t portray it as cute or romantic.
I’ll only cover BPD and DPD, as those are the ones I have the most experience with, and if I covered every personality disorder I’d be writing for days!
Say that you had to lie to your best friend- you tell them that you can’t make it to your birthday party, because your grandma is ill, when in reality, you’re just too exhausted to go.
Your friend might be hurt by the lie, but also understand that you weren’t lying to hurt them, and that you also were having a very tough time.
If your friend had BPD, or, Borderline Personality Disorder, they might, instead, think that you’re lying to them just to hurt them, that you don’t care about them or like them.
People with BPD have a hard time finding a middle ground on things, they generally take a black or white stance on most issues, this thing is either good, or bad.
Borderline personality disorder is a disorder characterized by an incredibly unstable mood and powerful emotions. People with BPD may become quickly attached to others, possessive over their friends, and might not take well to compromise.
Sometimes, for no good discernable reason, they may snap at their best friend in a moment of high emotion, they might say awful things and then find themselves a few hours later begging for them back.
BPD is a serious illness, people with the disorder often struggle to keep any kind of relationship, and the ones they do have might be incredibly unhealthy. They may attach strongly to a single person, becoming so attached, in fact, that the person they’re idolizing is held on a pedestal. If that person made a wrong move, or wanted the person with BPD to give them space, the person with BPD might actually break down.
While with therapy and medication, people with BPD are able to control their thoughts and actions better, it’s not the case for everyone.
Dependent personality disorder, on the other hand, is a disorder where the affected person often feels helpless or unable to take care of themselves.
They have a strong anxiety that they’re not good enough, and that they need very close relationships to keep themselves stable. This is obviously a terribly sad disorder, as a lot of people with DPD will end up getting attached to people that treat them badly.
People with DPD might ask others to make important decisions for them. They might be incredibly opposed to moving out or living alone, and, as mentioned, they often can find themselves in very unhealthy relationships.
Other actions could be, the person won’t voice their opinions. They might be very easy to convince and persuade, they’re often considered ‘door mats’, and they tend to have incredibly low self esteem.
People with DPD can become incredibly volatile if a relationship that they value is threatened or cut off, they might impulsively seek new relationships, and lower their standards just to find someone to distract them from their anxiety.
When writing a character with DPD, it’s very important that you do not portray their behaviors as sweet or cute, especially if they end up in a relationship of any kind with a character who treats them badly
THE BIG DON'T: Do NOT portray a character who suffers from psychosis as someone who "sees" or "talks to" dead people. Do not describe a schizophrenic character as ‘insane’.
Psychosis, or, hallucinations, are not just exclusive to schizophrenia. Did you know that severe enough depression can cause hallucinations, as well?
It’s important to note that schizophrenics cannot ‘communicate’ with their hallucinations. Sure, they can look at a hallucination, acknowledge it’s there, and talk to it, but it’d be like talking to a brick wall, or a pile of dirt, it doesn’t have a mind of its own, it won’t have a conversation with them.
Not only that, but Schizophrenia includes a lot more than simply hallucinating- only 70% of schizophrenia hallucinate at all!, there are subtypes of Schizophrenia that hone in on exactly what the person is dealing with.
For example, if someone was diagnosed with Paranoid Schizophrenia, they might be CONVINCED that their neighbor is trying to kill them- even if their neighbor is a sweet person who would really never hurt anyone.
If someone is diagnosed with Schizophrenia with Delusions of Grandeur, they will think they are such an incredible person, that others simply can’t compare! They might think that they should be owed jobs at well known companies, or that a celebrity should fall in love with them, despite the fact that they might be just average.
Delusions, which are something people with Schizophrenia may experience, are very strong beliefs that do not line up with reality, like someone being so convinced that they can fly that they jump off of the roof of their house.
They may also have issues with processing information, and especially, speaking. If under a very severe case of untreated schizophrenia, a person might speak in ‘word salad’, which is a disjointed sentence of words that make no discernable sense.
“[NON SCHIZOPHRENIC] “I like your jacket. I’ve always wanted one. In fact I’m going to buy one at the jacket store.”
[SCHIZOPHRENIC REPLYING] “Jean jacket racket. Cow stole mine. Run away poster. Sing with a rock. Go go throw. Sing with a ring. Moon shines alarm.”
The whole point of the conversation is lost. Your lost but I’m not. I’m talking about the jacket. You’d proably walk away and talk about your experience.”
https://www.quora.com/What-is-an-example-of-word-salad-during-regular-conversation-with-someone-else-or-in-a-group Is the source of the above example!
As a last point- people with Schizophrenia often don’t develop it until late adolescence and early adulthood. It is EXTREMELY rare to see a child with Schizophrenia.
THE BIG DON'T: Do NOT portray characters with DID to have a 'good side' and a 'bad side', and that they can 'flip between them in an instant'.
Additionally, I referred to it as Multiple Personality Disorder, as that is what a lot of people know it as. Please note that the proper term is Dissociative Identity Disorder.
Dissociative Identity Disorder is a rare disorder in which people react to trauma by seemingly creating different ‘identities’, known as alters.
It is extremely important to note that Dissociative Identity Disorder is EXCLUSIVELY formed through childhood trauma, there is no other way for the disorder to manifest itself.
People with DID typically refer to their alters collectively as a ‘system’, and typically have around 7-15 per body, though some have reported to have over 100.
Alters can be different ages and different genders from each other! You can have a host that has a young male body, and have an Alter that presents themself as an elderly woman.
An alter can be out, or ‘fronting’, for anywhere from less than an hour to days or even weeks. It’s sometimes hard to tell when one alter fronts and another one switches out, unless they have very different distinct ways of acting, many people won’t be able to tell at all!
THE BIG DON'T: Do NOT confuse Sociopathy and Psychopathy, and do not, by default, make your character a murderer.
A very simple, but not all encompassing explanation between the difference would be this:
A Sociopath would not mind pushing you out of the way to get to their destination quicker, but a psychopath would enjoy pushing you.
Sociopaths, despite popular belief, can feel things like guilt, shame, and regret. They can do a bad thing, and recognize ‘I did a bad’. They cannot, however, feel empathy for others. They might feel embarrassed for being caught doing a crime, but they won’t feel bad if they end up getting someone fired because they stole something.
Sociopaths are often smart, charismatic, and manipulative. They don’t tend to do things that don’t benefit them, and their relationships are usually vapid and superficial.
While Sociopaths disregard others feelings, Psychopaths are active dangers that will often end up incarcerated due to their extremely aggressive and relentless behavior. Sociopaths can often hold jobs and even relationships- though they hold little emotional meaning. Psychopaths will actively hurt and destroy relationships and job opportunities.
THE BIG DON'T: Do NOT claim your character 'is OCD' just because they like things neat or in order.
I know someone with OCD, he did not hug me for over five years because of his disorder. OCD is a disorder that causes anxiety, frustration, or fear towards something (obsessions), to the point where they will cause issues in their lives trying to ‘fix’ it (compulsions).
Some people will check if they locked the door a few times. Someone with OCD might spend a half an hour testing the door to make sure it’s locked, and then worry about it obsessively after they leave.
They might alter their diets out of fear of a certain ingredient messing with their body, they might clean their room for hours and get violent if someone disrupts what they’re doing. They might wash their hands until they hurt because they’re afraid they’re not truly clean.
THE BIG DON'T: Don’t portray your character with Autism, ADHD, etc, as ‘stupid’ or a savant- being that they have very low intelligence except for in one certain field or activity, in which they seem to be a genius. NEVER use ‘ooo butterflies!!!’ jokes with people that have ADHD
Autism is a very very broad term for a collective of symptoms. Autism could be as simple as having trouble talking to people, and so severe that someone with it will not and cannot speak to anyone.
I can’t tell you much about how to write a character with Autism, as there is a lot to cover, and a lot of different severities!
However, the most common expressions of the disorder would be things like a character fidgeting, being very hands on and tactile, becoming obsessed with a certain show/movie/media to the point where they might not talk about anything else, or being unable to gauge social cues.
While watching a movie, a person with very mild or absent symptoms of autism will keep their gaze fixed on the actor’s face, following their eyes, and watching their expressions. An autistic person, on the other hand, may watch the movie differently. They might look at what the actors are wearing, or listen to the words they’re saying but not HOW they’re saying them.
This is why a lot of people online use tone tags, you may have seen them around. Things like /s /j or /srs. They help people with autism and other social learning disorders easily tell between people who are making a joke and people who are being serious, as it’s even harder for them to tell online.
If you say ‘I hate you’, even as a joke, someone with autism might not be able to understand that.
I hate you /s
Or
I hate you /srs
Have VERY different meanings, and sometimes autistic people aren’t able to tell the difference. They might become anxious that they’ve done something wrong, because they can’t tell if you said ‘i hate you’ as a joke or not.
In physical conversation, it’s easier, but not perfect. Autistic people might not be able to discern annoyed and happy tones, if someone is being mean to your character, but is only showing it through tone of voice and body language, there’s a chance that the Autistic character won’t recognize or process the aggression.
ADHD is often lumped in with Autism, and while the two do share similarities, it’s not the same disorder by any means.
With Autism, ADHD has nothing to do with intelligence. People with ADHD can be as intelligent as anyone else!
People with ADHD have trouble focusing, which is the understatement of the century. They might be working on a school project, when their partner brings up a subject they both like. The person with ADHD might try to multitask and work on the project while talking, but may find their mind drifting off.
Even the slightest distraction can send someone with ADHD on a completely different track, to the point where they could accidentally spend an hour talking about something, just because someone else made a joke or funny noise.
Someone with ADHD may make a bunch of plans at once, and then either forget or become overwhelmed when they had scheduled things.
Another problem people with ADHD face is executive dysfunction, or, struggling with things like planning, time management, and problem solving.
THE BIG DON'T: Do NOT say that an LGBT+ person or character has ‘changed’ or ‘become’ their current sexuality or gender. You do not choose your sexuality or gender, you don’t suddenly ‘become’ trans, or gay, or bi. A character can go through many different struggles before figuring out who they are and what they like, and they may switch labels, but they are not ‘becoming’ anything.
Also- No, being LGBTQ isn’t a mental illness, obviously! But a lot of characters who are LGBTQ+ are portrayed in not so nice ways that make people uncomfortable.
Try to avoid stereotypes, don’t make a lesbian whose entire character is being a buff tomboy, don’t make a gay man who’s just extremely feminine and meek.
It’s totally fine to make gay, feminine men, and masculine lesbians, but don’t make that their entire personality. Straight male characters can be just as feminine as anyone else!
And NEVER make a character whose entire personality is based around their sexuality. It can be a huge part of their identity, but being gay/lesbian/bi+ is not a personality trait.
If you’re making a transgender character- for the love of god, don’t misgender them or use their dead name. This seems really simple but I have seen people out there who refer to their transwoman characters as ‘he/him’ and it’s gross.
Try not to give your character an extremely abusive backstory, it associates being transgender with abuse and dysfunction, and can also be extremely triggering and offensive for some people who went through things like that.
Don’t make being transgender seem fun, or quirky. A lot of the time, being transgender- especially when being stigmatized, can be a hellish experience of discrimination.
But that being said- not every trans person hates themselves. Not every trans person hates their body! Imagine you had two flavors of ice cream, generally speaking, even if you don't hate one of the flavors, you'd prefer one over the other. A transgender person does not have to hate their body to desire a body that fits their identity more.
As for nonbinary characters-
Just because your character is NB doesn’t mean they have to be androgynous! Nonbinary people can use he/him, she/her, or whatever pronouns make them comfortable. They don’t have to be completely neutral- they’re allowed to have feminine and masculine traits.
Please. Do not ever romanticize mental illness. Never give your character a mental illness because you think it's cool, or edgy, or fun. Do not give a character a mental illness if your only experience with said mental illness is through media or secondhand experiences. Do research.
And a final note: Do not gatekeep these disorders. Symptoms can express themselves very differently, and as long as someone is portraying a disorder accurately and respectfully, they should be taken no less seriously than anyone else.
I only covered disorders that I feel confident in covering- if you have any questions or suggestions to add to this post, please reply below! I’d be more than happy to explain things or make edits as needed :)