Writing Neurodivergent/The Psychological Issues of Characters

[Keilah H.]

@whalekeeper Ok, that sounds kinda cool. Reminds me a bit of Hunter (my “borrowed” dragon boy). He’s got hyper-tuned senses, and I feel like he’d probably do something like that, at least when he was young (and probably only grew out of it because it was suppressed on the field of battle).

Ohhh and you have a comfort blanket? So does my brother. For me, it’s three smallish pillows.

"When in doubt, eat cheese crackers."-me to my charries who don't even know about cheese crackers

[whaley]

@keilah-h

😂😂 Yah know, they might have alien monsters trained to sniff out stuff on the battlefield, like hounds

I don’t think I would do well with that job

Or in the military, for that matter

Yup 😘 How do you keep track of the pillows? Do they get easily lost?

#ProtectAdolinKholin

[Smiley]

So… I don’t know who to tag, but I just figured out an arc for my character and I need some advice

So the three sisters lose their parents in a car accident, but I just had an idea, of having one of the girls in the car with her parents when it happened.

She survives and leaves with only a few scars at least physically

but she has PTSDs and she’s constantly having nightmares and flashbacks

I don’t know too much about PTSDs so any advice would be great

 

Do me a favor…. Tell Cress I meant it
-Thorne

[Folith-Feolin]

@smiley
So if you want some reading to help you out thr rite and slaughterhouse 5 have been noted for having very good depictions of main characters with ptsd.

[whaley]

@smiley

All I can say is, A LOT of RESEARCH. @freedomwriter76 might be able to help you more <3

#ProtectAdolinKholin

[Anonymous]

@smiley PTSD is a very important, misunderstood, and honestly, misrepresented health issue.

One important thing to note is that not everyone experiences PTSD the exact same way, but these are the main 4 symptoms of PTSD:

Reliving – flashbacks, hallucinations, nightmares of the incident
Avoiding – avoiding people, places, things, or memories that remind the trauma
Excessive arousal – increased alertness, anger, fits of rage, irritability, or hatred, difficulty sleeping or concentrating
Intrusive negative distressing thoughts or feelings such as guilt

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental health condition that develops following 1 or many traumatic events, mainly characterized by intrusive thoughts about the incident, recurrent distress/anxiety, flashbacks, and avoidance of similar situations.

PTSD is very common in today’s world, and it can be dealt with in a few ways, with therapy being a very important one. Sadly, many do not deal with it properly, and PTSD-induced suicide is one of the main ways many Veterans die.

PTSD can cause people to lash out, close themselves off, or anything in between, and because of flashbacks and nightmares, many people with PTSD suffer from insomnia as well. PTSD is mainly characterized by the flashbacks it produces, and the flashbacks can be so bad that for those with PTSD, they completely relive the event, 100%. People with PTSD can feel distressed, anxious, worried, frightened, or even terrified even when there is no danger.

There are actually 2 forms of PTSD:

PTSD usually develops within the first 6 months after the traumatic event, and is usually caused by a single traumatic event.

C-PTSD (Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), on the other hand, is caused by long-lasting trauma that continues or repeats for months or even years, and it’s symptoms can be much more severe.

For your character, regular PTSD would be more fitting, however, if you (or anyone here, for that matter) want to know more about C-PTSD, I can share the little bit of information I have about that as well :3

 

(I learned a lot about PTSD when I read the biography “Unbroken”, about WWII hero and Pacific POW, Louis Zamperini)

[Anonymous]

@whalekeeper thx for tagging me!! I’m glad to share the information I have, and very happy to share what I know about PTSD specifically, as it is something very near and dear to my heart ❤️

[Anonymous]

i also just realized that Riker has C-PTSD, not regular PTSD…poor boi 😭

[whaley]

@freedomwriter76

Ofc 😊

Have you ever researched dissociative amnesia? A question for a friend, you could say.

#ProtectAdolinKholin

[Anonymous]

@whalekeeper 💖💖💖

I can’t say I have 😅 PTSD/C-PTSD is one of the biggest mental health things I have researched, but I have not researched dissociative amnesia.

Here’s these couple links I found tho (haven’t read them tho, but found them and you’re free to read!!!! 💕):

http://www.psychologytoday.com/us/conditions/dissociative-amnesia

http://www.healthline.com/health/dissociative-amnesia

my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9789

(you can just add the https:// thingy, lol…otherwise KP won’t let the link through, sadly)

[Smiley]

@freedomwriter76

Wow that’s really interesting, and really sad

But thanks, this helped a lot,

I kind of knew a little bit about it but I hadn’t known about avoiding certain things, (That’s really interesting)

And seeing how serious and tragic it can be, really makes me want to do it justice

Poor Riker!!!

Do me a favor…. Tell Cress I meant it
-Thorne

[Anonymous]

@smiley Glad I was helpful, and glad you want to do it justice! 💖 (it’s an issue dear to me, ever since I read “Unbroken”, and also knowing that one of my uncles (tho I don’t get to see him really much at all) has struggled with PTSD from his war experiences, PTSD being talked about/written about correctly is something very near and dear to my heart <3)

[Keilah H.]

@freedomwriter76 Ah, PTSD……

In other words, something almost every soldier character’s gonna go through some time in their life……..

Which does not look good for me, as my fanfics are FILLED with those.

 

Oh, and you have an uncle who is/was in the military? That’s really cool!

Also, that reminds me…..An author I like was writing about the Revolutionary War, and during her research, she found she was distantly related to one of the soldiers she was writing about!! If you know an ancestor of yours that fought in the specific battles/went through the specific situations you’re writing about, you can at least mention his or her name in character dialogue or something.

"When in doubt, eat cheese crackers."-me to my charries who don't even know about cheese crackers

[Anonymous]

@keilah-h You might wanna do some research then 😉

I actually have multiple! One was in the Army, one in the Marines, a great uncle who was in the Air Force, and I know plenty of people that have been in the army in some capacity!!

ooh, that’d definitely be cool to do 😀

[Keilah H.]

@whalekeeper They’re on my bed usually. The only time I take them off the bed is if I’m packing them in my backpack for a trip.

Oh, and yeah, I don’t think I would do too well in the military either…..

About the only thing I’d be able to do is…maybe strategize? I’m not a combat person. I mean, I bet I could use a knife if I really wanted to. That’s it.

 

 

@freedomwriter76 that’s cool! So you have experience with that then.

And yeah! You should totally do that!

"When in doubt, eat cheese crackers."-me to my charries who don't even know about cheese crackers

[Author]

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