WE have to understand that moral and follow it in our lives. Writing Fiction for My Mental Health. Mental illness can be treated, and those with mental illness can go on to live productive and happy lives. But before that, I did come off them fast and the side effects were out of this world. You want to leave and go somewhere that is quiet and dark. It can take weeks to months. All rights reserved. She has gone through a life dealing with mental illness and thus is an advocate for mental illness awareness. Consider a side character in your story with mental illness. And if they are in a psychotic episode, it would be difficult, if not impossible to function in their daily lives by going to school or work or maintaining a romantic relationship or really any relationship. I would counter on the medications not altering a personality. All rights reserved. So, in honor of World Mental Health Day on October 10, here are some well-known and some less-well-known books, both fiction and nonfiction, that hit on mental health topics of all types, from addiction to depression to psychological disorders to degenerative illnesses to injuries. Meet Contributors   Mental-illness Stories Refine by tag: mental-illness mentalillness depression mentalhealth anxiety selfharm love eatingdisorder suicide romance mental poetry mentaldisorder sad anorexia bipolar lgbt … Science Fiction Mental Health Dystopia Brainwashing Suicide Government... An original dystopian short story inspired by Margret Atwood, Kurt Vonnegut, and David Armsby. If in doubt, call a medical professional and ask them before you write. So Dark & Deep: A Story of Mental Illness. I agree with your opening statement about meds affecting personalities. According to the NAMI website, 1 in 5 Americans will be affected by a mental health condition in their lifetime, and the more we talk about the subject—even in fantastical contexts—the more we can do to understand and assist those who live … 4. The Orchid Republic was the mental health capital of the world. Others are just ignorant. Their books give us a deeper understanding of mental illness and the way we deal with mental illness in our culture. Weiland […], […] Mental Illness in Fiction: Getting it Right […], […] Mental Illness In Fiction: Getting It Right, by psychiatric N.P. Talking about suicide does not mean your character will push the person into attempting suicide. 3. There are several times where you see the character break because he has to do things a specific way and hates it. Kathleen also has a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree which is a clinical doctorate, meaning more clinical-based rather than research-based like a PhD. 8. A Vegas magician infiltrates a secret medieval world where magic is real. Thank you for writing this. My fiance has depression and is on medication for it. A day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a high society English woman. As a way to help erase stigma related to mental illnesses, the National Alliance on Mental Illness has designated May as Mental Health Month. Maybe meds affect the patient’s mood, not entire personality? ... *This is a work of fiction! Build-A-Bear Workshop meets Jurassic Park. After his release, with help from his psychiatrist, Conrad examines his depression and attempts to understand his frosty relationship with his mother. Girl, Interrupted, Prozac Nation, and Running with Scissors are just a few examples — check out this list of the 20 Greatest Memoirs of Mental Illness for more suggestions. All the Things We Never Knew: Chasing the Chaos of Mental Illness – Sheila Hamilton. How would a mother with mental illness relate to her child who is abducted? You should check out her website and Tumblr blog or connect with her on Twitter. Yes, that happens. They are not the same thing. The Hours won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1999. The 11 novels listed below talk candidly of mental illness, too. But as a general rule, they aren’t. Every story has an underlined moral. But it’s a subtler disorder and I can also understand why some professionals might believe it’s not actually real. Poorly portrayed mental illnesses perpetuate the stigma surrounding mental illness. I’ve seen the gamut of mental illness, all the way from mild anxiety to full-blown psychosis in a bipolar disorder or schizophrenic or depressed patient. […], […] Mental Illness in Fiction: Getting It Right […], Your email address will not be published. Mental illness is so common, and yet, most people are still so uninformed about it. Thanks for commenting! Unfortunately, many depictions of technical subjects in literature, film, and television are pure fiction. I would have to say a tie exists between the two most troubling patients that I encountered while doing my co-op. Browse through and read mental health short stories stories and books. It’s the middle of the day, you’re surrounded by friends and the sun is out. Having depression doesn’t mean your character can’t still have fun or laugh or be social. Writing about mental illness in a side character allows you to offer greater knowledge. Holden Caulfield, our young hero, first appeared in a 1945 short story in Collier’s called “I’m Crazy.”, Originally published under a pseudonym, The Bell Jar is the semi-autobiographical account of Plath’s own clinical depression, a sensation she describes thusly: "Wherever I sat — on the deck of a ship or at a street cafe in Paris or Bangkok — I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air.". with input from an expert. The quintessential tale of disaffected youth, The Catcher in the Rye still sells around a quarter million copies a year. It makes those moments where you cannot function all the more horrible for taking your “normalcy’ away. In every class, one or two students tell their stories of a friend, or a sibling, who has a serious mental illness. * Add to library 5 Discussion 9. As I continue to grow the Mental Health League and review stories from each of you for the Mental Health League publication, I’ve been reading a lot … Story: Mental Illness and Self-Stigma: A Personal Story My name: Hilary My age: 32 Diagnosis: Bipolar 2 Symptoms since: 2005: Story: Mental Health Stigma and Medical Professionals: My Experience My name: Holly Ann Rivera Age: 27 Diagnosis: Major Depressive Disorder & General Anxiety Disorder NOS. Please join the mailing list to be notified every time new content is posted. We are especially looking for content that connects us, ma… mary. Lots of great tips for accurate portrayal of mental illness. Nothing gets under my skin more than seeing mental illness poorly written. There is this feeling, a very uncomfortable feeling in your mind, in the pit of your stomach. It’s so obvious when a writer hasn’t done their research! Psychotic patients are not dangerous. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people use the term bipolar for someone who has rapid mood swings. The Stories of Men with Mental Illness These posts are part of a special series, a collaboration between The Good Men Project and Stigma Fighters, poignant stories of men living with mental illness. Can your characters have mild OCD or OCD tendencies? Patients with this disorder hate that they have to check things over and over, it’s not funny or cute and one of the reasons I never walked the TV show, MONK. These books traverse all aspects of mental health and mental illness, and they’re both fiction and nonfiction. It hits you all of a sudden. Browse through and read mental health short stories stories and books . 6. When a medication chemically caps your serotonin levels that can drastically effect someone in ways that do not pass in a few days. In case you’re wondering what a Psychiatric NP does, they’re independent nurses with a four-year degree in nursing and a two-year master’s degree in nursing along with being either a nurse practitioner or clinic… Deborah Blau, diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, spends three years in a psychiatric hospital. At All. Your character would not have amnesia after killing someone. Depression, anxiety, and suicide plagued one's every step. In my once upon a time with medications I was one of those cases of heavily over dosed into boarder line zombiedom. Also in Monk they discuss his triggers at length, and his inability to function without assistance. The same is true with mental illness. 1.   One of the lesser-known novels on this list, The Passion of Alice is a moving, unflinching portrait of a 25-year-old woman who is admitted into an eating disorders clinic after she almost dies of heart failure. I am currently doing my internship at the inpatient behavioral unit at the hospital where a big part of their recovery process is helping the patients to overcome the self-stigmatization. Like you, I am also a writer (see my Amazon page or my website for my books) but I’m also a mental health professional. Bipolar Disorder has a spectrum of symptoms. I used to tell my patients unless you develop a rash/hives or can’t breathe (same with any medication), most side effects go away within three to five days. Sometimes the veil of fiction permits authors to tell even truer stories — they can write without worrying about their own reputations or the reactions from their family members. Kathleen S. Allen (3,864 views). 7. National Alliance on Mental Illness: NAMI, Bipolar Disorder: What Writers Should Know, http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/annecdotal/how-to-create-a-convincing-fictional-therapist, Top Picks Thursday 01-22-2015 | The Author Chronicles, Writing Mental Illness: A Resource For Fiction Writers – TAwrites, Web Stats and Top Ten Posts of 2016 - Dan Koboldt, Mental Health in Writing: The Do's and Don'ts -, Pottery and Ceramics for SFF Writers, Part 1, Parasitism in Sci-fi: It Gets Under Your Skin, Book Release and the Great Dragon Egg Hunt. We should connect. For how common it is, it’s weird how many people don’t understand what the depression medication actually does. This was a very informative article! But something isn’t right. And when people have hallucinations they don’t only see things that aren’t there, they may hear things or smell things that aren’t there too. When I read a work of fiction that either deals with mental illness in some way or the main character has a mental illness it’s usually with some degree of trepidation. Putting the Science in Fiction brings together scientists, physicians, engineers, and other experts to writers do just that. It was already on their minds. They allow your characters to be able to function in their daily lives. “I did A mental health co-op in high school. It would be interesting to see this disorder actually properly portrayed in fiction. Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory: Stories ... Short Stories: Five Decades (Phoenix Fiction) Part of: Phoenix Fiction (4 Books) ... Short Stories, Prose, and Diary Excerpts. Delores Price slowly unravels after dealing with a traumatic event as a young teenager. No-one Cares About Me. For those of us with serious depression, by not showing those points where we can laugh and function you aren’t truly showing the scope and horror of the disease. Matt Cardy/Getty Images News/Getty Images, Eugenides squelches the rumor that Leonard is based on David Foster Wallace. Thank you. I’ve treated patients with suicidal tendencies, attempted suicides and patients undergoing ECT (electroshock therapy and no it’s not like it was in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST), and medical illnesses that seemed like psychiatric ones but weren’t. Here are some online resources for getting the facts about mental illness: If you liked this article, please share it on Twitter! Blanket Sea. I always wonder if that is what medical professionals are trying to explain with that statement. Of course and those are the ones we hear about in the news. It’s a rare disorder and it’s hardly mentioned anywhere so I was surprised that you even mentioned it. He doesn’t have blackouts or anything that’s normally associated with “Split Personality” and I would agree that his “other personalities” also wouldn’t do anything extreme that he wouldn’t normally do himself. I completely agree with you in the vast majority of the article. The character frequently expresses massive frustration and difficulties with his condition. A Lit Zine My fiance’s a very down-to-earth, pragmatic guy, depression or not. Check it out. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote this novel while his wife, Zelda, was in the hospital being treated for schizophrenia. September 11, 2014 by dankoboldt 16 Comments. I’ll be it my personal experience with mood stabilizers and anti-psychotics in particular are about ten years removed from the current trends in medications for mental disorders. I am a writer living with Type I Bipolar Disorder and having been hospitalized on three separate occasions, severe mania involving delusions (NOT hallucinations), ECT treatments, countless medications, talk therapy…I could go on and on. 2021 Bustle Digital Group. Read here. Your characters don’t stop hearing voices when they are in a psychotic episode overnight after taking an anti-psychotic medication. The bottom line is, do your research. […] discuss the emotional reverberations in a crime survivor’s psyche, Kathleen S. Allen warns to do mental illness right in fiction, Writer’s Relief has tips to help choose the perfect name for your character, and K.M. The movie adaptation of Ordinary People , starring Mary Tyler Moore, won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1980. I have depression and anxiety disorder, but that moviews just rubbed me the wrong way. Required fields are marked *. Inspired by the first book on our list, Mrs. Dalloway, the story reveals a single day in the lives of three women from three different time periods, including Virginia Woolf herself. A NP evaluates patients, diagnoses, orders medication if needed and does education around mental health issues. 1) Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes) — Flowers for Algernon is written by Daniel Keyes which won the Hugo Award for best short story. Later, books would introduce readers to evil nurses, forced lobotomies, and botched attempts at electro-shock therapy. Thank you! That’s not what bipolar is. Her story echoes the author’s experiences, and the doctor in the story was based on her real-life doctor, the German psychiatrist Frieda Fromm-Reichmann. My ms focuses on that so much and it makes my heart happy to read it from someone else as well. I try to educate people when I can. Characters are allowed to come down from the attic and tell their own stories. A sufferer of a "nervous condition" herself in the … No one who has Dissociative Identity Disorder (used to be called split personality) would kill someone when they are in one of their alter personality states unless the core personality would also kill. However, the flip side was, well, severe depression and all that that entails. 5. The last few decades have brought improvement in the way mental illness is treated and the way it is portrayed in literature. In an interview with Slate, Eugenides squelches the rumor that Leonard is based on David Foster Wallace. In case you’re wondering what a Psychiatric NP does, they’re independent nurses with a four-year degree in nursing and a two-year master’s degree in nursing along with being either a nurse practitioner or clinical nurse specialist. They also do what all great literature should do — let us get to know and care about the characters as people. Some medical illness can also cause depression, that’s why it’s important for you, as the writer to get your facts straight. 3 Common Mental Health Myths in Films Myth #1: Mental Illness Is Scary and Dangerous. Your character can do all those things and still have depression. There is a great tradition of mental illness in fiction. A basic understanding of biology, physics, engineering, and medicine will help you create more realistic stories that satisfy discerning readers. My kind of happiness By Poetworldgvdh. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. So many people use these terms in derogatory ways. Thank you for pointing out the places where a number of authors fall short when trying to characterize us. Set on the French Riviera in the 1920s, Tender is the Night is the story of psychoanalyst Dick Diver and his wife Nicole... who also happens to be his patient. Are there exceptions? Buddy. Some medications (not psychiatric ones) can cause psychosis too, also some recreational drugs. Patients, students, family members, caregivers, nurses, physicians, healthcare consumers, artists, mental health providers, physical therapists, writers, clergy—all of us will be patients one day and all are welcome to submit work. Maddness between the ears is not a short story, it’s a whole life . Through Their Eyes: Exploring Severe Mental Illness through Short Stories Emily Adkins Carter Sickels, MFA, Department of English and Theatre This process statement describes my Honors thesis, which consists of three short stories with characters who each deal with severe mental illness, along with this process statement. Mental illness stigma has affected my life in many different ways. It made people with mental illnesses seem so one dimensional and dull (at least that’s what I thought about the characters). Some have longer term side effects so it’s best to consult a medical professional about them unless you have first-hand knowledge about the medication. 1: 5 Things I Want Hollywood to Know About Mental Illness – The Mighty is a great resource for mental health issues, and this article points out the most common problems that stem from a writer misunderstanding a particular illness. Perhaps my problem is with semantics? If you're into writing, publishing, or reading fantasy & science fiction, I'm glad you're here. Thanks for sharing your experiences. https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/115315.Mental_health_fiction Through the character of Septimus, a shell-shocked veteran of World War I, this book criticizes the treatment of the mentally ill. Woolf used her own struggles with bipolar disorder to inform Septimus’s character. Copyright © 2021 by Dan Koboldt. The Fall of the House of Usher | Edgar Allan Poe. Short stories about mental health. Science and technology have starring roles in a wide range of genres--science fiction, fantasy, thriller, mystery, and more. Also, someone who cuts is not suicidal as a general rule. Kathleen S. Allen is a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (actually, a Psychiatric Clinical Nurse Specialist, similar to a NP) with five years experience as a psychiatric NP and two years experience as a psychiatric RN (registered nurse). 5 children and youth have a diagnosable emotional, behavioral or mental disorder Sign up Log in. must-read YA books about mental health. They accept articles, stories, poetry, cartoons and other art with mental health themes. I’m not a fan mind you, but I’ve watched a few seasons and can see where they were going. If Mental Disorders Was A Person. There are books about addiction, eating disorders, depression, schizophrenia, and more, as experienced by the teen main characters. The narrator visits his friend Roderick who, along with his sister, is suffering from an unusual illness. It’s clear that you have experience with a lot of these things. 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Share it on Twitter also in Monk they discuss his triggers at length, and other experts to do... What medical professionals are trying to characterize us suffering from an unusual illness you can not all. My pet peeves is saying you ’ re close but Alicia is very withdrawn without help and its the acts! The places where a number of authors Fall short when trying to characterize us your... Together scientists, physicians, engineers, and those with mental illness in his next book, I a! Without help and its the small acts of kindness from others that saves lives friend who diagnosed. Affected my life in many different ways Dark & Deep: a story with mother! Electro-Shock therapy medications I was surprised that you even mentioned it story of mental illness was even less in. Can help authors create more realistic stories boarder line zombiedom in many different ways pragmatic,. Be interesting to see this disorder is rare ( and some medical professionals don ’ t still have depression all. 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Professionals might believe it exists at all ) so be careful using.... Tweets: Filed Under: Science in Sci-fi, writing Craft, Details... Stop hearing voices when they are in a psychiatric hospital so be careful using.... I agree with your opening statement about meds affecting personalities starring Mary Tyler Moore, won the Prize! They may not range of genres -- fiction short stories about mental illness fiction, fantasy, thriller, mystery and! Out the places where a number of authors Fall short when trying to characterize.... That, I did come off them fast and the sun is out ) used to be book... To commit suicide after the tragic death of his older brother, so his parents send him a!