Writing PTSD (and other mental disorders) Accurately

writeworld:

Anonymous asked: “What would be the best way to write a character who develops PTSD? She was abducted for a couple of weeks, and I thought it’d make the story more realistic. She’s a pretty strong character, but I’m also stuck with how her colleagues, especially one who’s particularly close to her, could help her.

This is a very good question. Writing a character with a psychological disorder can be confusing and difficult at first, it is definitely not impossible.  

A tip you often hear is, “Write what you know.“ That’s great, but sometimes you want to write something that you don’t know. Rather than producing a very inaccurate/unrealistic depiction of a serious mental disorder, it’s best to learn everything you possibly can about it. That said, I’m glad you asked!

I want to give you something to chew on:

Fiction is the means by which we can escape reality by immersing ourselves in it.  

You are taking on the task of creating a character who develops a very human disorder, because you want it to be true-to-life, to be realistic. Great! Realism is a worthy aspiration. I’d be worried if a character who was abducted for two weeks showed absolutely no signs of damage from the experience.

The first thing I would encourage every writer to do—no matter what kind of character you are creating—is research. Always, always, research. We have an article pertaining to writing mental disorders. Hopefully that can answer some parts of the question, so once you’ve read that, proceed (or ignore us and proceed anyway)!

In this article, we will try to examine writing PTSD specifically, starting with how to research psychological disorders. Yes, that was plural. It is possible for a person to have more than one psychological disorder after experiencing a trauma. That is why it is important to brush up on a variety of disorders related to PTSD. You want to pinpoint the character’s symptoms so you can best depict her experience with the disorder.

  • Find someone qualified. Do you know anyone (family/friend/acquaintance) who is a qualified social worker/therapist/counselor/psychologist? If you do, reach out to them. They not only possess experience in working with people who have psychological disorders, they can fact-check the realism of your story.
  • Find someone who lived/lives it. If you know someone who is willing to talk about his or her PTSD, that person would be a terrific resource for you. Be very careful, however, of the way that you approach the treatment of a person’s mental disorder, especially in a dialogue face-to-face. Prepare specific questions, vet these questions through another person who knows your resource personally to be sure that they don’t cross a line, and remember that, while you strive to write something fictional, your resource actually lived/lives their trauma. Behave yourself and be respectful.
  • Google! Search terms like “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,” “Mental disorders,” and “Survivors of assault”. It’s important to learn about the disorder itself, and the people who actually experience(d) it. There are support groups online. We don’t want to say infiltrate them, but there are good resources and first-hand accounts of experiences with it that may benefit your writing.  
  • Read up. Books covering a wide range of mental disorders can be found in most any book store–the most famous being the DMS-IV-TR. Self-help books are also a valuable place to look, although PTSD is best when treated with help from a trained professional. See also: Every TV show that brings in counselors after a traumatic event occurs. Not everything you see how TV is accurate, but that part is at least worth watching.

Researching the disorders in question will allow you to consider your character more realistically, which leads to more realistic writing.

Secondly, you need to research your character. That must sound odd, because unless this is a fan fiction piece and you can look up a backstory or biography, your character is original, a.k.a. created by you. Trust me, you’ve got plenty to do.

Questions to ask yourself on this front:

  • What was the character like before the abduction? Was she very outgoing and gregarious? Shy and reserved? Understanding your character is key in terms of understanding how she will react to trauma.
    Let’s take a look at the meaning of psychological trauma, as explained by Dr. Kathleen Young:
    Psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security and result in you feeling helpless, alone and vulnerable in a dangerous world. (x)
    This is important because experiencing trauma in any case causes a change in the victim. It can impede the emotional development in adolescents, and snap an adult into a depressed, sometimes child-like state. You want to show that change in the character. Perhaps, your character is facing the hardships of piecing herself back together in the aftermath of the abduction – being “strong” as she was, the experience will undoubtedly be a blow to her perception of herself.
  • What’s the character like after the abduction? How do you show these changes? In many cases, the effects are obvious (anxiety, nightmares, etc.) There will be more subtle differences as well. For example:
    Eva Mendez Kor, a Holocaust survivor (check out the documentary, Forgiving Dr. Mengele.) She experienced PTSD after her experiences in Dr. Mengele’s despicable twin research endeavors. Friends and family notice long-term effects from the trauma she sustained at Aushwitz. These include: a heightened sense of resourcefulness and never leaving her plate with food left on it.
    So, maybe your character is more alert of her surroundings, more jumpy, very sensitive to what are called “triggers” or, things that can set off the disorder such as; yelling, being touched, hearing about abductions, hearing a phrase or term used by her abductors, etc.

Now for that close friend of your character’s. Support is very important to the recovery from a disorder like PTSD. I would encourage you to go through the same research process that I outlined for researching the disorder to find resources on what a loved one can do to help a friend coping with PTSD. 

A couple of suggestions:

  • Can this person be a confidant? Maybe he/she is the first person your character really opens up to about the abduction – that’s a great way to show that there is trust in the relationship.
  • Is this person silently observant? Maybe this person takes special note of the changes in her character after the abduction and they have some kind of “unspoken trust” about it, where the moment she begins to falter, the friend is at her side.
  • Or, of course, whatever you think of as an alternative.

Once you are equipped with all of your shiny new knowledge about your character and PTSD, the next feasible step is to write! Implement what you learn into your story.

A few links for you on PTSD:

Thank you for your question! If you want to know anything else about writing, feel free to send us a message via our ask box!

-H

(via littlestartopaz)

Tags: writing writing reference good rule of thumb trauma looks different in everyone what matters is that post-trauma looks markedly different from pre-trauma for example they might be much jumpier than before they might have nightmares or insomnia they might have a tremor in their hands they might have flashbacks and flashbacks aren't just the full-scale technicolor things they show on tv they can also be physical sensations that are out of place with reality (under the right circumstances i get the feeling of someone kneeling on my chest) (or see a bright light in the center of my vision) they don't need to have a diagnosis of ptsd to have ptsd yep if you have specific questions i'm an author with ptsd and a good amount of psych training so hit me up