15-04-2013, 06:50 PM
I agree with pretty much all of this, but I'd especially like to reiterate a few things in particular. Foremost is #2: if you're trying to think of ideas for a next character and the first thing you start your concept with is a mental disability, you're probably doing it wrong in my humble opinion. Mental illness is not a substitute for personality.
Obviously, as #4 states, rigorous research is a must. A full wikipedia page can be a good start, but other sources to start one off might include the DSM (4th edition is most current), which is really the only widely accepted list of criteria for diagnosing different mental disorders. However, keep in mind that the DSM doesn't really go into how disorders arise, more what their features are once they've initiated.
Next, #9 is an important point. First or secondhand experience with mental illnesses may be a slight advantage, but even so it's like one of the basic tenets of psychology that we can never be truly impartial when evaluating our own minds (this is a general issue I take with self-insert characters). Mental illness can even affect one's portrayal of that illness, or even worse (I am not sure if there has been research on this yet, but it seems quite conceivable) RPing a character sharing one's IRL mental illnesses may even exacerbate one's OOC symptoms, for certain disorders.
Lastly, as Fae mentions, characters who possess any kind of disability will face challenges that may impair their social functioning. Social behavior is particularly key to RP (as no one really likes single-player RP), and thus this is a very fine line to navigate. This is why staff recommends that only the more advanced RPers tackle this challenge.
Obviously, as #4 states, rigorous research is a must. A full wikipedia page can be a good start, but other sources to start one off might include the DSM (4th edition is most current), which is really the only widely accepted list of criteria for diagnosing different mental disorders. However, keep in mind that the DSM doesn't really go into how disorders arise, more what their features are once they've initiated.
Next, #9 is an important point. First or secondhand experience with mental illnesses may be a slight advantage, but even so it's like one of the basic tenets of psychology that we can never be truly impartial when evaluating our own minds (this is a general issue I take with self-insert characters). Mental illness can even affect one's portrayal of that illness, or even worse (I am not sure if there has been research on this yet, but it seems quite conceivable) RPing a character sharing one's IRL mental illnesses may even exacerbate one's OOC symptoms, for certain disorders.
Lastly, as Fae mentions, characters who possess any kind of disability will face challenges that may impair their social functioning. Social behavior is particularly key to RP (as no one really likes single-player RP), and thus this is a very fine line to navigate. This is why staff recommends that only the more advanced RPers tackle this challenge.