hello. for context, I'm writing a story that revolves around a group of five friends with different mental health problems.
how do I reflect mental health in writing and art accurately?
one has paranoia and anxiety issues, one has depression, one has reckless behavioral issues, one has immigrant's guilt, and the last one has alcoholism.
Research, compassion, and time. Know they are not their disorder. I cannot write your characters for you. The best thing you can do is research, research, research.
I started looking into making Jacob a rainbow baby. But I don't add something without research. Until I can get enough first hand accounts and information about how it affects their relationship with their parents, I won't add it. For some reason, finding a LOT of YouTube videos on the topic is proving difficult. I don't blame the internet here, that would be a mother making herself very open and vulnerable, so of course there's not a giant well of knowledge. But I'm still going to look. And then, I'm going to run my ideas by a friend who is a rainbow baby. I'm going to see if they think it's accurate and compassionate.
This is how you can treat any real world problem. The internet is a wealth of knowledge. I personally cannot speak on immigration or alcoholism. But I can speak on paranoia (medically induced) and depression. As do many people. Find youtube videos of first hand accounts. Follow their journey. And follow it with COMPASSION, not judgement. Never look down on them or reduce them to their problem. They are a human being, going through a hard time. Sometimes it leaks out, other times, they appear completely fine.
And get multiple! Because everyone experiences it different. Some people with depression mask so well nobody in a million years would suspect they're actively falling apart on the inside. Meanwhile, they might look at someone else with depression and deem them a flight risk just be watching them.
As for actually writing it, you don't need to spell it out. I rarely do. Imma use Jay here and list out some... Peculiarities that add up to something else
Consent driven. To the point he won't even tap someone on the shoulder to get their attention because he cannot get expressed consent before doing so. It's a very rigid rule. Only broken out of self defense or defending others
He hates beds. Refuses to touch one, let alone sleep in one. He'd rather sleep in a tree. Because in his words, "beds steal innocence"
He is very very truth driven. He refuses to ever tell a lie to his knowledge, and hates when others do. This includes white lies, it includes "I'm fine :)", it includes smiling when you're sad. If you don't want to deliver the truth, deliver nothing at all. (Or speak in a fucking riddles, Mr. "It was my father's body but not my father" 🤦♂️)
When he enters a room, the first thing he's noticing is how many windows and doors there are that he could possible fit through. Then, the layout of the furniture and how easy it would be to get to every window and door
My boy is very, very literal ._. You tell him "It's raining cats and dogs," and he'll look up at the sky and say "... No it's not- That's water."
He refuses to harm others unless absolutely necessary. Even if it hurts himself doing so. This INCLUDES wildlife and plants. Despite being giant (7'2"), strong, and a trained fighter.
Jay's calloused hand captures his own. No breaking the tree branches, got it. Jacob tugs his arm loose -- Jay's grip wasn't meant to restrain -- and nods sheepishly. "Sorry. Continue."
He squirms under Jay's intense stare. "I won't break anything! I didn't think snapping a single branch was a big deal. But I won't if you don't like it!"
Several excruciating seconds tick by. Then, Jay tears his gaze off Jacob and resumes guiding him through the trees.
Sometimes reacts before thinking:
What does it all add up to? SA, abuse, years of confinement, being treated as less than human. Trying to preserve his autonomy while he still has it because it was ripped away from him in the past.
It also impacts how people see him. A lot of in universe characters who don't KNOW know him think he's weird af. Maybe autistic? FYI, it is not autism. That's more likely to go to Sam. Jay just has trauma responses that line up with it. Anyway, people keep their distance. They don't know what will set him off, if he even can be set off.
Best case scenario, when your character finally feels safe enough to let someone in and tell them about their trauma, it should be an "oohhhhh, yeah that tracks" moment for the reader.
Lmk if I did not fully answer how you wanted. I am not giving a breakdown of how to write every type of mental illness, as I do not have the authority to speak on it all. I do have a character with depression, I do not have any with immigration guilt or alcoholism or even reckless behavior. You research, you ask how it affected them and their relationships, you ask how do they cope and how does it change them. In my example, Jay cope by having hard boundaries. Someone else might cower when something reminds them of their abuser, regress inwards, do whatever someone else wants to make the situation end faster. How does your character compensate, and how does it infect every belief and action they have?
