Tell me anything you would like about your character’s condition(s). Explain how it occurred and their immediate reaction to being diagnosed (or if diagnosed at a young age, maybe parents’ reaction). If undiagnosed/self-diagnosed, tell me how they concluded that they might have that condition. How does it affect their daily life? Tell me how they cope with it, healthy or not. Do they take medication, see a psychiatrist, go through rehabilitation, have to see the doctor often, ect. Those are a few ideas on what to write but tackle it in any way you wish :3
I have OCD and after a while of writing my character Alice I realised I had somehow accidentally given her OCD as well. It just seemed fitting to her character. She is undiagnosed, but isn't likely to seek help about it - (a) because she would assume that it was just herself being 'weird' or 'stupid', and (b) because she wouldn't want to worry/bother anyone else. She tends to keep things bottled up fearing that other people will laugh at her.
Jordan has PTSD. It doesn't start to show up until he's about 18 and usually, it shows up in the form of panic attacks if he hears a loud noise (especially if it's similar to a gunshot). It only gets worse after his boyfriend, Rome, dies. He takes his anger out on his friends, and it's not until the epilogue (when the characters are ~23) that he gets the help that he needs. By the end of the story, he is in therapy and slowly but surely learning how to handle the emotions. He still has a lot of flashbacks and nightmares but it's getting better.
Arwood: has PTS. He began to experience the effects of his condition when he was around 14 or 15. After his mother was killed in front of him, he grew up being experimented upon for “medical research,” being forced to have diseases, being used to find new ways of torture, etc.
Okay, first, the Arodi is Halneds elite group, so when a kid is chosen to join the ranks, they are trained immediately, Arwood started at age 6.
The hardest section they are trained in (other than weapons) is to resist integration, whether it be humiliation or torture.
They want to make you tough enough not to give up secrets, that you would rather die before giving up your information.
So, Arwood was whipped, branded, beaten, waterboarded, etc…so yeah, he can keep a secret.
He has flashbacks, and panic attacks, if triggered by the following list:
- Anything with strands: Hair, rope, ribbons, wrapping around his wrists is a major no. A lot of his torture was connected with tieing him down.
- The smell of a pinewood fire. Sometimes, just the smell of pine can push him into a flashback, but it only happens when he's overly tired.
- Hot metal. He was branded, and naturally, seeing red metal reminds him of that.
- Whips. Just take one look at his back, and you'll understand.
- Red rubies. His father killed his mother with a ruby in the hilt of a dagger.
He doesn't understand nor knows what he has. He only knows he has a strange condition and must learn to adapt.
The smell of lavender helps calm his mind. (His mother used to smell like it, and for the longest while, she had been his protection and safe harbor). He doesn't tell anyone about his condition because (a) he feels as though he has it under wraps. (B) He hates being a burden and feels as though it's a weakness. It gets worse and harder to control after this best friend dies, his fiance marries and has a child while he's away, and the fact that people are looking to him for protection and guidance, but he finds himself failing.
However, later in book 2, he does tell his companions because he feels as though they may be in danger around him. Instead of scorning him or telling him he needs to get out (which is what he expected), they help him try and overcome the condition, and he doesn't experience flashbacks and panic attacks as often.
(It got a lot longer than I originally planned, so I'll do the second character later)
Arwood: has PTS. He began to experience the effects of his condition when he was around 14 or 15. After his mother was killed in front of him, he grew up being experimented upon for “medical research,” being forced to have diseases, being used to find new ways of torture, etc.
Okay, first, the Arodi is Halneds elite group, so when a kid is chosen to join the ranks, they are trained immediately, Astragon started at age 6.
The hardest section they are trained in (other than weapons) is to resist integration, whether it be humiliation or torture.
They want to make you tough enough not to give up secrets, that you would rather die before giving up your information.
So, Astragon was whipped, branded, beaten, waterboarded, etc…so yeah, he can keep a secret.
He has flashbacks, and panic attacks, if triggered by the following list:
- Anything with strands: Hair, rope, ribbons, wrapping around his wrists is a major no. A lot of his torture was connected with tieing him down.
- The smell of a pinewood fire. Sometimes, just the smell of pine can push him into a flashback, but it only happens when he's overly tired.
- Hot metal. He was branded, and naturally, seeing red metal reminds him of that.
- Whips. Just take one look at his back, and you'll understand.
- Red rubies. His father killed his mother with a ruby in the hilt of a dagger.
He doesn't understand nor knows what he has. He only knows he has a strange condition and must learn to adapt.
The smell of lavender helps calm his mind. (His mother used to smell like it, and for the longest while, she had been his protection and safe harbor). He doesn't tell anyone about his condition because (a) he feels as though he has it under wraps. (B) He hates being a burden and feels as though it's a weakness. It gets worse and harder to control after this best friend dies, his fiance marries and has a child while he's away, and the fact that people are looking to him for protection and guidance, but he finds himself failing.
However, later in book 2, he does tell his companions because he feels as though they may be in danger around him. Instead of scorning him or telling him he needs to get out (which is what he expected), they help him try and overcome the condition, and he doesn't experience flashbacks and panic attacks as often.
(It got a lot longer than I originally planned, so I'll do the second character later)
Apologies if this sounds stalker-is, but every post I see from you makes me so excited to read your work.
(No, not at all! I'm so glad you're interested in it!)
Okay, I'm gonna put spoilers in here for my current story.
Mark has PTSD due to the fact that he was kidnapped and held hostage for nine months. He tries to downplay it all the time because he would rather forget that time in his life, but it always manages to come back to him in some form. While he does end up going to therapy for it, he feels that it will always hang over him like a heavy fog. He sometimes uses alcohol to calm him during particularly bad moments, but his sister is persistent on him not developing a habit of it.
Random things in life can trigger his PTSD, but among the most common are:
- physical contact (unless he initiated it first, the exception being his hair)
- small, cramped spaces (he had claustrophobia before being kidnapped, but the events of the story only made it worse)
- the feeling of metal against his bare skin
- police officers in uniform
- the sound of gunfire
His family and friends try their best to support him, but none of them really know what to do since they had never been through what he has. He does appreciate their efforts, though.
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