Also, I would just once like to see a character with a tragic backstory that ISN’T all broody and sulky because of it and instead uses humor or something else as a coping mechanism.
This is actually a thing a lot of depressed people do. Just saying, as a person who has had major depression in the past, mental illness can be more dynamic than people realize. Sometimes the ill person will be sulky and melancholy, but at other times (this is especially prevalent in people who are bipolar or atypical) it's completely realistic for them to find themself laughing uncontrollably at their last panic attack or joke about their suicidal thoughts. Dark humor is really common in mentally ill people.
Also can we have depression and other mental illnesses portrayed correctly in books and media? I'm low-key high-key sick of the misrepresentation. I'm going to scream if I see another author writing depressed characters as edgy, whiney teenagers who love monologuing about their total suffering. It's mental health awareness month y'all you do your research and find primary sources thank you good night.
IT'S TRUE AND YOU SHOULD SAY IT!!!
Glares at All The Bright Places
Also I want stories about living with and/or overcoming addictions, mental illness, physical disabilities, chronic illness, etc. that don't end in death. I think it's fine if the MC ends up not being able to overcome it, but I hate that so many Big Mental Health Books end with death, overdose, suicide, etc. It feels really irresponsible to me. Kids are picking up these books to see themselves in a book, only to see again and again that they die at the end, which isn't uplifting. I wouldn't have an issue with this if it wasn't so damn common though.
Like….give me characters who go to rehab and stop smoking drugs (drUgS?) crack(crACK?!) pot and overcome their addiction. Give me depressed characters whose stories don't end in suicide. Give me alcoholics who don't die in drunk driving crashes.
Mentally ill people deserve to be more than just a 'don't do this, kids' moral.
headbanging my mentally ill head to this
Also sometimes I feel like depression is used as something of a comic relief, or is that just me? It’s like: lol look at how lazy that character is! hahah they put on weight because they can’t work up the will to move or overeat! And they’re and alcoholic now as a bad coping mechanism, isn’t that hilarious?
Just no. Bad representation.
YES OMG THAT'S LITERALLY THE WORST!!!
Or anxiety is 'look at this pure nervous character uwu they're so socially awkward'
Also sometimes I feel like depression is used as something of a comic relief, or is that just me? It’s like: lol look at how lazy that character is! hahah they put on weight because they can’t work up the will to move or overeat! And they’re and alcoholic now as a bad coping mechanism, isn’t that hilarious?
Just no. Bad representation.
I have characters who are (borderline) alcoholic but it's never played as 'Lol Oliver/Geneva/Lucas is a lazy ass who drinks a lot', it's 'Oliver is depressed and tries to drink to forget, but Jon and Marcus are helping him to stop, Geneva has PTSD and drinks a lot but recognizes it as an issue and is working through it with her friends, and Lucas starts to drink after losing people he loves, but Maia, Esther, and Cedar help him realize that it's unhealthy and not a good way to cope'.
Which is fine. Because often depressed people do turn to alcohol and other horrible ways to cope, but it’s not funny.
Omg I hate it when characters are overweight and they're painted as lazy and irresponsible for not looking after themselves, like no, I'm overweight and I eat my fruits and veggies and I drink my milk and I never go out of my way to drink soda ever. I'm also strong, I can lift almost anyone up, I'm just not a sports fanatic and I gain weight pretty easily. I'm not ugly and people similar to me shouldn't be portrayed in a negative way.
Honestly, all of this. Allll of it.
Bro same. I'm overweight, but I do exercise (not as much as I should, but I bike and go on long walks) and I eat 'healthy' foods, but I have a shitty metabolism.
YES OMG THAT'S LITERALLY THE WORST!!!
Or anxiety is 'look at this pure nervous character uwu they're so socially awkward'
YES
Like, at least for me, my anxiety isn't 'omg a cute guy I like is at a party!! What will I do? I'll be awkward!' it's 'if you go to that place today something horrible will happen no matter what'.
YES OMG THAT'S LITERALLY THE WORST!!!
Or anxiety is 'look at this pure nervous character uwu they're so socially awkward'
YES
Like, at least for me, my anxiety isn't 'omg a cute guy I like is at a party!! What will I do? I'll be awkward!' it's 'if you go to that place today something horrible will happen no matter what'.
Anxiety is a condition that I often see romanticized in media, and it's just disgusting—it's ironic, too, because many of the symptoms that are highly prevalent in anxiety are really commonly scorned within the same works.
@TheJynnieCity, that's actually really accurate. Feelings of dread and "something is going to go wrong" or "nothing is going to go right" (many a time for no particular reason) are repeatedly present in cases of anxiety, from my experience.
YES OMG THAT'S LITERALLY THE WORST!!!
Or anxiety is 'look at this pure nervous character uwu they're so socially awkward'
YES
Like, at least for me, my anxiety isn't 'omg a cute guy I like is at a party!! What will I do? I'll be awkward!' it's 'if you go to that place today something horrible will happen no matter what'.
Anxiety is a condition that I often see romanticized in media, and it's just disgusting—it's ironic, too, because many of the symptoms that are highly prevalent in anxiety are really commonly scorned within the same works.
@TheJynnieCity, that's actually really accurate. Feelings of dread and "something is going to go wrong" or "nothing is going to go right" (many a time for no particular reason) are repeatedly present in cases of anxiety, from my experience.
Exactly.
There is nothing romantic about sobbing in your room for 2 hours because you want to go to school, but your brain keeps telling you that something bad will happen, then falling behind in classes, etc.
Ayye if I'm permitted to add the whole trauma thing it really IS a lot easier to laugh about it and be all:
"like hey when I was a kid mum used to throw things at us and there was this one time she threatened to kill us all and then herself with a butchers knife and then when my parents divorced dad ended up being the abusive one haha thanK GOD I'm not like that around kids right lmao that would be wild and yeah anyway that's the tea"
but then people look at you like ????????wut and then you realize that the portrayal of horrible events in the media is always dealt with in really dramatic anger or sadness and nobody really recognizes other reactions as valid coping methods for very real events and everybody assumes that youre just making things up or youre totally psychopathic for laughing about things like that and wow i dont think i used a single full stop and grammarly is yelling at me right now
Same. I use so much dark humor to cope with the fact that I was suicidal for a time, and I hate when people judge me for it. I understand that they're concerned for me though, which I appreciate in a way.
oh honestly same
i casually mention what pieces of shit my parents are every once in a while and then list the short version of the reason all my friends look So Concerned and every time i'm like "wait fuck you guys actually like your parents oops"
Also Manic Pixie Dream Girls, Manic Pixie Dream Boys, Goth Pixie Dream Girls, and everything like those can die, or any tropes where the Love Interest isn't a fully-fledged character in their own right.
Depressed Ogre Nightmare Man can stay though.
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