Character's mother died giving birth to her, character's adopted mother was murdered, character was separated from her adopted sister and adopted father, character blames herself for several murders. How would this affect someone in real life?
It would really depend on the age at which these things occurred to the character (minus biological mother’s death.) If they can remember the traumatic events, or were present wen they happened, that would effect them differently than if they don’t remember the events at all and have always just been told that they happened.
She was a baby when her adopted mother died, and is 8 when she's separated from her foster family and blames herself for a all those deaths.
She has constant nightmares about how the deaths in her infancy played out.
Yeah then i have no idea…. sorry….
Hello?
Hi. It just occurred to me: how would she remember the deaths that occurred in her infancy?? Yes, they would leave an imprint on her mind, but children don’t start remembering clearly until age 3, more commonly after that.
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Okay, so I've got a character who has PTSD too, but his is mostly war-related, and survivor's guilt-type stuff, and I've been having the same issue with wanting to depict it right, not being sure how to keep it from being stereotypical, that sort of thing.
Different people, of course, have different blends of symptoms, and of course, there is no one truly "textbook" case. There are different forms of symptoms. (I got this info from verywellmind.com)
My friend sent this link to me. It has links to resources for writing all sorts of complicated characters, including those with PTSD. I hope this is helpful :)
@TurtleOfFreedom Read bec's comment, the very fact that both her blood mother and her adopted mother died (bleeding to death and struck by lightning) would probably invoke (probably exaggerated) nightmares.
But how would she remember those? She’s just been born for the first one, and was still a baby for her adopted mother’s death (which, by the way, is highly improbable.) idk I’m just bein difficult sorry
It’s not that she remembers them so much as it is she was told about them, and that in itself is traumatic. I’m no expert, but I think just the suggestion of such memories can trigger something, especially when it’s added with everything else she goes through later in life, so the symptoms show later. Also, I do know that children can have PTSD too (probably not a newborn), but I did read symptoms just show differently in someone very young (like under 6, I think?). One thing is a child might reenact the traumatic event.
Like, maybe being afraid of thunderstorms?
(Foster mother died by lightning strike.)
It’s not that she remembers them so much as it is she was told about them, and that in itself is traumatic. I’m no expert, but I think just the suggestion of such memories can trigger something, especially when it’s added with everything else she goes through later in life, so the symptoms show later. Also, I do know that children can have PTSD too (probably not a newborn), but I did read symptoms just show differently in someone very young (like under 6, I think?). One thing is a child might reenact the traumatic event.
My point here is, who is going to tell her how her birth mother died? She will remember nothing in her life, no details, until around the age of 3 like everyone else. She may remember a shadow, yes, (as in the general feeling of her environment,) but I just don’t see a foster home or the foster system telling their adopted child how their birth mother died, especially at such a young age.
Children might overhear a foster parent talking.
But why would the foster parent be talking about that?
Maybe someone else, a stranger, perhaps, asked about it.
I dunno bout you but I wouldn’t tell a stranger how my adopted kid’s birth mom died.
Maybe he was asking their ghosts a tad late?
Idk anymore lol