Can People Who Write About Schizophrenia Do Some Research Please? - Comments

Wow, I thought the aluminum foil hat thing was a joke; well, not really a joke but not something people actually used seriously when writing about schizophrenia. I didn't know people actually took it seriously and turned it into a stereotype. I have a character that's supposed to be schizophrenic but I have yet to publish anything because I want it to be perfect. I've been doing research into it for months now.

...I'm still not over this aluminum foil hat thing. Wow.

@ l0se c0ntr0l I've noticed that the smaller or briefer the scenes, the less likely it ends up being cliche. Usually, when it's a main character or a major part of a setting, you start to notice the lack of depth.

I wrote about it once, for a very small moment. A character was diagnosed with it after showing symptoms of paranoia and thinking that things were after him. I think I carried it out well, too.

@ The Blind Banker Oh, I'm not saying they can't. But I've read like, a dozen stories on FictionPress and various fanfiction websites where hearing voices is treated as the defining symptom. In one story, this doctor oversaw a ward of schizophrenic patients and every single one of them behaved the same way. And he wouldn't admit this teenage girl because she didn't hear voices, like that meant she wasn't schizophrenic. And I'm like, what about all the other symptoms? Too many writers just aren't looking into the symptoms and cherry-picking and stereotyping.

Hearing voices is one of the earliest signs, and one of the most common. It's the easiest to write about, but research into notable suffers is great, for the inspiration. If you're talking about doctors prescriptions tinfoil hats, bullshit. Suffers making tinfoil hats? Very probable. Schizophrenics often have delusions, sometimes they think the voices are transmissions from God ect. Schizophrenics can do anything, as another common symptom is being detached and confused with reality. I'm not saying ALL suffers are like this (it's equally important to remember very few are violent if it can be treated) but they are highly unpredictable.

@ little sparrow. Two members of my family and a close friend of mine have schizophrenia as well. And yes, I completely agree.

Double post, sorry

I cannot agree more, paranoid schizophrenia runs in my family and has effected several of my family members, so seeing it treated so irresponsibly makes me sick. I don't publish anything before I research it, and especially if it's something as sensitive as that, you need to do your homework.

@ ptvjaime
Yeah you got that right! And you're welcome!

@ xSweet.Afterlifex Thank you ;) Cancer is usually easier to write because they've nailed it so well in the medical world. There's books upon books and sites upon sites that tell you its entire evolution. With mental disorders, the history is hazy because most doctors had no idea what to do for a long time (which is where those lovely lobotomies come in, which could cause death and catatonia among other things). I have several people in my family alone with mental illnesses, so I tend to rely on what I can see and what they've told me doctors have told them, such as various symptoms to watch out for, etc. You can take different kinds of tests to determine a disease like cancer a good deal of the time. Mental illnesses can be so much harder, especially in people who are smart enough to know something is wrong and try to hide it.

@ ptvjaime
Yeah, definitely agree.

Also, I personally very rarely use mental disorders in my stories. Being someone with a few of the harder to diagnose disorders, or the weirder ones, I'll draw from that, or research what I don't know.

Mental disorders are harder to write than say (and sorry if this comes across rude, it isn't meant that way) Cancer. I have nothing against cancer, and have family members that are in remission or died from it. But the point is, it's easier to write, as are other more normal medical conditions or illnesses.

I have come across stories that have a medical condition, mental or otherwise, and I stop reading them if something isn't right, because it confuses me on the actual plot of the story.

And for the record, I don't feel as if you were calling anyone out in your blog.

@ Gansey. Schizophrenia comes up frequently in the fanfiction I read, actually. And if you read my comment, I do not read OF on Mibba. I read OF on FictionPress, a website dedicated to OF. And I tire of people not researching especially if the topic is the focal point of the story. Considering I have people in my life who have schizophrenia and live with it daily, it upsets me when people portray it incorrectly.

I've never read any fanfiction with that topic in it. But since you don't even read original, you might want to just stick to what you do write/read and leave other people alone. A lot of original writers don't research everything, and that's clear a lot of the time. But it doesn't mean you have to bug out over it. You're not going to stop people from writing how they do, and if they feel the need to research more or fix things, then they will.

Also, if you're calling someone out, own up to it.

@ Deus Ex Machina I have not read any of your stories as I do not read original fiction on Mibba. I primarily stick to FictionPress.

Pretty sure you're talking about mine because I did both of those things. I wrote that when I was 15 and admittedly didn't do much research back then.

@ xSweet.Afterlifex You didn't come off as mean at all. Of course some people do, but not all, and that's what I was getting at. Too many writers take this route of schizophrenia must involve hearing voices or it isn't schizophrenia. And to present a medical professional as stating a patient cannot be schizophrenic because they do not hear voices is ludicrous.

One of the reason why I won't have any of my characters have that illness. They may show characteristics of it, but many disorders have the same or similar symptoms. I have a co write in which the main character heard a voice, became the voice, all sorts, but would never diagnose it as anything other than an illness, and the character never got the chance to be diagnosed with anything really. We just had it that he wasn't well. I think the only disorders I would straight out have in stories are ones I have a good understanding of, such as PTSD - I suffer with that myself so I know what it can do, and that it is often misdiagnosed as other disorders - as mine was for a decade.

People do need to do research especially if they're going to name illnesses in their stories. If people are going to be specific over the issues their characters have yet don't have an understanding of said issue, then they need to do research or not write it.

any are reading this and want to know about what PTSD does to me and so on, I'm fine to talk about it and what caused it. I'd rather that than someone make up a load of bullshit about something they don't understand.

That's why I try not to write about something unless I know what I'm talking about, and look up things I am unsure about. For the record though, a person with the disorder CAN hear voices, but not all do. It depends on the personality of the current "person". I know that probably sounded weird, but it's true. But Schizophrenia is one of the harder disorders to write about.

But you are right. If you don't do research and want to write about that topic/subject, then you really shouldn't, because not only will it annoy people, but it could possibly offend someone.

I don't mean for this to be mean, and if it is in any way, I'm sorry.

That's why I always do research before writing.

That's why I tend to steer away from reading any stories with any kind of disorders on the net. I'm not saying that all authors that write about disorders on the net don't do their research but 9 out of 10 stories that I read that have this issue, they're always poorly written.