it's not impossible for people to write about mental illnesses they don't experience personally, but as someone that does have a mental illness that I've had to suffer a lot of backlash for because of how media depicts it, I agree with Ghoul Scouts. you should do a lot of research and aim to accurately portray each mental illness rather than worry about how to entertain people with them. people worrying about entertainment above accuracy is how I ended up suffering for people's uneducated ideas about mine. I don't know if you have intentions of using bipolar disorder in your story but if you do, I don't mind answering questions. sometimes it can be easier to ask someone that knows personally.
and rereading that, this comment kind of seemed like an attack but it really wasn't. I appreciate when writers write about mental illnesses. you just have to be wary when it's not something you know personally.
If you are going to have mental health issues you never experienced or know a lot of, make sure you do plenty of research on it! I will check out your story.
and rereading that, this comment kind of seemed like an attack but it really wasn't. I appreciate when writers write about mental illnesses. you just have to be wary when it's not something you know personally.