Forums » RP Discussion » Mental Illness and Roleplay

I want to chime in real quick. I don't have a diagnosed or suspected mental illness, this is more of a thank-you.

In my interactions and roleplays on RPR, I've been taught a lot about mental illness. I have had wonderful roleplays, occasionally with people in this thread, that have helped me catch a glimpse of different ways that people interpret the world, and social interaction. This has helped me in my interactions with real life friends who struggle.

For those of you that have been open with me, shared your characters and selves with me -- thank you. You've turned me into a better friend and companion to people in my life who need it.

And to the rest of you, who I haven't had the pleasure of playing with, thank you as well! Your presence here, in this community, really does mean a lot.

We you too Ben!

Not me! xD Just kidding! I love all the mods and Kim

sup y'all.

as it may be evident through what I RP (or who, rather, hahah) my main 'issues' are schizoaffective bipolar, meaning schizophrenia with a mood disorder hooray hooray, and OCD.

i could go on with a laundry list of acronyms and other big words that describe what's wrong with me, but don't really like these things to define me.

i do have to say it irritates me when people misrepresent the above mentioned diagnoses because ya know, it's not really any kind of fun or interesting having psychosis or intrusive thoughts and compulsions, but eh. i try not to let it bother me too badly.

RP helps though. it's a nice little escape and/or way to vent what's goin on in this thick skull of mine.

we are apparently a very diagnosed bunch of people, hahaha. i also find it very interesting to read through this thread because i can tell who's actually sought help or a diagnosis for their issues and who's not being honest... tut tut, folks.

It's not officially diagnosed, but I certainly have anxiety. I went to counseling during my college years (it was free, woot!) and I have learned how to cope with it most often. But there are still times when it just really kicks my butt and makes me miserable, because my anxiety triggers my body into giving me an upset stomach. I recently explained anxiety to one of my friends in this way; take normal fear, casual little fears that everyone has. Then turn the knob on that fear ALL THE WAY UP. Then the knob gets stuck, and you can't turn it back down. That's anxiety.
Sometimes stressful/exciting events will trigger my anxiety fits, like an impending first kiss or something. It really frustrates me because I know I'm supposed to be HAPPY about these things, not up till 3am throwing up.
I was RPing before I had anxiety, so I'm not sure how much of a coping mechanism it is. Sometimes when I'm on an anxiety fit I stay away from RP because my brain will try to give me anxiety about that too. But I do have a strong love of Netflix for those late nights when I'm up sick. My go-to show is 'Keeping Up Appearances', an old BBC comedy. If I'm feeling sick from my anxiety, I'll watch it until I either feel better or just fall asleep from exhaustion.
p.s. Anxiety is not fun when you're in a relationship.

I have ptsd with all the fixings anxiety paranoia d epresstion panic attacks. I am medication restsant so I handel it with our meds. Untill recently I was not able to do much of abything now i can hold a job ect but it took me years to get there. Rp always been a good coping skill for me.

This might just be me here, but I don't think it's fair to immediately assume someone has or has not sought help for an ailment just from them typing some words on a public forum. I mean, yeah, there are folks who are breaking down to the T what they suffer from (i.e., autism vs high-functioning autism/aspergers/etc, what bi-polar type they are, how they've coped, and so on) but there are some people for whom it may be difficult to get help or face the fact they may need to get help. For others, it's easier to just say "Yeah, I've got some anxiety," instead of going in depth with it.

Not trying to be a meanie or sound rude (really), this is just my opinion.

^^^ This.

Also, clinical treatment isn't the be-all-and-end-all with mental health. Some of us have had good results with modern medicine and psychology, but it's worth remembering that, probably more so than any other area of medical knowledge, mental health is still very unknown territory. Cultures from all around the world have different ways of healing the mind, and there is no perfect solution that will work for everybody.

I have run into people before who self-diagnosed serious conditions, and I understand where rule-63 is coming from. Diagnosis of mental health problems can be a long and gruesome process for those going through it. It took me over 4 years to go from "I think I need help" to getting a proper diagnosis with treatment, although my symptoms gradually started in my early teens. When someone comes along who goes "Oh this kinda sounds like what I have, I guess I have <condition>!" without seeing a professional about it, it really undermines the struggles people go through. Having someone pick at your brain and heart to figure out what's 'wrong' with you is not easy in any way, and for people to treat it so lightly can be hurtful.

There are also real dangers involved with self-diagnosis. Symptoms of a condition can vary per person, and multiple conditions can share the same symptoms. A therapist's initial diagnosis can change over time because the issues become clearer, new symptoms pop up and old symptoms go dormant for a while (which is in part what happened to Nova I believe?); it's a frequent occurrence that requires a change in treatment most of the time. If you self-diagnose and self-treat, you risk making things worse by misdiagnosing. It also seems common to diagnose other people, which is just as risky and bad on both ends.

I have a lot of thoughts on many of the things posted in this thread, but as Bones said it's really hard to tell from text alone. I know I spent countless hours researching my illnesses, both mental and physical, to get a better understanding of the diagnoses professionals made. Knowledge is power and empowerment. It doesn't surprise me that other people do it too, and I think it can offer comfort to those who feel alone in their situations.

If there's anyone who thinks they might have mental health problems but didn't see anyone about it, please reach out to a professional, for your own safety at the very least. If a therapist is out of your budget, I recommend seeing a social worker in your area. They usually know all the ins and outs on what programs are available to support you in getting a diagnosis and treatment and can give you a better chance. If you go to a school, you can see if there's a school counselor who can talk to you about your struggles.

Please stay safe out there!

i see i've ruffled some feathers, haha. okay.

BUT sanne makes a very good point about self-diagnosing being dangerous.

as for whether or not services are available, i would really love to argue that point. i'm well below the poverty line and get help at a state-funded psych hospital. there are always options. for anyone who thinks they don't have options, give a call to your local NAMI chapter and they should be able to find something that will be free whether or not you have insurance.

https://www.nami.org/Find-Support

finding case management services also helps. they're also free and generally state-funded. just give it a google search and results should pop up for your area. what they'll do is evaluate what your needs are (maybe you need a psych, maybe help with a job, a therapist, etc.) and get you a social worker to properly handle that.

mental health is like physical health in that you can mess yourself up trying to treat it without proper help or a proper understanding of what's going on.

Thanks for that info! I don't know the specifics of each country for such programs so this was very helpful.

A social worker seems to be a solid bet if you're not sure what services your country offers for people who can't afford a therapist. At best you receive the help you need right away, at worst you get a referral to someone who can help you along, so please do reach out to someone in that field if you're unsure!

Anxiety, Bipolar, Borderline Personality Disorder, ADHD, and OCD.

No feathers ruffled here, boss . I just see people jumping to conclusions a lot and it's a peeve of mine (not saying you do/did that, just that it tends to happen a lot). I wasn't trying to jump your butt or anything, broheim.

You bring up excellent points - there are several free resources you can use to better yourself or learn to control your diagnosis in a more manageable way. As someone who barely lives paycheck to paycheck, I actually didn't know about those, thank you for bringing those up. It makes sense if you think about it that there would be state or country sponsored facilities to help out but it can be difficult in figuring out what to do or where to go when you're first seeking help. For me personally, I was diagnosed first by my doctor, then a counselor followed up on it and agreed with the findings. Nobody thought about getting me evaluated by a 'real' mental health professional, but that happened to me probably 16-17 years ago now.

As someone who has an on-again-off-agaib relationship with his ailments, it does make me miffed when people fudge what they have or make things up entirely, I do agree with that.

Re: Sanne - while getting help is important for many people, I'd like to warn against preemptively trusting all professionals; I once sought help in a really difficult situation (recent death of close family member + suddenly no money + I was about to lose my job) when I was having very serious trouble coping and got paired with a free-of-charge psychiatrist. Now, psychiatrists in my country are basically MDs who are cleared to prescribe medications specific for psychiatric diseases. They have only very minimal compulsory training in psychology. So the psychiatrist told me that the family member never really liked me, that I should have seen the rest of my problems coming so the whole thing was basically my fault, and that children in Africa are starving and they are the ones with the real problems.

The whole experience was entirely bizarre. I couldn't believe it was happening. Later I was paired with an okay psychologist who was pleasant to talk to and might have helped a bit.

While I trust that mental health professionals who are this unprofessional are a very small minority, I'd still strongly recommend getting some information on whoever one is going to see, if possible. Or asking a friend who has had some experience with therapy for recommendations. Or just being prepared to switch to someone else if things don't go well.

Excellent point Alecia! I'm so sorry to hear you went through that, none of that is in any way okay.

I went through three different therapists; I was constantly told I was 'beyond help' and I needed to fix my living situation before I could work on myself (which I couldn't because my mental health was so degraded I couldn't even take care of myself properly, nevermind look into moving to a new place). One therapist suggested to me to stop therapy entirely and focus on other things before resuming.

I finally found someone who didn't dismiss me. I was given a different diagnosis initially and she suggested that I be partially institutionalized (weekdays only), but it was my call. I decided against and insisted I just get weekly to biweekly talking sessions (cognitive therapy) instead. Several years down the road, I'm finally in a stabilization phase and doing a lot better. Both my psychologist and psychiatrist agreed that I made the right call and it was good I insisted on what felt like the right thing to do, because it was.

If you're getting therapy, you need to do it with someone you feel comfortable with and whom you can trust. It's very important (and common) to 'shop around' for someone you're a good match with. While therapy includes exploring and nudging your boundaries, nobody should make you feel pressured into doing things you don't want. They should only encourage and guide while letting you do the walking.

It's rare to find the really bad ones in the bunch, but it's good to keep the above in mind even when you're seeing someone nice and who just isn't working out for you.

Thank you for making those great points, Sanne!

Thankfully the psychiatrist was so out of line that it was apparent to me even at the time. I actually think being told things like 'you're beyond help' by someone who seems reasonably competent is much worse because there's a high likelihood you might believe it! I'm really sorry people have to go through that kind of stuff But I'm glad you ended up finding good help after all!

ASD or whatever the newest renaming of Autism is today.

I'm bad off enough that I can't handle having a job(had a part time one for 10 years and wuit a few years aftet diagnoisis due to stress fonally getting too much to handle) or live by myself(haven't tried it but I often forget to eat and never clean if left on my own. I can clean but I'm sensitive to orders and would rather not do it. Yes part of it is me being lazy.)


I also have mild/very mild Cerebral Palsy - I think it might factor into my problems with balence (never learned to ride a two-wheeler bike) and that thing where I sometimes choke while drinking water(not laughing doing anything at the same time, I just randomly choke on water sometimes. Could be the CP don't know).

There is overlap I'm sure between AS and CP and I rarely can pick out anything that might be CP and not AS though I have both (also Asthma and really bad eyesight. Though on the plus side I've never had a cavity in my life.)

Sanne suggested I share after I mentioned it in the chat:

I went through that NAMI thing mentioned by rule-63 and found the branch for my state. I got a bit stuck though, since everything looked like it was for those who already had a diagnoses, and I'm in kind of a weird space where I don't know if I actually have a valid one on any accessible records. I readily admit that I'd have normally given up right then and there, but I decided to send them a message yesterday. I explained my situation, and that I was looking for an entry point.

I got an email back from them today. They took away all the excess of information and just sent me links to the things relevant to me. Links to apply for health insurance (which I have yet to get) and to find local assistance in filling out the forms. A number to contact about getting a mental health evaluation and links to a few local places I can contact directly if I'd rather skip the middle man. A link to a sortable list of sliding-scale and low-cost mental health providers (and an admission that the list was mixed and I'd have to sort it for what I felt was relevant). And contact information for my county's NAMI branch.

Got some better hope now that I don't have to keep dangling outside the system. I've known for a long time that plenty of resources exist, I've just always gotten stuck trying to find them and find a way in. And... I tend to be bullheaded about asking for help. Or rather, trying to avoid asking. Seems worth it, though.