So my friend Phoenix and I are on the subject of mental disorders in RP characters. I thought this was interesting, because mental disorders are hardly ever played out in rps, or they are just done very poorly.
Phoenix joined my site Were Myths (more info below) and her character is a Were with Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD).
We were character plotting because my character (we'll call him Fred) is going to be her character's (we'll call him Bob) older brother. Fred also caused Bob's MPD. Fun.
But while we were talking, some things I noticed she mentioned about Bob's MPD that I think are common misconceptions of the disorder. I also included a few other things I believe are common misconceptions (I had these too before I learned more about MPD):
1. The personalities are based on emotions
She mentioned that two of Bob's MPs are fear and anger. A personality cannot be fear or anger individually. They may be a result of that emotion or triggered by that emotion, but they are not that emotion personified. The personalities could also heavily express those emotions, but they can express other emotions as well. They may start out as little clouds of emotion, but they will eventually develop into their own personality with different thoughts, viewpoints, behaviors, etc.
2. The personalities are very different from one another.
While there can be defining characteristics that set one apart from the other, the personalities can also mirror each other or be exactly the same.
3. It is very obvious someone has MPD.
No. And I am saying this as someone who knows. Someone I Know (SIK) was diagnosed with MPD just a few months ago. They had it since they were a kid. They are now a teen.
4. The personalities all are trying to protect the person. OR All the personalities are bad. OR All the personalities are good.
No. This is another extreme from "they are all different" to "they are all one thing". The personalities can be good or bad. They could try to protect the real person by using destructive behavior or could protect the person by merely taking over and seeing the bad things instead of the real person.
THEY CAN ALSO HARM THE PERSON. SIK was badly injured by one of their personalities once, and I mean BADLY.
5. My character has three personalities. That's a lot.
No. Most people with MPD have about 40. SIK currently has 10 KNOWN personalities. They probably have more that aren't showing themselves yet.
6. MPDs don't have names. That's a myth.
FALSE! SIK's guardian personality named itself Seven. The others have not revealed their names yet.
7. MPDs are super smart and powerful and stuff.
Debatable. The personalities are limited mostly by the real person. Personalities are also created by a break in the real person's psyche. This break is an actual trauma to the brain. The personalities are usually stuck at the same age level that the trauma happened. Some may grow and adapt as the real person grows and adapts, but some tend to stay at that level. (I believe Seven and 'the bad one' are stuck at age 8).
8. People who suffer from it don't know it.
Some are aware. Some are not. Most of the time, they have to be told about it. There are also those who may be able to talk or hear their other personalities talking to them.
Here is a link about how to treat these people.
Here also is a link about more on MPD (Note: they say that most people have 10, but the psychologist who treats my friend says the number is 40)
Also a note: I do not know everything about this disorder. Just some basic facts 3
So that was a blurb about MPD. Aren't mental disorders interesting? I mean that seriously. Granted, I thank God I do not have one. It can be terrible for those who do. But it is an interesting thing to explore in writing. Especially since so many people get things wrong about them, I think it's time a few people get it right.
And that brings me to my next point: I've been thinking about adding RP Help stuff to this blog. Just little paragraphs or links to other blogs that can help advance our rp experience, from stuff like a description on MPD to other stuff. Thoughts?
And now, Sitelies: all the sitely stuff.
Were Myths. I mentioned it before. It is now open. Again. Got two members (including Liam) and my friend Frosty will probably be joining (and she'll probably join Mercury too)
That's all for now. Peace out minions!
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