Q&A December 2021 - Psychology Research

Happy New Year everyone,

I hope holidays are going well =)

I've been particularly productive this holiday season, as I've managed to finish (re)writing Daybreak volume 3. I'll make a post on the blog later on some of my thoughts and reflections on this volume, which is largely about how the differing perspectives of individuals create biases and conflict -- many of which can be resolved if we simply applied more empathy and looked at circumstances from another's point of view.

In the meantime, I have another Q&A from Patreons (or the only Patreon thus far who is asking questions).

Addicted_Reader: When incorporating mental illness into Daybreak, what was your process for making as well written as everything else you write? I understand that you don’t usually read fiction, and probably weren’t influenced by “mentally ill character” stereotypes, so I suppose that I am specifically asking if you either already knew how you would describe a bipolar character (and how you got that knowledge, if you’re comfortable sharing), or if you hit the books (and what that process looked like).

So first of all, I have a very low opinion of the way mental disorders are portrayed in mass media. This is largely due to the fact that most psychologists groan at the fact that the field that they dedicate their lives to is routinely misrepresented.

...I don't even know why. Because this is definitely a case where the reality is often more dramatic, and more interesting, than the stereotypes often embraced.

...Perhaps it's because we don't like to admit that most of us have some mental issues, so we don't want to see elements of ourselves in a 'mentally unstable' character?

As Psychologist Guy Winch once asked in a Ted-Ed presentation -- why do we take care of our physical health so much better than our mental health?

Me, I have no problem discussing mental issues. I started delving into psychology years ago because I know I have mood swings -- and when I reflect upon my actions I can tell where my moods made my behavior less logical, which led to a worse result. I get depressed when my expectations are crushed, and I become overconfident when events exceed anticipation. It took me years to judge exactly where I am in the spectrum. And writing Sylviane was part of this process.

It might surprise you that Sylviane isn't even that Bipolar. I've mentioned before that when writing Sylviane, I actually dug into the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), where I learned just how truly crippling a Type I or Type II Bipolar Disorder can be. Sylviane's symptoms are actually closer to cyclothymia -- mostly due to the fact her most intense episodes doesn't last long enough.

In terms of writing, I largely focused on two aspects -- the academic and the behaviorial. Sources like the DSM can tell me what the symptoms are. However they are not very good at explaining how it feels to have a mania episode, or to be on the receiving end. So for the behaviorial details I looked into articles, mostly from magazines, written about real people who are either bipolar or in a relationship with someone who is bipolar. Many of those include first hand accounts, descriptions that I can work into the writing directly.

Honestly, there really is no reason outside of laziness not to do proper research on a topic of interest these days. Unfortunately, I find that most fiction authors lack proper respect for the topics they tackle (not that saying there's aren't any, but they're rare), which is a big part of why I read so little fiction. Meanwhile, nonfiction has far less of a problem in this regard.