I've done minor research on the subject, but I don't wanna try and create a character suffering such a thing without completely knowing what I'm dealing with here. Does anybody have any experience with paranoid schizophrenia? Does anyone know someone who's suffered it? I could use any and all advice on writing such a character.
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But the only "experience", i suppose, is from watching Heroes.
There's a character(s) called Niki who has her dead sister in her persona, Jessica. Jessica is alot stronger (physically). There's some great one-liners from their scenes, and seeing Ali Larter's portrayal will help alot understand the depression. I know it's a television show and not a piece of writing, but it can still help i suppose.
Good Luck - i find schizophrenia intriguing.
"Who needs God when you've got me?" - Jessica Sanders
"Didn't I throw you out a window?" - Jessica Sanders
Edit: just noticed the original post for this is from 2009, so I'm not sure if they're still looking for this type of information. But nevertheless, it's always good to have resources about mental illness in case others are looking. ---
I can help with diagnostic criteria-type things and general information about the disorder - I have a masters in clinical psychology (but I do not work with seriously mentally ill clients). But, the best way is to talk to real people with schizophrenia because only they can tell you what it's really like to have it. I think this is what you're trying to do which is great. Look for blogs or documentaries that feature individuals with schizophrenia - tagging @Rosendorn because I've seen her pass around an awesome link to a blog (I think) that has resources for writing about all types of mental illnesses and other things, but I can't remember what it is.
My best advice other than to do a ton of research is to not reduce the character to a stereotype/cliche/caricature. What I mean by this is that while paranoid schizophrenia is a very serious mental illness and often affects many areas of a person's life, there is so much more to a person than their mental illness. So think about what is going to shape this character in addition to the mental illness and then how the mental illness will affect those things. Maybe this character collects rocks and enjoys singing karaoke and their best friend is a dog. Cool. Then how does having paranoid schizophrenia impact those other things this person enjoys and does?
Also, I've seen people with paranoid schizophrenia portrayed time and time again as bad/evil/villains/dangerous in some way. I don't know if this is your plan for this character or not, but if this is a direction you're thinking of going, I'd invite you to consider how these stereotypes impact real people with schizophrenia. The vast majority of people with serious mental illnesses are not violent or dangerous and are way more likely to be victims of a crime than the perpetrator of a crime. Just some food for thought
Hit me up with any questions you may have and I'll do my best to answer or at least attempt to steer you in the right direction!
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However, and this is a big however, these blogs do not exist for writers' consumption.
I do not actually know of any blog for writing that specifically discusses schizophrenia (I mostly link Writing With Colour, which is for PoC issues!), and the closest I know are guides like this, which I can't actually vet for accuracy because I am not schizophrenic.
But, back to my "big however."
Blogs about a person's life with a disability are not places to go for inspiration. Research, yes. Inspiration, no.
Allow me to differentiate.
Research is when you learn a whole lot about a group of people in order to inform your own choices about a character. So if you see a symptom cropping up in various ways for paranoid schizophrenics, chances are that's a symptom you should include— tailored to the character and impossible to pin back to any one source. It simply lines up with the schizophrenic experience because of your research.
Inspiration is when you read about schizophrenia and start to pick recognizable stories to inform your character. This one particular story looks good, so you take that one particular story and build it into your own. This is using a person (or people's) experiences for your own gain, without their consent.
It's different if the figure is in the news, a celebrity, or otherwise public. Once a story goes public far enough, taking it to build into your own character becomes less ethnically dodgy. However, it's still a little ethnically dodgy, so use caution and research to expand upon the experience. But private blogs are not for inspiration.
And after all that's said and done— get a sensitivity reader who is a member of the group you're writing about. Preferably, get two or three. This helps catch any glaring mistakes, but isn't perfect.
A writer is a world trapped in a person— Victor Hugo
Ink is blood. Paper is bandages. The wounded press books to their heart to know they're not alone.
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