2.6 Applying Psychology – Disorder as Character

( Due: Sun, 16 Jan | Status: Not Completed )

1. The DSM-IV-TR is the definitive work on clinically recognized mental illness in the United States. It is used somewhat internationally, but it is far from universally recognized. It is published by the American Psychological Association (APA), and we’ve already noted that American psychology had tended more to repudiate than to correct previous models. With that caveat in mind, we’ll be using it as the model of “contemporary” psychiatry.

2. The APA has attempted to make the DSM as practical and scientific as possible: it contains no speculation on the underlying nature of the human psyche or the hidden mechanisms of conscious and unconscious thought, though it does assume the existence of unconscious thought (but not a specific structure of unconscious thought).

3. Read the following pages (all linked to through MedlinePlus):

Anxiety and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder:

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/obsessive-compulsive-disorder.shtml

Depression:

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/depression-easy-to-read/index.shtml

Bipolar Disorder:

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder/complete-index.shtml

Antisocial Personality Disorder (Sociopathy):

http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/antisocial-personality-disorder/DS00829/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print

Borderline Personality Disorder:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/borderline-personality-disorder/DS00442/METHOD=print

Dependent Personality Disorder:

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/personality_disorders/hic_dependent_personality_disorder.aspx

Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality):

http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Helpline&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=20562

Narcissistic Personality Disorder:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/narcissistic-personality-disorder/DS00652/METHOD=print

Paranoia:

http://www.nmha.org/go/information/get-info/paranoia-and-paranoid-disorders

Schizotypal Personality Disorder:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/schizotypal-personality-disorder/DS00830/METHOD=print&DSECTION=all

Paranoid Schizophrenia (“Psychosis”):

http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/paranoid-schizophrenia/DS00862/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print

Shared Psychotic Disorder:

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/psychotic_disorder/hic_shared_psychotic_disorder.aspx

MedlinePlus is a US government-maintained website, part of the National Library of Medicine. It is intended to provide highly reliable medical information to the general public. You may find it useful in doing all sorts of medical research for your writing, including physical injuries, chronic disease, and inventing plausible (fictional) diseases and treatments.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/

4. Consider the following:

a. How might you use a personality disorder to complicate or help develop a character?

b. Would you need to alter the condition to make it work in your story? How could you do that while being respectful to the real illness and those suffering from it?

c. Some psychological disorders have been overused in fiction, especially multiple personality disorder. Think hard before giving your villain multiple personalities or making him or her schizophrenic.

5. Read the “Applying Psychology” Keynote.