Something to laugh/cry about

I don't have time today for a "real" blog post, so here's something to make you happy (or cry, if it's true for you today):

Psychological Problems: PICA, PRESSURED SPEECH, PSYCHOGENIC PAIN DISORDER, and PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL DISORDER

I'm getting close to the end of this section of Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters. Thanks for sticking with me. Today's psychological problems include PICA, PRESSURED SPEECH, PSYCHOGENIC PAIN DISORDER, and PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL DISORDER. Those are some fun words to type. Now let's see what they mean and how they can be used to create a believable character for your novel.

PICA: "Abnormal craving for or eating of unusual foods, such as dirt or laundry detergent, seen in the emotionally disturbed and sometimes in pregnant women." I'll admit, the word "food" followed by "dirt or laundry detergent" brought a smile to my lips, but let's move beyond that little slip-up. The TV show Grimm used this in a much different manner, but the symptoms were the same: the sergeant ate the stuffing from pillows, a penny, and a strange assortment of other non-edible stuff. The comedic value was astronomical when it first happened. Then it became serious. If you use this in your novel, research it well so you do it justice. 

PRESSURED SPEECH: "Rapid speech accelerating out of control, so that words are sometimes jumbled or unintelligible." Again, I can see this being used for both comedy and drama, depending on how it's handled. In a side-kick who has a mild form, it could be used for humor. In a protagonist, it could be quite tragic. Again, research is paramount. I don't know enough about this to comment beyond the vaguest statements, but the idea could inspire someone out there.

PSYCHOGENIC PAIN DISORDER: "The manifestation of mental stress through physical aches and pains, which may be chronic or severe." I had a friend who suffered from severe pain, and her doctor told her it was all in her head. Later she was correctly diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I had terrible wrist pain long before carpal tunnel and repetitive motion syndrome were labeled, and my doctor tried to convince me it was all in my head. Then there are those people who experience pain when there is no identifiable/known cause. Maybe this is it. 

PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL DISORDER: "Any physical illness that can be traced to a psychological cause. Also known as psychosomatic disorder." I know less than nothing about this, so I'm not qualified to comment. However, the mention of it may spark an idea for you. How could you use this in a protagonist? Or would it work better for an antagonist? Is he doing bad things because of the pain he's in? 

Please share your ideas in the comments section. I love to hear from ya'll.

-Sonja

Psychological Problems: PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE PERSONALITY, PHANTOSMIA, and PHOBIAS

I'm digging through Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters. I'm still in the  section called PSYCHOLOGICAL/PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS, but I'm closing in on the end if you're getting bored. Check back in a day or two if that's the case. I'm skipping paranoia, paranoid schizophrenia, and pedophilia because I don't want to talk about them. That leaves PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE PERSONALITY, PHANTOSMIA, and PHOBIAS for today's discussion.

PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE PERSONALITY: "a manipulative, immature personality charactered by hostility, petulance, and fault-finding. One suffering from the disorder may express power through passive means, such as by being chronically late or forgetting. They may also alternate between being overly dependent and overly independent. A passive-agressive person placed in a work setting frequently destroys morale through childish or antagonistic behavior." This personality type is especially grating because no one wants to be around this guy. I can't see a way to make a sympathetic protagonist from this one, or an effective antagonist (unless you're writing chick-lit and you make the mother-in-law this personality type)  but this would make a great side-kick character or a lesser antagonist. Am I wrong? Can you think of any passive-agressive protagonists from literature that I've overlooked?

PHANTOSMIA: "Odor hallucinations." I'll admit, I've never heard of this one. I can think of a way to use it though: odors can be a strong trigger for memory, so I'm thinking of a character with a horrific past not worth remembering and a mild case of phantosmia that triggers these memories at the worst possible moments. A nice twist would be to bury a clue in those past memories that is necessary for overcoming/solving/reaching The Goal, therefore making the hallucinations a hated yet necessary thing. Any better ideas out there?

PHOBIAS: "an irrational fear of a particular person, place, or thing." These are so much fun to play with, especially if the phobia you've chosen for your character MUST be overcome before they can reach The Goal. McCutcheon offers a fabulously long list of phobias (and the technical term for each), but I'm not going to type them all. Many of them are common or overdone in literature/TV/movies, so I'm going to pick out the most interesting ones:

Blood

Blushing

Buried alive

Depths

Eating

Ghosts

Medicine

Open spaces

Responsibility

Committing a sin

Sleep

Solitude

Being Touched

Work

Do any of these stand out as something you could use? Share your idea with us in the comments section.

-Sonja

Psychological Problems: MISANTHROPY, MISOGYNY, NARCISSISM, and PANIC DISORDER

I'm sifting through Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters for character building goodness. I'm still in the  section called PSYCHOLOGICAL/PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS. Today's problems include MISANTHROPY, MISOGYNY, NARCISSISM, and PANIC DISORDER. There were a few in the list I skipped, either because they've been done so many times they're stale, or they're too yucky to talk about. Buy the book if you're interested.

MISANTHROPY: "A hatred for people." This could be mild, where your character takes a solitary job so he doesn't have to interact with people (and think of the tension when you thrust him into a position where he MUST interact with people!), or it could be severe. Think of Scrooge, Catwoman, or Iago from Othello. Misanthropy can be fun to play with for any character you create. Play around and see what you come up with.

MISOGYNY: "hatred of women." Villains.wikia.com adds to that definition: "...known for anti-female chauvinism, it can be physical or emotional abuse or it may be a deep-rooted prejudice against equal rights: a misogynist may see girls and women as evil, debased or even subhuman and mere objects. The level of misogyny can vary from a sexist attitude (chauvinism) to outright murder (some serial-killers)." While it's easy to see how this could apply to a bad guy (Norman Bates from Psycho, Joffrey Baratheon from Game of Thrones), do you think you could create a protagonist who has misogynistic tendencies and still make him sympathetic enough for readers to root for him? Might be tough...

NARCISSISM: "Excessive self-interest or self-love; self-centeredness." Again, this is a good one for antagonists (the meathead Gaston from Beauty and the Beast comes to mind), but could you create a decent protagonist with this one? He'd have to be super-charming and witty to overcome that ego, I think.

PANIC DISORDER: "a thought disorder, sometimes aggravated by a heart rhythm defect or other physical problem, in which anxiety spirals out of control. Signs of a panic attack include hyperventilation, racing heart, oxygen hunger and a feeling of impending doom. Such attacks can often be subdued by breathing into a paper bag." This could be a useful trait for a protagonist, especially if it's the character flaw/fear they must overcome to reach The Goal. This also makes great comic relief in a secondary character, if it's treated lightly or over-the-top.

Did any of these stand out and make you want to explore it further? Share your thoughts in the comment section, please.

-Sonja

Psychological Problems: MANIC-DEPRESSIVE, MARTYRDOM, MASOCHISM, MEGALOMANIA

Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters has a section called PSYCHOLOGICAL/PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS that I'm mining for useful stuff. Today's psychological problems include manic-depressive, martyrdom, masochism, and megalomania. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

The definition for MANIC-DEPRESSIVE PSYCHOSIS offered by McCutcheon reads like this: "a disease characterized by mood swings, from normal to depressed or from normal to euphoric, or a combination of both." I'm having a hard time commenting on this one because I don't know a lot about this condition, and it's a serious problem with some scary side effects, especially if medication is involved (or missed doses, which is worse). Do your research on this one if you use it, because if portrayed incorrectly, it could be a mess. However, mood swings without the manic diagnosis can be fun to work with, because characters who do unexpected things are interesting. 

MARTYRDOM: "'poor me syndrome,' a neurotic behavior in which one takes on too much responsibility, or blames oneself for everything negative that happens, in order to elicit sympathy from others." You've heard the saying, "no whining?" It applies nicely here. I can't think of a way to make martyrdom a trait for a protagonist because you want your hero to be likable and sympathetic. The martyrdom problem could be used quite nicely in a secondary character or the antagonist, though, especially for comedic purposes. 

MASOCHISM: I almost skipped this one because of the ick factor, but I'll include it because sometimes you need the ick factor in your book. McCutcheon offers this definition: "deriving sexual stimulation from being hit, dominated, or mistreated by another." I can see the antagonist's side-kick/minion suffering from this problem. Can you think of a way to make this one work for a protagonist? I'll admit, I'm stumped.

MEGALOMANIA: "Delusions fo grandeur; false belief that one is greater, wealthier, or more powerful than one really is." Again, I'll take a serious problem and turn to it for comedic effect by pinning this on the antagonist (pairing it with a mania would be even more fun). I believe Vizzini from Princess Bride may have suffered from a mild form of this, and that just proves my point. 

Come back next time for more intriguing psychological problems you could use to create believable characters.

-Sonja

Psychological Problems: MANIAS

Before Spring Break, I was discussing Marc McCutcheon's book  Building Believable Characters. (Note: I took two weeks for my break because that's how I roll.) The book has a section called PSYCHOLOGICAL/PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS, and I'm to the bit that lists mania types. The fun part of the list is the right column, which gives the technical name for the mania. Most of them I couldn't pronounce if you paid me. But they're fun to look at. However, the part that I found applicable to writing is the left column, which offers some manias that I'd never thought of before. Can you find a way to use any of these in one of your characters?

Let me back up a bit. McCutcheon first offers a definition of mania: "an excessive enthusiasm or obsession for something or someone; craze." Now consider the list he offers (minus the ones I thought were common, standard, or just wouldn't work in a novel):

Bathing/washing

Books

Cats/dogs/animals

Children

Dancing

Death

Demon possession

Eating/food

Fire

Flowers

Believing one is a genius (I can see the comedy in this one...)

Urge to kill

Money

Nakedness

Night

Pleasure

Religion

Sleep

Solitude

Sun

Talking

Wealth

Wine

Women

Woods

Work

As I typed the list, I thought of several ways to use these, but I'll admit my mind is running toward the humorous. The "enthusiasm or obsession" can run both positive and negative. For example, someone who's manic about books could either be a zealous collector that's pushed to a hoarding level, or someone who's terrified of books and refuses to crack a cover. Think how rough this person would have it if he were a college student or a librarian. Or the woman who's manic about bathing. She's either bathing thrice a day, or once a month. Both could have humorous or devastating effects on the character. 

What did you think of when you read the list? Did anything stand out to you as highly useful for a character in your novel?

-Sonja