What's the trick to effectively role-playing a character afflicted by mental illness (insanity)?
>>46235448
You don't, because if you don't have a mental illness yourself, your portrayal of it is just going to boil down to "LOL SO RANDUMB!" and probably piss off everyone else at the table.
>>46235448
First and foremost: don't make it define the character or his/her behavior
>>46235448
Method acting.
Get yourself submitted to a mental health ward for 3 months.
Then you will be ready.
>>46235488
>don't make it define the character or his/her behavior
How exactly does one make constant irrepressible urges that go against every social custom merely incidental and not 'defining'?
>>46235448
Don't just jot down "cuhrazy" on the character sheet. Figure out what they have, how severe it should be, and what the symptoms are. I'm no expert but even I know that "lol randumb" is not how people afflicted by mental disease act. A lot of them are actually really focused on something. A recurring urge or hallucination. A phantom that constantly follows them. Figure out what that focus is for your character and have them interact with it consistently through the lens of their illness.
>>46235488
Second: don't choose any illness that's really big business - you most likely won't ever have a chance to play it appropriatly when you've never experienced it
Third: inform yourself as much as you possibly can, read medical stuff AND reports from patients
Fourth: give as much control over it to your GM as possible - an illness isn't controled by the patient
>>46235488
>>46235587
You're also going to have to do some research, as crazy isn't like how it looks in the movies. One would have to do some studying up on their specific illness and do their best to understand it.
>>46235528
>constant irrepressible urges that go against every social custom
That's already bad character design, because he/she would be unable to work with a group for a prolonged time.
That's a one-shot at most and even then you most likely should keep your distance to the idea, if you're not 1000% sure you will play it well.
>>46235448
Speak entirely in word salads.
For the medical classification the ICD-10 is a good start to search for information.
There are other but this is the one from the World Health Organization, so it has its value.
>>46235528
Because the people that function like that don't function and wouldn't work as a character. Playing a catatonic schizophrenic would not be a rewarding scenario because all you would do is sit around with a weird look on your face without the ability to engage in the world. Instead a more controllable mental illness, the ones you'd find in people who are still able to function and do things, are more insidious in that they're more easily controlled and maintained but pop up at your times of absolute weakness. To RP this right essentially wait until your character is at their lowest and then give up on getting back up. Please don't actually do this OP, mental illness is not fun in anyway and if you do this right rather than acting like schizophrenia somehow equivocates to a berserker blood-lust/rage you won't be enjoying your time at the table and neither will your party.
>>46235782
Isn't the ICD just a diagnostic key though?
>>46235880
>Instead a more controllable mental illness
Necrophilia perhaps?
>>46235933
Too situational. True kleptomania ishilarious[\spoiler] no laughing matter.
>>46235926
That's right and the reason why I said it's "a good start"( and only that). At least it gives you symptoms associated with a given mental illness.
>>46235687
>You're also going to have to do some research, as crazy isn't like how it looks in the movies.
On the other hand, movie crazy is playable.
>>46235974
I add: and it's at least something you can find more usuable stuff with when you google it (+ some more keywords)
>>46235970
Things like this would be better.
OP you're looking low grade behavioral disorders so that your character will have extra quirks rather than truly debilitating mental illnesses that often make it difficult to function in our society. Still though I don't think you'd need to classify these ticks in your character's personality as mental disorders when you could just make it a part of their identity. A disorder is by definition detrimental to a person's ability to function.
>>46235448
>Play Apocalypse World
>Play Brainer
>dress like a sadomasochist cowboy (basically depeche mode)
>Play him as Lawful Evil
>Constantly describe how every little thing I find is significant, and a sign sent specifically to me by the angel of the apocalypse
>Narrate my own actions as those of someone who is dealing with a vast conspiracy of Forces Beyond Others Ken and by God, I will understand who is out to get my friends and make them pay
>Develop strange bonds with people -- like a loving devotion to the Battlebabe, even when she's yelling at me, I know she's doing it to fulfill her destiny, which I will be present for
>Wear mirrorshades and a cowboy hat. We don't want people seeing the Power and Glory behind our eyes, do we? It would hurt them.
>Take on roles that no one asked me to take on, like being sheriff of the town, because I have a duty to fulfill
>Arrange for other people to be harmed, so that they will not become complacent, and they can see the holiness of one another's blood.
>Use as few words as possible when communicating with others, so that their primitive minds will not misconstrue my True Meaning
>Make occasional speeches about Pain and it's importance
>Tell my friends how well they're doing and how much I approve of their latest endeavor, no matter how small. It's important for the troops to see you appreciate them. Give them small gifts to encourage them.
Basically, I played a cat.
>>46235448
Depends on the particular brand of insanity, are you the "I know a spell that'll make you show me your true form, a cave rat taught it to me" type, or the kind that feels the urge to wear people's faces and BATHE IN THE SWEET, SWEET RED?
I'd avoid it, honestly, most people use "I'm cuhrayzee, lol!" as an excuse to be a total shithead.
Just be yourself.
>>46235448
have a mental instability
>>46236133
That's, most likely, crazy enough!
>>46236191
Which one should I get?
Are any of them contagious?
>>46236215
Can you see the penguins too? They give me strawberries sometimes.
>>46236215
i've got PTSD (fixed the anger/rage/night terrors with strong doses of 25i nbome in conjunction with prozac that kinda burnout the anger response)
and hypomania (slippery slope into either depression or full mania)
i'd go with hypomania. i'd rather laugh and not sleep, than not sleep and drink alcohol with a loaded handgun behind the wheel of a buick.
>>46235448
A character with mental problems is not stupid. They are not random. They are not weird. They are -injured-, mentally. Characters with mental illnesses can be fun and memorable characters, but you can't make a character whose "shtick" is a missing leg. It's just really shallow and dumb and you should have more characterization than that. In the same way you can make a character who is depressed or schizophrenic but for whom that illness is just a larger piece to the puzzle.
>>46236783
If you go for the missing limb, reminder that phantom pains are a thing. I.e. when you feel like your missing limb hurts. You can't do anything about it because it's not like you can treat a missing limb.
Paranoia is also a good one. Suspecting everyone of everything and never parting with weapons is fun. Bonus points if you are perceptive enough to figure out secrets without using social mechanics and one of your crazy conspiracy theories turns out to be true. You get to be the "RIGHT ALL ALONG, GUYS, WHY DID YOU NOT LISTEN" guy.
Not a mental disorder, but consider narcolepsy (the inability of your brain to regulate sleep/wake cycles which causes you to randomly be sharp awake or really sleepy, plus hallucinations).
>>46235448
LSD
S
D
>>46235448
>protip: never play a depressed character(it isn't fun to play, and it isn't fun to play with[I have ruined 2 games by trying to play a depressed character])
Other than that, the best thing is just to act normal. Your character needs to be functional to not make the game cumbersome. You have to be extremely subtle and like >>46235488 said, don't let it define your character.
Basically, it boils down to down to, don't. Most people wouldn't know their friend had a mental illness unless they were told, unless that mental illness was really bad and if it was, then it would probably get in the way of the game.
If you do absolutely have to have a mental illness character, then talk it over with the GM and decide which illness would work for the game and listen to your GM if they tell you not to do it.
>>46235448
First, any some fucking idea what the specific mental illness is like. Some misconceptions are cringe worthy.
Don't do depression.
Your character may act completely alright most of the time.
In a way, being crazy is having a point of view suported by clear reasons, but no one else agrees with the view or the reasons. Crazies have a personal logic, there is no "randomness".
Watch 'Shutter Island', 'The Wall'*, 'Spider' by Cronemberg and 'Naked Lunch'
*The main character is a textbook portrayal of a borderline disorder. I can personally atest to that, as well as the person which tested me and my former psychopathology teacher.
>>46235508
sure thing mister Castaigne
>>46235448
Well the closest I did was play a chaotic neutral Tengu rogue called Choop Choop Bahwhoop, Who was addicted to fucking everything..
EVERYTHING
to play him I turned my mental filter off, took on some stereotypical druggy mannerisms *Like licking my teeth, rubbing my lips and snorting, chattering my teeth, and making weird noises that made it seem like my brain was frying in my head like Nrrrrreh* And spoke in an airless, slightly nasally voice as fast as I could, just making shit up as I went along.
Most fun I've ever had in table top, and also my most memorable character besides a Gay gnome merchant who's voice was horribly high pitched and lispy, and constantly cheery. Mentally scarred one player due to his sexual harassment
I had fun with that one as well
I read "A Clockwork Orange" and that helped quite a bit.
>>46239670
>one player
>PLAYER
this is dangerous levels of method
>>46239689
Well I didn't mean literally
He tried to kill him a few times and Gringot *the npc*, his voice, and his various catch phrases have become an in joke in our group
Anytime someone mentions him they make me do the voice
which is really fucking brutal on the lungs
and I am scared I'll get stuck in it someday, like unreasonably so
>>46235448
Just cast a female character
>>46235880
>catatonic schizophrenic
The DSM-IV called, it wants it's outdated classifications back
>>46235448
>mental illness
Mental illnesses do not exist.
>>46235448
Just act natural.
>>46236242
THERE ARE ALIENS INSIDE YOU.
ᵗᶦᶰʸ ᵐᵉᶰ ᶫᶦᵛᵉ ᶦᶰ ᵐʸ ᵇᵉᵃʳᵈ
>>46235448
Thoroughly research the disorder you are attempting to portray.
I did that once for Bipolar Disorder.
Put me straight off wanting to fucking play it, let me tell you.
Mental illness is usually some character trait that exagerrated to the point it eclipses and hinders other functions and can not be controlled. It might be anxiety that makes you stand in front of the door unable to open, or PTSD that makes you duck and cover whenever you hear loud noise or getting mad at slightest provocation.
>>46236075
By CID definition. But some 'disorders' are really just, "you don't work like the ideal repressed 1950's paradigm cake doll"
See ADD, transgender expression, pyromania
>>46236086
That sounds like a genuine schizophrenic.
>>46239655
This reference is too obscure for me to follow.
A common aspect of mental illness is lack of self-awareness. This isn't just being randumb, but literally having no idea what everyone else has a problem with. They can't (or can only very rarely) step outside of their own head and look at their actions - everything makes ironclad sense to them, and everyone else is wrong.
So I don't recommend it. If you do it properly, you will probably hate yourself, and everyone else will hate you too.