A list of young adult books featuring characters with. Finding movies about mental health especially ones that accurately represent what its like to live with mental illness can often be difficult. The main character is zeno cosini, and the book is the fictional characters memoirs that he keeps at the insistence of his psychiatrist. Mental illness is a mental or behavioral pattern which causes strife or anguish to ones life. As a result, elsa developed disorders like paranoia and agoraphobia. If they lived among us and were judged the way you and i are, they would be in major trouble. Multiple personality disorder mpd this one is pretty self explanatory in my opinion. Mental illness affects about one in five american teens. Superheroes and villains who are mentally ill screenrant. Suffers of mpd are characterized with having at least one altered personality. Which welldeveloped fictional characters show classic. There is something about mental disorders that makes a movie all the more enthralling.
These include behavioral or chemical dysfunction, abnormal disorders, intense fears, chemical dependency and, natural to comics, exposure to substances which affect a persons thought process and actions. Elsa one of the main characters in the hugely successful disney movie frozen was born with the magical ability to produce and manipulate ice and snow. This is the first booklength study on ya fiction and mental illness since the boom in publication of so many such novels that began in the early 2000s. This personality or personalities occur spontaneously and function independently. Calvin schizophrenia calvin is a sixyear old boy from the famous comic strip calvin and hobbes, with a stuffed tiger named hobbes. Fictional books about mental illness what lauren did today. A mythical character created through an internet photoshop competition in 2009 which has been picked up and used in hundreds, maybe thousands, of fictional stories written by fans all over the world. T his was not a video game, a film or a television series which can be blamed for encouraging these children to carry out such a violent act, but an internet meme. We asked people from our mental health community who live with depression to share one character they relate to.
Movies that feature characters dealing with mental illness. The game silent hill 2 of the same genres contains three major characters struggling with mental illness. While most of these characters have suffered from mental illness at some point in their career, the struggle for antman, aka giant man, aka yellowjacket, aka goliath, has been ongoing. The characters are very lovable, and it is nice to see how they come together in this story and show that mental illnesses and disabilities dont have to hold people back. Ya books featuring characters with mental illness by stepha89 a community created list. Autistic spectrum lisbeth salander in millenium trilogy. Comic book superhero helps fight stigma surrounding mental. These authors create wellrounded characters that go through mental health challenges because it makes them relatable to the millions of people who live with mental health conditions everyday. Its unlikely that the writers who created these characters consciously decided they would give them an undiagnosed mental disorder as one of their traits. Unfortunately, the handling of his erratic behavior has been, well, erratic. It stems from a need to understand, a confusion over what each of us believes is similar and different in perspectives and actions and a desire to see the particular illness done justice rather than being. Handled with care, a character with mental illness can not only enliven a storyline but also open readers eyes to new experiences and perspectives. Many of these authors experienced mental illness themselves firsthand, and their work reflects some of their own personal struggles. This list is comprised of roughly onethird poc characters.
Not the taboo subject it once was, mental illness offers rich territory to explore in books for kids and teens. It is pretty clear that carrie took liberally from her own challenges with mental illness and drug abuse to write this entertaining fictional tale. Turtles all the way down by john green, challenger deep by neal shusterman, the bell jar by sylvia plath, its k. My experience reading this book was so cathartic and cleansing. Scarlett ohara gone with the wind the archetypal character with histrionic personality disorder. This book explores how mental illness is portrayed in 21stcentury young adult. Characters are allowed to come down from the attic and tell their own stories. Here are five popular fictional characters with mental illness. Her early inability to control her powers resulted in some terrible events such as nearly killing her own sister. Movies that feature characters dealing with mental illness talking to kids about depression, anxiety, or other mental health issues can be tough. What fictional characters have mental disorders, and what.
Pope ponders a year of recovery from a suicide attempt, subsequent hospitalization and diagnosis of bipolar disorder, comorbid migraines, and medication trials that. This study is thoughtful, thorough, and well organized. This book explores how mental illness is portrayed in 21stcentury young adult fiction and how selected works can help teachers, librarians, and mental health professionals to more effectively address the needs of students combating mental illness. The story is mainly about trixie, a fourteen year old girl who claims to have been date raped.
On mentally ill fictional characters there is something very interesting in writing, reading and watching mentally ill fictional characters. Multiple personalities temperance brennan in bones. Thirteen portrays this kind of mental illness in such a way that it not only showcases the signs and symptoms of the individual suffering from the. These movies feature characters living and often struggling with mental illness and can help kids understand more about this often sensitive subject. In recognition of mental health awareness month, i have composed a list of several pieces of literature, mostly fiction, that examine the topic of characters suffering from mental illness. This is increasingly reflected in young adult fiction, as recent surveys indicate one quarter of the genres titles feature characters with psychological disorders. Mcmurphy, some of literatures most memorable characters have suffered from mental illness, and its fascinating to see how their. Unless youve been living under a rock for the last ten or so years, youve probably noticed an emerging trend on the internet as well as on tv. How to treat mentally ill characters when writing a novel. So i have compiled a list of five recent uk books which accurately portray characters coping with various mental illness and mental health issues and suicide loss. The fictional characters with psychological disorders are listed below. Why these beloved harry potter characters almost definitely have a mental illness. While most of us have actually grown up watching cartoons. Because fictional characters can help us understand our own stories as well as help us overcome our struggles, w e wanted to know what characters people with depression identify with.
The word histrionic refers to theatrical or acting. There is a great tradition of mental illness in fiction. Pages in category mental illness in fiction the following 6 pages are in this category, out of 6 total. For mental health awareness month, we break down the various mental illnesses in harry potter. Prof writes book on mental illness portrayals northern today. Stories chronicling the struggles of young people and their friends, siblings, or parents who suffer from anxiety, depression, obsessivecompulsive disorder ocd, agoraphobia, an eating disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, hypochondria, and other illnesses make for engrossing. Books that feature characters dealing with mental illness. Kia jane richmond this book explores how mental illness is portrayed in 21stcentury young adult fiction and how selected works can help teachers, librarians, and mental health professionals to more effectively. These characters have such glaring and longenduring mental disorders that theres no way they could escape years of therapy, and possible institutionalization. Here are 33 of the best examples of how mental disorders have been featured in films.
Writing fictional characters with disorders, disabilities. Maybe they were just borrowing behaviors of a quirky friend, or maybe the writers suffered from the disorder and wrote the characters to mimic their own life. The last few decades have brought improvement in the way mental illness is treated and the way it is portrayed in literature. Mental illness is an area frequently misunderstood by authors and readers alike. The tenth circle by jodi picoult was a book i read a very long time ago, in fact i think it was the first mental illness book id read. Common sense media editors help you choose books that feature characters dealing with mental illness.
When the media we consume seems to always depict people with mental illness as dangerous or scary, it can be easy. The first week of october is recognized as mental health awareness week, while in november we recognize international survivors of suicide loss day. It starts with an introductory chapter that includes helpful definitions of mental illness and statistics about mental illness and teens. The temptation to examine the human condition through characters who think or behave in ways we find strange is a common theme in literature, and yet more and more of society is waking up to the fact that frivolous depictions of mental illness can have serious realworld implications. Northern michigan university english professor kia jane richmond has published a new book that explores how real struggles such as anxiety, depression, schizophrenia and.
Ya books about mental illness and mental health book riot. Ya books featuring characters with mental illness by stepha89 a communitycreated list. Calvin believes that hobbes comes to life when no one else is around, helping him fight enemies, complete science projects and reflect upon philosophies of life. For more, check out 6 beloved characters that had undiagnosed mental illnesses and 22 things movies get completely wrong about mental illness. Symptoms involve constant seeking for approval, inappropriate seductive dressing or behaviour, and being overly dramatic and emotional, traits ohara has. Fictional characters with psychological disorders flow. Later, books would introduce readers to evil nurses, forced lobotomies, and botched. Ya books featuring characters with mental illness the seattle. Most of the time, the authors integrate the theme of mental health organically, in a way that proves how common mental illness actually is. Many seemingly innocent cartoon characters should count their lucky stars that they live in an animated, fictional universe. Exploring real struggles through fictional characters paperback.
This list is for the best characters, not the best books. Support crackeds journalism with a visit to our contribution page. Given the prevalence of mental illness, you might ask yourself if your characters arent a little too sane. It is a common weakness to characters in comic books and a somewhat poorly used trope. Mental illness in young adult literature by kia jane. Best mentally ill characters this list is for the best characters, not the best books.