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psychobabble!
Went out to dinner with mum and Lauren, and ate too much Chinese. Bleh. Shall sit in front of computer all evening and attempt to write, I expect. Ceigo is making sulky eyes at me *bats him* so Quindlemire will probably take priority.
My mother is a lifesaver, though - we had a really long discussion about a lot of the aspects of MP, and ironed out a lot of the wrinkles. Many amendments were made, including some name changes, but I really need to work on Tasha's psyche. I've been poring over a book on teenage disorders that my mum gave me, and the section on mental disorders in Tink's psych textbook, and have run into some new facts. Working on it.
Basically, Tasha's complete withdrawal and assumption of a 'different' personality would not be classed as dissociative identity disorder (split personality) because he is still, technically, the same person. And there are no incidences of memory blanks when one persona takes over, as would normally happen. Tasha's problem in this are is not a mental disorder - it was enforced by his emotional environment, but is not a medical or mental state. It is simply the way he reacts to threatening situations and represses his personality in order to protet himself. When David and the others manage to draw him out of his shell, it takes slow adjustment of his personality and acceptance of new ideas - not the emergence of a completely different person.
Also, as far as I can tell, dissociative identity disorder does not occur in conjuction with schizophrenia. If Tasha does have schizophrenia, it would either be extremely severe or extremely mild, depending on the details of his 'hallucination' of Alex. A severe case would mean that Tasha hears voices and could very possibly think that Alex is real - however, he might have trouble giving a physical description, and would not be able to determine the details of Alex's character. Severe schizophrenia would also manifest itself in other symptoms such as disorganised speech and motor behaviour, neither of which are pertinent in Tasha's case. However, there is also the possibility that Alex was an 'imaginary friend' of Tasha's as a child, invented in the normal way, with a full background and physical appearance. A mild case of schizophrenia could mean that Tasha is aware on one level that Alex is not real, but suffers delusions that continue his reliance on ad communication with this 'friend' even up to the age of 18. He could also show symptoms such as diminished emotional responsiveness, which is an integral part of his planned character anyway.
The problem with this, though, is that again all Tasha's issues can be blamed on mental illness - and when I planned this story, it wasn't going to be about that. It was going to be the effect of abuse and conditioning on the psyche, not disease. Schizophrenia would also mean that medication and similar treatments would be needed, when what I wanted to show was interaction with other people slowly piecing Tasha back together. Alex could be a convenient invention of Tasha's simply to give him someone to talk to - an overactive imagination taken too far, not something actually wrong with his mind.
Tasha's father blamed him subconsciously for the death of his wife, and became depressed, alcoholic and dominating as a result, culminating in his forcing Tasha into hooking to earn money. As a result, Tasha is automatically obedient to any form of authority and believes that any sort of love will eventually become a betrayal. He also uses alcohol as an escape and is dangerously addicted to it - not in large amounts, just on a regular basis.
To sum up - Tasha is one fucked up kid. He has problems with relating to other people, mistrusts affection, shows emotions and opinions very rarely, and has an inbuilt tendency to be submissive and obedient. However, all of these are a result of his childhood, his father, and his life on the streets. His father was slightly mentally unstable, and perhaps Tasha has inherited just enough of that for his 'imaginary friend' to be taken a little further than normal.
God, I sound like a psychiatrist's report ^^
If anyone was actually crazy enough to read this, any input into whether this sounds at all plausible would be quite helpful.
Said farewell to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
brynushka today, with a picnic that involved bright pink cupcakes and the adornment of Ghandi's statue - have fun in England with teh hawt english dawgs, Bry. And go to as many cheese-throwing festivals as you can :P
Can't believe I spent almost an hour ploughing through Tasha's messed-up psyche. This fic wants to eat me. Am resisting. Sort of.
My mother is a lifesaver, though - we had a really long discussion about a lot of the aspects of MP, and ironed out a lot of the wrinkles. Many amendments were made, including some name changes, but I really need to work on Tasha's psyche. I've been poring over a book on teenage disorders that my mum gave me, and the section on mental disorders in Tink's psych textbook, and have run into some new facts. Working on it.
Basically, Tasha's complete withdrawal and assumption of a 'different' personality would not be classed as dissociative identity disorder (split personality) because he is still, technically, the same person. And there are no incidences of memory blanks when one persona takes over, as would normally happen. Tasha's problem in this are is not a mental disorder - it was enforced by his emotional environment, but is not a medical or mental state. It is simply the way he reacts to threatening situations and represses his personality in order to protet himself. When David and the others manage to draw him out of his shell, it takes slow adjustment of his personality and acceptance of new ideas - not the emergence of a completely different person.
Also, as far as I can tell, dissociative identity disorder does not occur in conjuction with schizophrenia. If Tasha does have schizophrenia, it would either be extremely severe or extremely mild, depending on the details of his 'hallucination' of Alex. A severe case would mean that Tasha hears voices and could very possibly think that Alex is real - however, he might have trouble giving a physical description, and would not be able to determine the details of Alex's character. Severe schizophrenia would also manifest itself in other symptoms such as disorganised speech and motor behaviour, neither of which are pertinent in Tasha's case. However, there is also the possibility that Alex was an 'imaginary friend' of Tasha's as a child, invented in the normal way, with a full background and physical appearance. A mild case of schizophrenia could mean that Tasha is aware on one level that Alex is not real, but suffers delusions that continue his reliance on ad communication with this 'friend' even up to the age of 18. He could also show symptoms such as diminished emotional responsiveness, which is an integral part of his planned character anyway.
The problem with this, though, is that again all Tasha's issues can be blamed on mental illness - and when I planned this story, it wasn't going to be about that. It was going to be the effect of abuse and conditioning on the psyche, not disease. Schizophrenia would also mean that medication and similar treatments would be needed, when what I wanted to show was interaction with other people slowly piecing Tasha back together. Alex could be a convenient invention of Tasha's simply to give him someone to talk to - an overactive imagination taken too far, not something actually wrong with his mind.
Tasha's father blamed him subconsciously for the death of his wife, and became depressed, alcoholic and dominating as a result, culminating in his forcing Tasha into hooking to earn money. As a result, Tasha is automatically obedient to any form of authority and believes that any sort of love will eventually become a betrayal. He also uses alcohol as an escape and is dangerously addicted to it - not in large amounts, just on a regular basis.
To sum up - Tasha is one fucked up kid. He has problems with relating to other people, mistrusts affection, shows emotions and opinions very rarely, and has an inbuilt tendency to be submissive and obedient. However, all of these are a result of his childhood, his father, and his life on the streets. His father was slightly mentally unstable, and perhaps Tasha has inherited just enough of that for his 'imaginary friend' to be taken a little further than normal.
God, I sound like a psychiatrist's report ^^
If anyone was actually crazy enough to read this, any input into whether this sounds at all plausible would be quite helpful.
Said farewell to
brynushka today, with a picnic that involved bright pink cupcakes and the adornment of Ghandi's statue - have fun in England with teh hawt english dawgs, Bry. And go to as many cheese-throwing festivals as you can :PCan't believe I spent almost an hour ploughing through Tasha's messed-up psyche. This fic wants to eat me. Am resisting. Sort of.
no subject
though i see your problem about the fact that he has a mental illness. the story is based around enviromental effects on a person, not effects of a disease - it would ruin all your morals if it were. maybe you could have some form of 'effective' schizophrenia/dissociative identity disorder? like, it was 'dormant' as such, just a possibility, but was triggered by the crap around him? don't know if it would work, but i know a lot of mental disorders are like that.
hope that helps a bit?
no subject
Now I feel sorry for Anthony. Being this guy's psychiatrist wouldn't be fun.