scriptshrink

[scriptshrink]

Hello! I want to clarify that I know very well based on your blog that torture is not a way to get information. However it is a common misconception, and you've also said before that torture may cause memory problems. I'd like to know if it's plausible that a character after being tortured is worried that they might have revealed some important information even though they haven't? It would make for good drama/angst in my story but I want to check if it's plausible first. Thanks for your help!😊

Yes, that’s incredibly plausible and something that a lot of survivors grapple with. It’s not a universal experience but it is common.

 Things like sleep deprivation, which causes delirium and significant memory problems even outside of a torture context, feed into this a lot. So do periods of unconsciousness.

 The pattern I usually see has torturers feeding into these anxieties. They might tell a victim that they’ve already given up information for example or produce a confession that they say the victim has already signed. Torturers exploit the anxieties they expect victims to have.

 Having said that I can also think of accounts where survivors have been genuinely unsure what they said or did not say, what they did or did not do in a way that seemed completely separate from the torturers.

 I’ve also seen accounts where survivors were unsure about what happened to them at particular points because they passed out.

 Some survivors do come out incredibly sure that they did not say anything. Henri Alleg is a good example of this and his account in The Question is a pretty good one to use as a model for that kind of defiance.

 But his experience isn’t universal. A lot of torture survivors doubt themselves. A lot of them are aware that there are flaws in their memory or that they were delirious at some points. Memory problems can create a lot of anxieties.

 So yes. This is completely plausible and I think it is a good way to create drama in your story. Especially if you’re exploring this character’s mental state. Memory problems are a huge problem for survivors and while they’re relatively well studied in the scientific literature that message doesn’t seem to have filtered down to on the ground treatment.

 A lot of trauma survivors aren’t aware of how common, how normal memory problems are as a symptom. Or how they can manifest.

 And I think that creates a lot of unnecessary anxiety. They don’t know what they’re going through or how to combat it which makes life that much more difficult. The impression I get from the trauma survivors who have contacted me is that most doctors either don’t know about these memories problems or don’t communicate it to their patients.

 You might want to take a look at the masterpost on memory problems over here. You don’t have to use sleep deprivation in your story but the sort of thing you’re describing is more common in survivors who were sleep deprived. And I have a masterpost on sleep deprivation over here.

 Beyond that, this seems like a really good scenario.

 I hope that helps. :)

Available on Wordpress.

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[scriptshrink]

So, I think I know the answer to this, but I'm asking anyway: I have a character who was in a bad car accident and can't remember it. They know what happened because they were told, but a combination of traumatic memory loss and head injury suffered during the accident means they can't actually remember it happening. First of all, is this possible/realistic, or is it more likely that they would eventually recover their memory of it? And second, my main question, is: does it make sense that even without any actual memory of the event, they would have an aversion to riding in a car/be uneasy and even afraid when they have to as a trauma response? Basically, can they have PTSD symptoms from a trauma they can't remember? I think the answer is yes, but I wanted to be sure.

Yes, not remembering the accident under these circumstances is definitely possible, even probable when you throw the head injury into the mix. However, because of the head injury, that memory will likely never be recoverable. Think of it like typing up a tumblr post, and having your browser crash before you can post it - there’s no saved version if it. It’s just gone. 

And yes, it is quite possible to have PTSD from a trauma they can’t remember. One of the symptoms in the diagnostic criteria is actually not being able to remember part of the trauma. 

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[scriptshrink]

I always found the 7 act structure helped me a lot more than the 3 acts.

Link right here

[scriptshrink]

me: *writes fic*

me: great! time to post to ao3-

ao3 summary box: *exists*

me: 

ao3 summary box:

me:

ao3 summary box: 

me:

[scriptshrink]

[scriptshrink]

Writers: Bad people are still people with their own problems and emotions, even when they cause problems and distress and hurt other people.

Tumblr Gremlins: Problematic. Blocked.

[scriptshrink]

I hope everyone is having a good day, because I certainly am :D

[scriptshrink]

The narrative of ‘this person was disabled but their disability was cured as part of their story’ is ableist

[scriptshrink]

I'd like to ask exactly what critrea shrinks use to determine if a criminal is mentally unfit to stand trial.

This is completely dependent on the jurisdiction your story takes place in. Different states in the US have different standards that would apply; and the Shrink does not know enough about the criteria in other countries to comment.

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[scriptshrink]

What would the beta reading include?

First and foremost, I would be helping to make sure that your writing isn’t offensive in its portrayal of mental illness. I’d provide detailed feedback on your mentally ill character(s), the symptoms they’re experiencing, and overall help you make your characters as close a reflection to reality as I can. If you don’t know what to diagnose your characters as, I’d help you out with that as well.

If therapy or hospitalization is depicted in your story, I would also go over the accuracy of what you’ve written - or even help you figure out what a therapist would say in the first place.

In short, you would be paying for the full and complete attention of the Shrink, who has a masters’ degree and clinical and personal experience with mental illness.

I’ve spent years helping out writers on my blog, but there’s only so much I can do within the confines of an ask or two. This is a chance for you to get detailed, private feedback, specifically directed at you and your story, rather than through short questions and masterposts.

Thanks for asking! I’m glad this is something people are interested in!

[scriptshrink]

If the Shrink were to begin doing paid beta reading, would there be any interest in that? Let me know if it’s something you’re interested in!

[scriptshrink]

Hi! I sent this in before while you were on hiatus. I have a character who commits suicide and ends up in the afterlife (an afterlife where people can kind of like receive the things they were missing in life) and while there she starts recovering from depression (through the support she finds from others there) and she falls in love with someone too. Is this something dangerous to depict? I don't want to make anyone more likely to commit suicide by making it seem like it fixes things. Thanks :)

CW: suicide

Oof, this is a difficult one to answer. I’m honestly leaning towards this not being a good thing to write.

But if you do still want to go through with it despite that, I do have some suggestions that lets you keep a lot of your story the same: have your character have been suicidal in life, but their actual death have been unintentional / an accident - something not under their control. Another thing I’d recommend is not having your character being actively suicidal - perhaps experiencing suicidal ideation rather than outright suicidal thoughts.

Even still, though, this is a very sensitive topic to write about, and I do highly recommend you reconsider. 

Whatever one’s religious beliefs (or lack thereof) are, the time you spend on alive on earth is important. Stories and fiction are important influences on our lives, and if a single person gets the message from your story that dying and going to the afterlife is the answer to curing their depression, it would be a true tragedy.

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[scriptshrink]

Welcome to Horror Movie Content Warnings!

Who are you? Call me skeletoma (he/him pronouns). I’m a lover of all things horror, whether it’s movies, books, or art.

What’s this? It’s a database of content warnings for horror movies. The warnings cover both kinds of violence and potentially upsetting topics like sexual assault or physical abuse.

Where can I find the database? Right here.

Why horror? I’m glad you asked! Horror, by its very definition, contains things that are designed to be disturbing whether it’s on a physical or psychological level (or both). It’s like how an action movie is supposed to be exciting or a comedy is supposed to be funny. However, someone may go into a horror movie not expecting or wanting to see certain things and may not think to look it up beforehand.

Doesn’t giving content warnings just spoil the movies? While plot points or twists may be revealed if you look up a movie’s entry, I won’t be giving a detailed summary. If you want to avoid spoiling yourself while still checking to see if, say, Final Destination has a plane crash in it but you don’t want to know anything else about it, you can shoot me an ask and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. For more info about why content warnings are good things, check out @scriptshrink’s excellent post about them.

How can I request a movie or content warning? Just send me an ask!

What movies have you done already? Here’s a link to an alphabetized list!

Is there anything you won’t do? Yep. I won’t do: Non-horror movies TV shows or miniseries (because of the time commitment involved, I would not be able to guarantee that I’d finish them) The Human Centipede movies The Chucky movies A Serbian Film (do not look up the plot summary if you are sensitive to child sexual abuse or sexual assault)

Anything else? I’m still working on polishing the spreadsheet, so it may be a little rough in places.

[scriptshrink]

What an awesome project! Shrinky-dinks, check out this cool resource!

Welcome to Horror Movie Content Warnings!

Who are you? Call me skeletoma (he/him pronouns). I’m a lover of all things horror, whether it’s movies, books, or art.

What’s this? It’s a database of content warnings for horror movies. The warnings cover both kinds of violence and potentially upsetting topics like sexual assault or physical abuse.

Where can I find the database? Right here.

Why horror? I’m glad you asked! Horror, by its very definition, contains things that are designed to be disturbing whether it’s on a physical or psychological level (or both). It’s like how an action movie is supposed to be exciting or a comedy is supposed to be funny. However, someone may go into a horror movie not expecting or wanting to see certain things and may not think to look it up beforehand.

Doesn’t giving content warnings just spoil the movies? While plot points or twists may be revealed if you look up a movie’s entry, I won’t be giving a detailed summary. If you want to avoid spoiling yourself while still checking to see if, say, Final Destination has a plane crash in it but you don’t want to know anything else about it, you can shoot me an ask and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. For more info about why content warnings are good things, check out @scriptshrink’s excellent post about them.

How can I request a movie or content warning? Just send me an ask!

What movies have you done already? Here’s a link to an alphabetized list!

Is there anything you won’t do? Yep. I won’t do: Non-horror movies TV shows or miniseries (because of the time commitment involved, I would not be able to guarantee that I’d finish them) The Human Centipede movies The Chucky movies A Serbian Film (do not look up the plot summary if you are sensitive to child sexual abuse or sexual assault)

Anything else? I’m still working on polishing the spreadsheet, so it may be a little rough in places.

[scriptshrink]

Blog reopening!

Hello lovelies! Some of you have noticed already, but I’ve started posting again. 

If you have questions, send them in! If you have sent them in before, send them in again - I’ll be prioritizing new questions, since my inbox goes back 2 years at this point, and I’m not sure if people who’ve asked questions that long ago still need help.

Thanks to everyone who’s read and supported this blog! 

- The Shrink

[scriptshrink]

Hey! I'm new here so I'll go anon, I hope you don't mind 👁️👄👁️ so I have this character, I'm still in the process of fleshing him out, and what I have of him is that he's a member of the army who lied in all of his psychological evaluations so he could get into the sniper team. Every time he shoots someone he Has to go and check if they're actually dead or at least shoot again, and if he doesn't he thinks they're not dead and are gonna come back for him. Is it considered OCD? Is it decent?

It’s definitely an unusual manifestation of OCD, and I don’t know if anyone IRL has ever experienced it, but I could potentially see that working for a fictional character!

The important thing here is that you shouldn’t just have them go check on the body once, or shoot the body again only once. OCD typically isn’t so easily reassured. He might feel like he has to check his victim’s vital signs over and over - what if his fingers weren’t in the right place to feel their pulse? What if their victim is holding their breath and is really good at playing dead? 

He may also feel the compulsion to check on his victim a certain number of times before finally managing to force himself to move on - numbers can be very important in expressions of OCD.

You may also want to consider having other expressions of OCD in addition to checking the bodies. Check out my post here for some examples of what he might experience.

Disclaimer

[scriptshrink]

Blog reopening!

Hello lovelies! Some of you have noticed already, but I’ve started posting again. 

If you have questions, send them in! If you have sent them in before, send them in again - I’ll be prioritizing new questions, since my inbox goes back 2 years at this point, and I’m not sure if people who’ve asked questions that long ago still need help.

Thanks to everyone who’s read and supported this blog! 

- The Shrink