How to Write About Mental Health Archives | The Writer's Cookbook https://www.writerscookbook.com/tag/how-to-write-about-mental-health/ Serving writers with all the ingredients they need to succeed Wed, 18 Nov 2020 00:00:21 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 https://www.writerscookbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/cropped-writers-cookbook-logo-small-32x32.png How to Write About Mental Health Archives | The Writer's Cookbook https://www.writerscookbook.com/tag/how-to-write-about-mental-health/ 32 32 How to Write About Fibromyalgia https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-about-fibromyalgia/ https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-about-fibromyalgia/#comments Tue, 05 Feb 2019 06:00:22 +0000 https://www.writerscookbook.com/?p=5457 Fibromyalgia was first discovered in 1990. It’s the same age as me. I wasn’t officially diagnosed until early last year, but, looking back, both I and those that know me can see that I’ve had symptoms on and off for a long, long time. Nobody really knows what causes fibromyalgia. That’s why it’s still not […]

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]]> https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-about-fibromyalgia/feed/ 1 How Your Mental Health Can Affect Your Productivity Levels (And What to do About it) https://www.writerscookbook.com/mental-health-productivity/ https://www.writerscookbook.com/mental-health-productivity/#comments Tue, 15 Jan 2019 06:00:31 +0000 https://www.writerscookbook.com?p=5547&preview=true&preview_id=5547 Mental health is always a hard topic. We think it’s getting easier, but I see it more as a one step forwards, two step back kind of thing. Recently I was involved in a work event surrounding mental health that opened my eyes even more—to things I knew of, and some I didn’t. We talked […]

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]]> https://www.writerscookbook.com/mental-health-productivity/feed/ 2 How to Write Postnatal Depression https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-postnatal-depression/ Thu, 24 May 2018 05:00:07 +0000 https://www.writerscookbook.com/?p=4910 The image one has of a woman becoming a mother is always maternal, sweet...like once she gives birth, everything falls into place.

Sadly, it’s also an image predominant in the rare romance novels where the author goes beyond the happily ever after and shows the characters living life to their fullest.
Reality is different, and raw, and sometimes painful. Not every woman gives birth and becomes the perfect mother. That is a myth, and it does more harm than good in the long run.
There is nothing wrong with holding a baby in your arms for the first time, and feeling a void. Of not immediately liking the little bundle of joy everyone says is the new reason for your being alive. Of thinking you’re a bad parent, and you need to stay away...
This is called postnatal or postpartum depression.

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]]> How to Write PTSD https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-ptsd/ https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-ptsd/#comments Thu, 17 May 2018 05:00:59 +0000 https://www.writerscookbook.com/?p=4551 Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was first discovered during WWI. Back then, it was called 'shell shock', 'war neurosis' or 'combat stress'.

It primarily affected officers, who were forced to suppress their emotions to set a good example for their men.

We still tend to associate PTSD with soldiers and veterans, but it spans much wider than that.

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]]> https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-ptsd/feed/ 4 How to Write Schizophrenia https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-schizophrenia/ https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-schizophrenia/#comments Thu, 29 Mar 2018 05:00:17 +0000 https://www.writerscookbook.com/?p=4365 When we think of schizophrenia, we often imagine serial killers motivated by the voices in their heads. But schizophrenia is so much more than that. Most of the people with it don’t hurt other people—they’re much more likely to hurt themselves. Schizophrenia is a difficult condition to write about because it’s so misunderstood. Sadly, stories […]

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]]> https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-schizophrenia/feed/ 6 How to Write About Stress https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-stress/ Thu, 27 Jul 2017 05:00:16 +0000 http://www.writerscookbook.com/?p=3815 In the words of Bartok from Anastasia, 'Stress. It's a killer.'

Short-term stress can help us to achieve our goals and is the reason many of us work well under pressure.

Long-term stress, meanwhile, can affect our physical and mental health temporarily and permanently.

Let's dig a little deeper, shall we?

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]]> How to Write About ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-adhd/ https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-adhd/#comments Thu, 13 Jul 2017 05:00:13 +0000 http://www.writerscookbook.com/?p=3733 Remember that kid in class that could never sit still and was forever getting told off?

Some kids were forever in detention because they just wouldn't do what they were told.

Some got off (seemingly lightly) because they'd been diagnosed with ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

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]]> https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-adhd/feed/ 7 How to Write Anxiety https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-anxiety/ https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-anxiety/#comments Thu, 29 Jun 2017 05:00:42 +0000 http://www.writerscookbook.com/?p=3789 Anxiety is a cruel creature that can take over your life without you even realising it.

It can control everything from our day-to-day decisions to our career paths to our relationship choices.

And if we don't know we suffer from it, it's impossible to control.

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]]> https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-anxiety/feed/ 2 How to Write About Grief https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-about-grief/ https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-about-grief/#comments Thu, 23 Mar 2017 06:00:57 +0000 http://www.writerscookbook.com/?p=3602 According to Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, the five stages of grief are denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance. How long it takes to go through these stages---and how long each stage lasts---varies from person to person.

Whether your reader has experienced the death of a loved one or not, they should still be able to empathise with your character after their loss. The deeper you can get into how your character feels about the loss, the more of a connection it will create.

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]]> https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-about-grief/feed/ 5 How to Write About Depression https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-about-depression/ https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-about-depression/#comments Thu, 15 Dec 2016 06:00:26 +0000 http://www.writerscookbook.com/?p=3346 Depression. We’ve all heard of it. We all think we know what it is. But do we? Depression isn’t just about feeling down, nor is it about what goes on in our heads, but what happens in our bodies, too. Studies show that as many as 1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health […]

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]]> https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-about-depression/feed/ 4 How to Write a Panic Attack https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-a-panic-attack/ https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-a-panic-attack/#comments Thu, 18 Aug 2016 05:00:10 +0000 http://www.writerscookbook.com/?p=3122 Panic attacks are cruel, cruel things. They can affect anyone, whether they have anxiety or not. But how do you write about one? Here’s an extract from one of my works in progress: The blood pounded in her ears. Her heart thudded in her chest. Her hands shook. Her feet tingled. Her vision disfigured, as if […]

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]]> https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-a-panic-attack/feed/ 35 How to Write a Sociopath https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-a-sociopath/ https://www.writerscookbook.com/how-to-write-a-sociopath/#comments Thu, 21 Jul 2016 05:00:34 +0000 http://www.writerscookbook.com/?p=3018 Both sociopaths and psychopaths are defined in the DSM-5 (the official book used to define/treat mental health) as being antisocial personality disorders. However, sociopaths and psychopaths still have their differences. Where psychopaths are cool and calculating, sociopaths are impulsive and unreliable. You could make your character’s friend a sociopath, a relative, or even the protagonist themselves. Sociopaths […]

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