mental illenes (disadvantage)

[steph]

hello guys i want to make a character (for dark champion) who he suffering bi-polar trouble and have to take medication (lithium) how build this kind of disadvantage ... psychological limitation does t fit for this.......what do you think help! i think to take the berserker disadvantage with a bi-polar setting : i become sick if i don t have lithium and if i miss my recover the character need hospitalisation....but i am not sure

help

stef the french canadian

excuse my english again

[Agemegos]

Re: mental illenes (disadvantage)

 

Umm.

 

I have bipolar disorder. Most of the time I am fine, which isn't worth points. Sometimes I am better than good, which is hard to play in a character. The down side makes me completely useless, even for a desk job, for extended periods: weeks or even months on end. I once had a fit of depression that lasted seventeen months.

 

I greatly doubt that this would be a good disad for a player character. Most of the time it makes no difference. The rest of the time it takes your character out for whole adventures. At no time does it have your character in an adventure and more interesting.

[Lord Liaden]

Re: mental illenes (disadvantage)

 

Agemegos makes a very good point from a real-world perspective. Furthermore, I've never heard of a bipolar moodswing that could result in a character going berserk, and while temporary hospitalization for extreme depression is sometimes necessary in these cases, that doesn't sound like what you're going for.

 

However, if you're willing to fudge the symptoms of bipolar disorder for game purposes, you could probably come up with something.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that lithium when properly prescribed, controls the symptoms of bipolar disorder. You'll have to arrange it so that there are reasons why the character cannot or will not take lithium some of the time, so that the symptoms can manifest.

 

With that taken care of, it becomes a matter of your deciding what the effects will be for the character if he doesn't take his medication. Psychological Limitation (with the frequency reduced because lithium controls it) and Dependence on lithium seem like possibilities.

 

When I'm considering a non-standard Disadvantage, I usually check the online Master List of Limitations for guidelines. Just glancing through it, I thought that the Psych Lim "Manic-Depressive" with the frequency lowered to Uncommon could work for you, but you might find others that suit what you want better.

[Sean Waters]

Re: mental illenes (disadvantage)

 

Shouldn't it be a physical limitation rather than a psych lim: you can't just make an ego roll to get better. Part of the problem is that when manic you probably don't accecpt there is anything wrong, and you can feel great so you don't want to change. You are not beserk: you don't attack people, but you might bug the hell out of them. When depressed you might be able to use an ego roll to perform an action; that could be quite a good mechanic in fact.

 

As I think about it, bipolar affective disorder can probably be best modelled with two disadvantages rather than just one, but it will always be BPAD lite: a seriously depressed character won't want to get out of bed, let alone save the world.

[steph]

Re: mental illenes (disadvantage)

 

but what i want to make is when the character dont have is medication he become depress or maniac ( gradually of course,, symptoms of bi-polar disorder) and when he take is lithium he roll the recovery roll if he miss he needs hospitalisation bref i use the berserk rules but for bi-polar symptoms) i hope i am clear

thanks guys for your reply

stef the french canadian

excuse my english again

[Lord Liaden]

Re: mental illenes (disadvantage)

 

Hmm... okay, I think I see where you're going with this. Once he has the symptoms of bipolar disorder, he becomes more and more depressed or manic. You're thinking of using the Enraged/Berserk mechanics for this - I'm guessing the the condition that sets this off is that the character doesn't take his lithium, correct? That's obviously much less disadvantageous than normal Enraged, and should be worth less points. I think I'd suggest making this a Physical Limitation (probably no more than Infrequently, Slightly) but just run it mechanically using the rolls for Enraged when appropriate.

 

I'm still confused about the character's "hospitalization", though. Presumably before he takes his lithium he didn't necessarily need to be in hospital. Are you saying that if he takes lithium, and it doesn't promptly work to snap him out of his manic or depressive state, his symptoms immediately become worse and he has to be hospitalized? I'm afraid I still don't see this part clearly.

[GreyGuardian]

Re: mental illenes (disadvantage)

 

it would be a physical limitation.

 

second http://www.nami.org and learn about the illness as it appears you have several misconceptions.

[yamamura]

Re: mental illenes (disadvantage)

 

I have to agree with Real Lemming here. In fact I would say most psychological disorders are better classified as Physical.

 

G

[steph]

Re: mental illenes (disadvantage)

 

if the character miss is recover dice the consequence is hospitalisation

excuse for my english and thanks for your patience

stef the french canadian

[Wanderer]

Re: mental illenes (disadvantage)

 

Bipolar Illness is a rather complex disease to pigeonhole in a single Disadvantage and represent realistically. I think you can do it a Physical Limitation, triggering a set of Disadvantages when a mood episode develops. let's see:

 

A Bipolar character needs to roll each episode to see if a mood episode develops: roll is 8- if one of the triggering factor (see below) was present in the last 3 days, 11- if two were, 14- if three or more were: character has not taken their mood stabilizer medication(s) regularly; character has not got regular rest and sleep; character suffered a significant personal loss or setback; character was in an especially stressful situation for most of the time; character got any abuse drugs (including heavy alcohol intake). Odds would be significantly lower for ordinary people, but typical PC (superheroes, action heroes, etc.) lead very stressful lives as the norm. If a mood episode develops, there is a 50% chance it is manic or depressive (this is a semplification: as a matter of fact, some risk factors, such a loss event are more likely to induce a depressive episode, and others, such as lack of sleep, to induce manic ones).

 

Once a manic episode develops, the character gets the following Psychological Limitations:

 

Arrogant and Overconfident

Bad Tempered

Easily Distracted

Hyperactive

Impulsive

Lecherous (or ThrillSeeker, GM's choice)

Never Stops Talking/Will Not Shut Up

Thinks Rules Don’t Apply to Him

Enraged: when insulted, not taken seriously, frustrated or thwarted (go 8-, recover 11-

 

Character is at -3 to Ego rolls to resist all Manic-induced Psych Lims

 

In a depressive episode, it gets:

 

Depressive (or: both of Pessimistic and Low Self-Esteem)

Reclusive

Unsure of Himself

Absent-Minded

Worrier

Feels Guilty About Everything

-3 to Characteristics

-1 to Skill Rolls, Characteristics Rolls, Attack Rolls, and related rolls.

 

This represent an initial, mild episode, with Psychological Limitations at Moderate level. Each subsequent 3 days (or game session) the character stays in a mood episode without getting proper treatment, the disorder is likely to worsen (roll 11-) and the character may not acknowledge he needs treatment (EGO roll to realize it, at -3 if manic, plus having to roll to overcome Overconfident): in a Moderate episode, all Psych Lim go Strong, onset rolls for Enraged get +3, and both Incompetence and Weakness increase one step. At Severe, Psych Lims go Total, Enraged, Incompetence, and Weakness worsen one additional step. If the episode worsens further, the character suffers a psychotic breakdown and is effectively incapacitated until recovered. To recover, the character needs appropriate medication, professional counseling, an unstressful environment and lifestyle, and at Severe or worse, hospitalization. Recover times are 3 days per severity level.

[steph]

Re: mental illenes (disadvantage)

 

wow thank you wanderer it perfect

[Sean Waters]

Re: mental illenes (disadvantage)

 

if the character miss is recover dice the consequence is hospitalisation

excuse for my english and thanks for your patience

stef the french canadian

 

You don't need to apologise for your English (which is fine) until I can write something coherent in French. Well, something other than ordering a beer: I can do that!

 

On the hospitalisation point, can I suggest that you handle that with a Hunted/Watched? Psych Services will be keeping an eye on the character and hospitalise him/her if the symptoms emerge.

[Wanderer]

Re: mental illenes (disadvantage)

 

About keeping RP hospitalized characters, well, you can have them at the severe stage, as I described above; as regards characters at the psychotic stage, well the depressed ones in most cases really don't lend themselves well to RP (severe psychomotor block, suicidal, extreme volitional inhibition, etc.). As regards manic ones, well, you might give them appropriate delusions (Megalomania or Paranoia, often both, in most cases), at Total, plus Incoherent Thought, Strong, plus all the other Psych Lims and Enraged (which might even be treated as Bersek, at this extreme stage).

 

A somewhat more controversial topic is whether the initial, mild stage of a manic episode lends any real performance benefits to sufferers: while an ever-deepening *subjective* sense of personal well-being, greater personal power and heightened physical and mental abilities are a core symptom of the syndrome (making patients even more reluctant to accept treatment and keep insight about their condition), the objective effect on performance is questionable: patients indeed get increased drive, volition, energy, fatigue resistance, and accelerated thought speed, but at the same time they are also disinhibited, impuslive, easily distracted, less able to consistently focus and concentrate and aware of risks. However, it seems people with artistic abilities do increase their productivity in the initial stage (alas, only very rarely the disease does stabilize on this level for long).

 

So lienient GMs may give the following one-time benefits to characters, in the initial manic stage:

 

+10 Active Points to Attack (including STR) and Movement Powers

+3 to Characteristics

+1 to SPD, Skill Rolls, Characteristics and PER rolls, Attack rolls and related rolls.

 

In this case, they should also even further penalize EGO rolls (-4 at least) to realize the risk of the manic stage intensifying and accepting or seeking treatment.

[zornwil]

Re: mental illenes (disadvantage)

 

Just as a comment, some bipolar disorders are severe enough and the victims refuse to take medication because of how dulled it makes them. I have a friend who has this, in his case he is on social security and cannot work. Though to be fair he has other mental problems, I did check a bit and along with his comments some people are afflicted severely enough it would be a real Disad in HERO terms.