Treatment Tuesday - A Teen Mother's "Brother"

We’ve got our first secondary character assessment on The Character therapist, people! I nearly clapped when Steena from Chocolate Reality emailed me back and confirmed that Rhonda* is indeed secondary in this spiritual thriller! But I gotta tell you…she’s WAY interesting. Read on.

Rhonda is a 46-year-old cookbook author. Never married, although she had one child, Ned*, when she was 16 years old who was the result of a rape. Her parents, local ministers, “covered up” the pregnancy by telling the congregation that Rhonda’s mother was pregnant. So Rhonda’s little boy becomes her “brother.” Ned—30 by the time the book starts—is the main character. Rhonda was raped by Stan*, a boy 4 years older than her whose alcoholic father murdered his mother. Rhonda’s family took him in, and he had been Rhonda’s hero. Now, at 50 years old, he’s the “bad guy,” playing head games with Rhonda and using his sphere of influence to manipulate her. Rhonda suffers panic attacks when she sees Stan and has an intense fear of him.

* Names have been changed to protect the fictional.

Steena has re-written Rhonda many times, something we can all relate to. When she started, she thought Rhonda was 30 in her head, but when she discovered Rhonda’s relationship to Ned, the main character (i.e., when Steena realized Ned was Rhonda’s son), Steena needed her to be older, but not “too old.” (Steena, by any chance are you a Pantster?)

Steena wants to know how she can make Rhonda’s reactions to the rapist and her “brother”/son be more realistic. Also, she wants more consistency with Rhonda at her current age of 46.


Let's start with young Rhonda. At the tender age of 16, she gets raped...for many women, their worst nightmare. But she wasn't raped by a stranger. She was violated by someone she knew; worse, someone she looked up to. Then, just as the initial shock wears off, she misses her monthly period and then her body begins to change, from that of a youth to a soon-to-be-mother. Her nightmare doesn't end, but now includes a 9-month gestation of a child conceived in the worst way possible.

Being raped is a traumatic and shaming thing, but Rhonda's is even more so because the ramifications of her rape--a child--are now being "covered up." Francine Rivers wrote an excellent book about a woman who carries her baby to term after being raped. It's called The Atonement Child. So good, and it gives some ideas of how Rhonda might feel, even though the heroine is older in Francine's book.

Depending on how Rhonda handles stress, her response could be very different. But I imagine that any young teen faced with the difficulty of raising a child she hadn't wanted, conceived in an act of violence with someone she probably thought she could trust, would feel some relief at her parents stepping in to help take care of the child. She likely doesn't know how to feed a baby or change diapers or deal with cholic or burp or bathe a baby. She's really just a child herself. With that in mind, it's feasible that she could slip right into her normal teenage role, but things wouldn't be business as usual.

Why? Because she gave birth. Any female who's ever sat on that table, legs splayed wide, to bring life into this world, knows the other-worldly connection a woman can have with this tiny infant that she's never met. A 16 year old might not fully grasp all the significance in the way of say, a 26-year-old, but she's certainly old enough to feel a bond. I imagine her being in awe of this child she carried, perhaps even scared to hold him, thinking she's not experienced enough or might hurt him. She might even be proud of how beautiful he is as she lets her mother cradle him in her more matronly arms.

As she watches him grow from her "sisterly" role, I imagine she looks on with more interest than average as Ned learns to crawl, walk, potty train, and ride a bike. Depending on how the parents deal with this, it may or may not look odd. Many 16-year-old older siblings babysit and have a lot of involvement with younger siblings, so it's not a stretch, really, for any level of involvement she'd have. She could easily go in lieu of her parents to the school principal's office at 30 years old when her 14-year-old "brother" gets suspended. So lots to play with there, even if these interactions never make the book. They still make up Rhonda.

The older she gets, maybe the more she'd want to "claim" him, too. More life experiences = more confidence. Her parents might try to talk her out of it..."for the health and well-being of Ned." This could be a source of contention with her parents, for sure. But you mention that her parents die (or at least her mother) and that Rhonda steps up to take care of Ned more, so it might be a very natural response for her to want to tell him. But I'd think as his mother, she'd also take into account how the revelation would affect him.

Oooo--total aside here, but one scene I'd just love to read...gosh! it'd be so poignant...is a scene where Ned gets married. Every mother has the right to sit at the front of the church while her offspring ties the knot, and I just wonder what Rhonda felt in her sisterly role relegated to a position other than her own? My own heart just about breaks thinking about that. And what about when she would get to dance with him? Oh...so sad.

But back to my assessment...ah, yes. The revelation. You mentioned in our emails that Ned experiences a heartbreaking loss of his family in a car crash. He gets mad at God, and turns his back on him, at which point lots of bad things happen in the town in which he is a pastor. Only once he starts to believe in God again does he learn the secret that Rhonda is his mother. Talk about PUNCH. Best-seller, Steena. Seriously gripping stuff.

I think it would be better on Ned to learn the truth in some sideways manner. I would think Rhonda wouldn't tell him due to everything else going on with him. If he truly leans on Rhonda for emotional and moral support, than her revelation would possibly devastate him. But if he kind of put two-and-two together on his own, I would think he'd be more likely to see past the 30-year lie and know his mother had lied to him with good reason, at least in her heart. (And no, I won't get into the debate about good lies v. bad ones, but feel free to do so in the comments section.)

One way I thought about doing this would be for Ned to have some contact with Stan. A cool twist could be some little-known fact about Stan, like a health deficit or allergy, also being present in Ned. Give them both an unlikely mannerism to boot and it wouldn't take a smart preacher-man to figure it out, especially given Rhonda's reactions to Stan, but it's just a suggestion.

So on to those reactions to Stan. Panic attacks would be a result of some post-traumatic stress Rhonda has regarding her rape. If you're wanting the man to be really mean, I'd have him play with her mind by sending her to the place where the rape happened. That would really do a doozie on poor Rhonda. (Aren't we authors mean?) People with PTSD will go to extreme lengths to avoid anything that reminds them of the trauma, including people, places and things. Extreme lengths. So this could garner Ned's attention.

Her fear isn't going to lessen because she gets older. The old adage of "time heals all wounds" just isn't true for everyone. The way you wrote Rhonda's initial meeting with Stan sounds like it's dead on. She's be beside herself, so it's very likely she'd let something slip, like the fact she had a baby, so kudos on that. But she's a MOMMA at heart. If Stan were to threaten Ned in any way...big Momma Bear would come roaring. I think it'd be a fantastic way to get Rhonda to face her fears of Stan.

Man, I want to read this book! Great job. Hopefully I've been of some help. As always, questions welcome in the comments section to continue the "session."

This service is for fictional characters only, so any resemblance to real life examples is entirely coincidental. Any other fictional character assessment questions can be directed to charactertherapist@hotmail.com.

T3 - Schizotypal Personality Disorder

For our second to last installment in the Personality Disorder Parade, we're going to look at Schizotypal Personality Disorder. (It's pronounced skitso-TYPE-al for those who were wondering.)

Obviously, it shares a similar base word with the word schizophrenia. The Greek origin of "schizo" is "to split," and a person with Schizotypal PD experiences some of the same altered perceptions as someone with schizophrenia, just not usually for as long a duration.

The dominant feature of Schizotypal is a pattern of social and interpersonal deficits marked by acute discomfort with, and reduced capacity for, close relationships. They also have cognitive or perceptual disturbances and eccentricities of behavior. There are nine symptoms associated with this personality disorder, and a person has to have five or more of them to be diagnosed with it. So let's get started!

1) They often have ideas of reference, meaning that they'll interpret some casual event of happening as having particular meaning for specifically for them. (This is different from delusions of reference in which they hold the belief with delusional conviction.)

2) They may be superstitious of overly preoccupied with paranormal phenomena (and no cracks about me liking vampires, folks). Usually these preoccupations are outside the norms of their culture, like thinking they have special powers to read thoughts or some sort of sixth sense to see events before they happen. More commonly, the might believe in witches and aliens, focused on magic control and ritual. (They might think that because their spouse cooked spaghetti that night it was adirect result of them having thought only an hour or so ago that they would like spaghetti.)

3) They may have perceptual alterations, like hearing their name being murmured or sensing another person's presence. This can be a transient psychotic episode, but usually it only lasts a few minutes to a few hours, insufficient in duration to have full-blown Brief Psychotic Disorder or something else.

4) Their speech patterns might be unusual with how they phrase words or construct their sentences. It might be "loose"speech, where the thoughts just don't seem to go together, and it can be vague or chasing rabbits, but they don't actually come across as incoherent (where they string words together in no sense whatsoever--called word salad). These are the people that you sorta look at your friend after you hear them say something and go, "Huh?"

5) They are often suspicious and may have paranoid ideation, which means that think people are out to get them, or get the best of them, or undermining them. These are very cautious, distrustful people.

6) They often appear inappropriate and stiff because they usually can't use the full range of emotional interpersonal cues that are required for successful relationships.

7) They are often considered to be odd or eccentric because of unusual mannerisms and weird, unkempt manner of dressing. They don't follow the mold, and definitely march to their own drummer. They may pay very little attention to the usual social conventions of chatting over the water cooler at work, or happy hour banter. They usually don't look put together quite right.

8) They experience interpersonal relatedness as problematic and are uncomfortable relating to other people. They usually have no friends or confidants other than first-degree relatives.

9) They are often anxious in social situations, in particular those involving unfamiliar people. They honestly prefer to keep to themselves, because they don't have to worry about fitting in. this anxiety never really goes away, even after spending several hours in a situation, because their anxiety revolves around a suspiciousness of other peoples' motives.

You've got to consider a person's cultural background, in particular about religious beliefs and rituals. For example, a person into voodoo or speaking in tongues or the "evil eye" phenomenon, or sixth sense, shamanism, mind reading and magical beliefs...all to the uninformed outsider might look "crazy" or "odd," but for the person practicing them, not be eccentric at all.

People who develop this PD, commonly thought to be about 3% of the population, are usually solitary in childhood, with poor peer relationships, social anxiety and underachievement in school. They usually have bizarre fantasies and peculiar thoughts, which often serve to isolate them. They usually attract teasing.

People with this PD can go on to develop other disorders, namely schizophrenia or Delusional Disorder or some other similar type problems, but only a small percentage have this happen. Usually, the course of the disorder is pretty stable. Antipsychotics can help, as can talk therapy, but this is a long-term, chronic illness.

Q4U: Not to end on a bummer note, so let's have a discussion about how this type of person could really liven up a novel or movie. Do you have any examples from movies or books of someone who might fit this description? Think side-kicks and the like. I'll go first. In Failure to Launch, Zooey Deschanel played Kit, Sarah Jessica Parker's eccentric roommate. She dressed funny, usually brought the comic relief in any scene she was in, was obsessed with the bird outside the window, thinking it was there only to annoy just her. She might not have Schizotypal full-blown, but you get the idea. Who else?

Treatment Tuesday - Multi-Disordered Assessment

This week’s assessment is for Angie over at Gumbo Writer. I’m excited to do her assessment for two reasons:

1) I’m always glad to look at characters and pick them a part. This is an occupational hazard of being a therapist.
2) Angie’s character really has some issues…most of which I’ve been covering in my Personality Disorder Parade! So this will be a great tie-in for several of them.

Angie’s character has the multiple disorders/problems listed below:

--Paranoid PD, which may just be fallout from a history of wrecked relationships
--Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, consistent manifestations but not full-blown, seems to be aggravated by stress or situational bouts
--Histrionic PD, long-term and obvious, always seeks Knight in Shining Armor as mate
--Narcisstic PD, heavy on entitlement and exploitative/manipulative aspects
--Depression and some eating issues; has lost/gained 100+ pounds several
pounds)
--Past issues with alcohol
--Pathological Liar Syndrome (Angie’s new addition to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-V when it comes out in 2012) :)

Angie wants to know: What would her life look like? And if she abuses prescription drugs, can you predict the future that will be hers?

We need to do triage on this person, stat! No, seriously, if this client were to appear in my office, most likely she would be seeking help for the OCD or depression and binge eating/dieting cycle she’s on. The physical manifestations of both of these problems would draw attention from a therapist and be the most obvious. (Of course, because she’s a pathological liar, I’d have to collaborate with other people in her life to make sure she’s telling me the truth!)

OCD is an egodystonic disorder, meaning that the person does not want the thoughts and compulsions. On the contrary, they cause them much distress. So they know when they are obsessing. They know when they perform a compulsive act to help rid their mind of the obsession, and they hate it. If her OCD isn’t full blown, but situationally-bound to times when she’s under stress, perhaps this isn’t such a big deal to her.

The binge eating/dieting phase is something I’m really interested to know more about. What triggers her to lose weight? And then what triggers her to gain it back? I have a theory—just that, a theory—for you to consider while you write this interesting character. Read on.

Since you’ve indicated that she’s got some traits of some personality disorders, I’ll start there. Of the three that you’ve listed, Narcissistic and Histrionic are the hardest to treat. (For the sake of simplicity, let’s say her paranoia doesn’t reach the level needed for a full diagnosis of that disorder. Your reasoning behind why she might be a tad paranoid is totally feasible.)

But personality disorders can often be comorbid, and by that I mean that they often are found together in people. And if your character has both, then I think maybe expounding on narcissism a bit would help, as I believe the key to her weight gain and loss, even her past history with alcohol and dabbling in prescription drugs could come down to this point in my theory.

There are supposedly two types of narcissists, the cerebral narcissist and the somatic narcissist, and each has a different way of getting their ego-strokes. The cerebral narcissist gets their strokes from their insight and intelligence. They are like a computer, and want the accolades and recognition for it in the same way a drug junkie craves meth. It's their addiction. The more people think their ideas are superior, their intellect non-paralleled, the better they feel. Most could care less about their body.

The somatic narcissist, however, uses his or her body and physical attributes to get their strokes. They want people to notice their health, constitution, shape, sexual prowess, possessions, and physical beauty. Even recognition for bodily “extensions” is desired, common examples being flashy cars, expensive clothes, penthouse suites, flying first class, platinum charge cards, the latest and greatest electronic gizmo or gadget, celebrity "friends" and name-dropping. These are all "extensions" of themselves that they feel should garner attraction.

A person is dominantly one type, but during times of stress, the other type can come to the forefront. If your character is mainly a cerebral narcissist, then when she experiences stress, her recessive somatic narcissism comes out from hiding. She then goes on a binge diet and exercises a lot, losing a ton of weight and exacerbating her histrionic symptoms. Let me explain.

There are some overlaps with somatic narcissism and histrionic symptoms simply due to the nature of the two disorders. You can see my post here on Histrionic Personality Disorder, but two of the main symptoms are dressing/behaving suggestively and provocatively and using their physical appearance to draw attention to themselves. One way in which to do this is to take extreme care of the body. Working out, eating healthy, being overly concerned of the slightest malady (like a hypochondriac)…these are all ways to draw attention to a person’s physical self. Throw on some revealing clothes, and she’s a somatic narcissist as well. Make sense? So your character’s weight fluctuation could be attributed to this.

The thing to figure out is which narcissist type the character predominantly is. If she’s somatically inclined, then when she experiences stress or if she suffers a major narcissistic injury (someone tells her she’s ugly or something—which a somatic narcissist would rather die than hear), her cerebral narcissist might come out of hiding….thus you get more OCD symptoms during those times. This seems a likely explanation, but only you as her author will know for sure. :)

As it would with anything, alcohol can potentially exacerbate any and all of the above. Drugs and alcohol impair judgment, which could make for some interesting "trips" in her head when she's having an OCD obsession. But if she's in her somatic narcissist stage, I doubt she'd want much alcohol, as the prevailing idea is that alcohol can make you fat. I'm not sure how big a role her past issues with alcohol will be, but once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. THIS IS TRUTH. According to the Alcoholics Anonymous curriculum, they label themselves as "recovering alcoholics." So she'll still likely have urges to drink even if she withstands them and remains sober. You might want to include this, or you might not.

You'll have to be creative in getting the pathological liar syndrome across on the page. (Which, by the way, for those who may not know, isn't a real disorder. It's actually probably more of a symptom of her narcissism. Narcissists often embellish things to make themselves appear more exciting than they really are.) Someone will have to either call her on the lie in dialogue, or you'll have to have the points of view of other people taking about how she's lying. So that's tricky...and it could potentially get old for the reader, I suppose. But one or two big lies would be really interesting, I think. You could weave the story world around those lies...kind of like how the viewer of A Beautiful Mind gets the shock of their lives half-way through when they realize the main character's story world is completely a lie.

Anyway, this assessment has been fun. Lots to work with in this character, and hopefully you can work with some of the stuff I've presented. As always, questions are welcome in the comments section, either from Angie or others.

This service is for fictional characters only, so any resemblance to real life examples is entirely coincidental. Any other fictional character assessment questions can be directed to charactertherapist@hotmail.com.

Stop by Thursday for a look at the interesting Schizotypal Personality Disorder. Funny name, not so funny disorder.

Q4U: Any thoughts about the cerebral v. somatic narcissists? Have you known people who got their ego strokes from their intellect or from their physical attributes?

T3 - Dependent Personality Disorder

The Parade's almost over! We've only got Schizotypal, Obsessive-Compulsive, and today's featured personality disorder to go. This entry will be short and to the point, since I'm going to have my baby with me finally!! She arrives tomorrow, so I'm knocking this out tonight. :)

There are eight characteristics of Dependent Personality Disorder, and a person has to have five of them to be diagnosable. It's mainly characterized by an overwhelming and excessive need by the person to be taken care of that leads to submission and clinging behaviors and fears of separation. This can be broken down as follows:

1) Has great difficulty making everyday decisions (like what to wear or where to eat) without an excessive amount of advice and reassurance from others. If they are criticized or shown disapproval, they will take this as further proof of their worthlessness and lose faith in themselves even more.

2) Tend to be passive and let other people (usually a single person take the initiative and assume responsibility for most major areas of their lives. This could be dependence on a spouse or parent...and this person actually decides everything from where to live to what school to attend to what job to get to who to marry, even. This need goes beyond the age-appropriate dependence of a young child on his or her parent or of an elderly or handicapped person. Usually, their social relations are limited to the few people they are dependent on.

3) Often have difficulty expressing disagreement with other people, especially those on whom they are dependent. This is because they have a fear of losing support of approval. They'll go along with something they feel/know is wrong rather than risk losing the help of those they look to for guidance. They don't want to alienate those they receive nurturance from.

4) Have difficulty initiating projects or going things independently. They lack self-confidence and believe that they need help to begin and carry through tasks. They present as inept and needing constant assistance. They are convinced that others can do things better than them, so they wait for others to start things. They can function adequately if given lots of reassurance that someone else is supervising and approving. They may fear becoming more competent, because this could lead to abandonment. Often, they are characterized by self-doubt, calling themselves stupid or belittling their abilities and assets.

5) May go to excessive lengths to obtain nurturance and support from others to the point of volunteering for unpleasant tasks if such behavior will bring them the care they need. They will submit to unreasonable demands and end up in unbalanced or distorted relationships. They may make extraordinary self-sacrifices, even tolerating abuse of various kinds.

6) Feel uncomfortable or helpless when alone, because of their exaggerated fears of being unable to care for themselves. They want to tag along with important others just to avoid being alone, even if they have no interest in where they are going or what's going on.

7) When a close relationship ends, they may urgently seek another relationship to provide the support and care they need. They have a belief that they are unable to function in the absence of a close relationship, so this is a high motivator for them to quickly and indiscriminately bond with others.

8) Often preoccupied with fears of being left to care for themselves. Even where there are no grounds to justify these fears, they'll have them...completely excessive and unrealistic.

A clinician has to take into consideration the cultural background of the client when looking at this disorder. There are some cultures where passivity, politeness and deferential treatment are considered normal. That said, Dependent Personality Disorder is among the most frequently reported PDs in mental health clinics. Seems to be more common in women, but a clinician would also have to take a look at gender roles from the client's background and culture.

So, an interesting personality disorder to be sure. You can imagine how easy it would be for a person like this to end up in an abusive relationship. And they attract them so easily. I tried to find some recent studies between spouses in abusive relationships (and even spouses of alcoholics) to see if the woman who usually stays with the abuser is more likely to be Dependent personality Disorder, but couldn't. If anyone knows any links about this, please share.

Q4U: Any of you out there writing about someone dependent like this? What possibilities could be in store for them (realistically) for a character arc? I, for one, would stay away from it...just because the possibility of a person like this reaching a place of wholeness and having healthy relationships by the end of the book would be slim (unless the book spanned a long length of time, maybe). Thoughts?

Treatment Tuesday - From Playboy to Committed Husband

This week’s assessment is from Alice, who gave me a possible scenario to weigh in on. Alice is writing a contemporary category romance about a man who is determined to never be in a position where someone relies on him emotionally because when he was a teen, his brother was in a serious accident and the hero and his family blamed him for it. So the hero goes for casual flings and a playboy lifestyle in an attempt to distract himself from the guilt he feels. Years later, the brother dies, which compounds the hero’s guilt.

What if, around the time of the brother’s death, the hero gets really reckless and has a one-night stand that results in pregnancy? Could it be feasible for him to feel he could atone for his brother’s death by marrying the woman for the sake of the child in a marriage of convenience? In other words, “he’s been responsible for the loss of one life and he’s not going to destroy another.”

Alice then wants to know the following: What could happen to change his stance on not allowing himself to enter into a loving relationship with the woman and his unborn son? What emotional stages would he need to go through to get to a place where he gradually changes and ends up as a committed, caring husband? How could the heroine aid the change?

Alice, I say it’s more than feasible. GO FOR IT. People are always looking for ways to atone for their sins. To the observer, maybe some of the ways they choose have no outward correlation, but as long as you give him sufficient internal motivation, and let the reader know that this man firmly believes he can atone for his brother by making sure his son is taken care of, then it’ll pass with flying colors.

Even more so would be if you up the stakes for the hero by giving him a backstory full of angst with his own father. Maybe his father only tolerated him, or didn’t show him any affection, or was always blaming him for things. Maybe he was adopted, and all he was told about his biological parents were that they didn’t want him or couldn’t take care of him. Then, when he sees that he has the means to take care of his son, he feels he can somehow even atone for his own biological parents’ downfall.

You could really play with his backstory quite a bit to make for even more tension-filled reading. If his bio dad was a player and left his pregnant teenage girlfriend who then later gave up the hero for adoption, that would add a different dimension to the hero’s decision to enter into a marriage of convenience than would the scenario where he enters into the marriage simply to prove to himself that he can do right by his son…or that he can be a better father than his own, who never told him he loved him or was proud of him.

One thing to remember about parenting is that you learn from modeling. Typically, you either grow up to be the exact same kind of parent as your own parent (scary thought, huh?) or you do a complete 180 degrees and do the exact opposite as your parent because you remember how it felt. So think about that dynamic as you make the hero a future dad. What was his own father like? Why or why not would he want to behave similarly or the exact opposite?

Going on the assumption, then, that he feels sufficiently compelled to enter into a relationship with this woman, you’d need to make his change of heart believable…so he’s not just going through the motions of marriage…he really wants a marriage in all sense of the word.

For some potential plot points, I’d consider allowing him to come through for this woman during a critical time in her pregnancy. At a time when she really needs him, he’s there for her and she makes it clear she wouldn’t have made it without him. Or perhaps he even saves the baby somehow by rushing her to the hospital to get attention for a symptom she didn’t consider all that unusual, but if he hadn’t made her get a check-up, the baby could have been in danger. Something like that would really give you a great opportunity for the heroine to encourage and compliment this man on his care and support of her…something he’d feel surprised about, because he considers himself unworthy of it. But praise is powerful…especially from a beautiful woman who happens to be carrying your child. :)

If they marry before the baby is born, then I think having her do little things to take care of him would really go a long way. Especially if his childhood was more “every man for himself,” then when this woman, whose belly is growing because of his own recklessness (well, that’s a mutual recklessness…but you get the idea), begins to pick up his socks or do his laundry or have him supper when he gets home…I think that would be something his solitary soul would really crave deep down. Of course, you’ll have to have this almost insurmountable obstacle at the end of the book where it looks like it won’t work out, and you could have him in the house, missing her feminine touch. The socks are piling up, that sort of thing. This isn’t as dramatic a change of heart so much as a gradual one that he suddenly realizes…one in which the heroine might not even realize what a role she played.

People are relational. God created us that way. He created Eve for Adam and said it was GOOD. He doesn’t intend for people to be isolated. Now, not everyone is made to marry, but they are made to have friends, to have relationships. So you’ve given your hero a great “flaw” of selfishness and self-sufficiency. He doesn’t want others to rely on him, but deep down, he really doesn’t want to rely

on others, either. Why? Because somewhere in his past, someone has failed him. So he masks his own hurt and insecurity internally by saying he’s not trustworthy or reliable.

This is a defense mechanism called reaction formation. (Read more about it here.) He behaves in such a way (playboy lifestyle) that is the exact opposite of what he really wants (love and security). The beauty of reaction formation is that it’s only an effective coping style for the short term…it eventually will break down and this will feed your character arc perfectly.

Hope this has been helpful. As always, any questions are welcome in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer them.

This service is for fictional characters only, so any resemblance to real life examples is entirely coincidental. Any other fictional character assessment questions can be directed to charactertherapist@hotmail.com.

T3 - Schizoid Personality Disorder

Schizoid Personality Disorder is pretty uncommon even in clinical settings, but I'm convinced this disorder would make for an interesting villain, or perhaps a flawed hero, but that one might be harder to pull off. Just read and think about it.

There are seven diagnostic criteria for Schizoid, and the person would have to have 4 or more to qualify for this diagnosis. So without further ado, we'll just jump right in.

1) Lack a desire for intimacy and don't really derive much satisfaction from being part of a family or other social group. They basically seem indifferent to opportunities to develop close relationships, which, as my post yesterday confirms, isn't main stream remotely. Most of us are made to be relational. They date infrequently and often never marry.

2) Prefer to be alone rather than with other people. These are the quintessential "loners" that are socially isolated. The people who go to movies by themselves, eat by themselves and essentially need (or want) very little interaction with others. They chose solitary hobbies and activities to pursue that just don't include interaction, like computer games. Working a job that requires regular human interaction might be very difficult for them.

3) Have very little interest in having sexual experiences with another person. Hmm...not much else to say about this one.

4) Take pleasure in few, if any, activities. Things that make other people happy, like the sensory experience of walking on the beach or the interpersonal experience of enjoying a candlelight dinner with someone, or the bodily experience of intercourse, just don't make these people feel pleasure.

5) Have no close friends or confidants, except perhaps a first-degree relative. The reason being, of course, that it's difficult to be friends with someone who actually prefers NOT to hang around you. That doesn't exactly inspire close bonds.

6) Seem indifferent to the praise or criticism from others. These people just aren't bothered by what others may think about them, certainly lose no sleep over it. They seem oblivious to the normal day-to-day social cues, and often don't respond appropriately...coming across as socially inept, superficial or self-absorbed (even though that's really not the case). Quite honestly, they just lack social skills.

7) Show emotional coldness, blandness or detachment. A person with this disorder rarely reciprocates gestures or facial expressions like smiles or nods. They claim to hardly ever experience the emotions of anger or joy. Even in the face of direct provocation they won't get angry. They just seem very passive when they encounter what a normal person would consider adverse circumstances and they often can't response appropriately to important life events.

A clinician has to be careful before labeling anyone with any type of disorder. For example, a person who just moved from a very rural area to a highly congested city might react with an "emotional freezing" (kind of like shock) that could exhibit some of these characteristics. The clinician has to take into account the cultural experiences of the person.

In childhood, people who go on to develop this disorder often presented as under-acheivers in school, had poor peer relationships and were often solitary. Quite often they were teased by other children or adolescents. (This is actually a fairly common experience for people with early manifestations of personality disorders. This personality disorder is found most often in males and may cause more impairment for a man than a woman.

It may be more prevalent in relatives of individuals with schizophrenia or schizotypal personality disorder (which we'll cover next week....totally different disorders but share some common features). There is some indication that Schizoid Personality can be a precursor to Schizophrenia, especially since stress can cause Schizoids to have brief psychotic episodes.

That's it for Schizoid. Interesting to think about, huh?

Q4U: Ever known someone who might have fit this bill? What possibilities could it have for a villain? Or hero? Remember: You only have to have FOUR of the above characteristics...so you could pick and choose....

Treatment Tuesday - Meeting An Absent Father

This week’s assessment comes from Alexandra. I have to tell you…this is one great plot, with twists and turns that will be a page-turner! She's writing a contemporary women’s fiction with Ellie* as the 24-year-old heroine. Ellie grows up with her mom, living hand-to-mouth, with no knowledge about her father (who left her mother before Ellie was born because he thought he wasn’t good enough for her). Ellie becomes a single mom as well when her boyfriend turns abusive (causing her to miscarry twice) and she leaves him, taking her baby girl Kathryn* with her. Danny,* a really good guy at her church, loves her and wants to marry her, but Ellie’s not trusting men again. While her mother is dying of a terminal illness, she tells Ellie that her father is a best-selling crime thriller novelist. Ellie conceals her identity and goes to interview him so she can meet him. Her father offers her a job as his research assistant for his upcoming book, and Ellie takes it. She meets up with her abusive boyfriend later in the book because he’s the head of the publishing house that puts out her dad’s books.

* Names have been changed to protect the fictional.

Alexandra wants to know: What sort of emotions will Ellie go through as she interacts on a daily basis with her dad? What physiological problems would she be dealing with? How would she respond to Danny’s advances? What problems would need to be worked out in a relationship? How would Ellie respond to meeting her old boyfriend? When her identity comes to light, how would her father respond (who still loves her mother)?

Quite a long list to tackle! Let’s start with the biggest thing that happened to Ellie: an abusive boyfriend. Women often get sucked into relationships that are abusive, so it says a lot about Ellie’s strength to be able to walk away from this man (who is the father of her child…that’s even doubly courageous). Seeing him again definitely would bring up her memories of the abuse that led to the two miscarriages and probably countless other wounds. But since time has passed, she just might see parts of her daughter in him that have emerged during the time away from him. She’d probably hope for some evidence that he’s changed, that she might be able to safely include him in her daughter’s life (but maybe not…your call. This might depend on whether you intend for her to end up with Danny or Kathryn’s father.)

Her response to Danny’s advances could definitely be mistrustful. She hasn’t had any kind of good role model for how a relationship with a man should be. She likely wouldn’t be able to recognize or trust true love if she found it. So a key for Ellie’s relationship with Danny will be tried-and-true patience/endurance. He’ll come through for her where others have failed, stick with her when others would have bailed, stay with her when others would have tuck-tailed. (I’m such a poet…and didn’t know it!) Eventually there will have to be a scene where Danny throws down the gauntlet, though, giving Ellie a choice.

She’ll either have to come out of her scared shell to accept the love he is offering…and that’s a conscious choice...or she'll face living her life completely alone. (She might be more likely to make this decision after she realizes her dad really loves her mom…that would show her that true love does and can last forever.) Danny does NOT need to offer someone like Ellie any kind of choice where if she makes the “wrong” choice, he’ll give up on her and walk away. Ellie would perceive this as abandonment and it would only serve to reiterate her mantra that men can’t be trusted. Danny would probably get further with Ellie if he says he’ll be whatever she needs from him…if it’s a friend, than he’ll try to swallow his attraction, if it’s more than friends, he’ll be the happiest guy in the world…that sort of thing.

Next big thing to happen to her is the reemergence of a long-time absent father. This really is huge, even for a 24-year-old. Initially, she’d be shocked and outraged, probably, and I’m sure you have a great scene where her emotional reaction to this news is strong. But eventually her intellectual, secondary reaction will come to the fore. She’ll reason through her anger at how he treated her mom (considering she knows the particulars) and for leaving them to squeak out their existence while he shares none of his wealth.

Her anger might remain latent, though, and show up in passive-aggressive interactions with him while she’s his assistant. You know, a little witty remark here or there. I think you could have some tremendously tense scenes as they relate to one another with such similar “caustic, sarcastic personalities.” Great stuff.

Eventually, as she gets to actually know him as a person, she might be touched at how they share some mannerisms and quirks…and yes, “wowed” by her living, breathing, larger-than-life father. She’s a part of him….which will give her an additional sense of self….a more inclusive identity. (Not sure I’m getting my idea across…but I’m going with it. If you have questions…ask away in the comments.)

Last question was how her father would react when Ellie’s identity comes to light. That’s a harder one to nail, because all I know about her father is that he loves her mother still and is a successful novelist. If he had known about Ellie’s existence, he perhaps could have atoned for his “sins” and written a book that paralleled his own life a bit, complete with regrets and disappointments at how his life ended up. Maybe this book is so close to his heart he keeps it from his agent and editor…but agrees to publish it to win back Ellie’s love and trust (as well as her mother’s). This would be a poignant plot development for the reader.

But that still doesn’t answer the question. I think he’ll be thrilled. Deep down, men want to know their children just as much as women do. Fathers want to share themselves, pass part of themselves on. It’s natural. To finally meet her (or, if he had no idea of her existence, to finally know about her existence) would be surreal. A joyous occasion. He’d probably have some reservations about why Ellie’s mother didn’t tell him….and plenty of regrets at how different their lives could have been if he’d known…sadness over the years of her life he missed and the years of potential happiness he could have had with the love of his life, who’s now dying. But he'd probably grab at the chance to make amends, do right by them, pay her mother's medical bills (heck, marry her!), and use his sway to help Ellie in her career however he could.

So there are a few ideas to get your plot rolling smoothly along. Hopefully this helps some!

This service is for fictional characters only, so any resemblance to real life examples is entirely coincidental. Any other fictional character assessment questions can be directed to charactertherapist@hotmail.com.