hi! I’ve been v hesitant to ask this question because you’ve said you don’t want to talk about this anymore and also I just really don’t want to bother you or be the cause of any further upset/frustration/etc. so please please don’t feel like you have to answer this!!! This is a very general question though and I mean it more in relation to fic as a whole, not one individual (or even one fandom).
You answered an ask a few days ago describing some of the problems with people portraying PTSD and other mental illnesses in a medically inaccurate way in fics. And you mentioned that it’s okay for people who have the diagnosis in question to write in a way that’s not necessarily medically accurate, because it can be cathartic or help people process and cope with their illness (I’m paraphrasing, so please correct me if I misunderstood). I agree with you— I don’t write fic but I sometimes read semi unrealistic depictions of my own mental illness in fic because I do find it cathartic and comforting at times, so I can see how writing would be the same. And I also agree that unrealistic portrayals of mental illness can be harmful when the readers are people who don’t know about the mental illness in question.
But I struggle with reconciling those two ideas in reality. It’s probably easier when you know other writers, but I don’t know any ao3 authors personally. So I don’t know how to figure out if someone is writing a fic with a medically inaccurate depiction of a mental illness because they also have that mental illness and are taking comfort from writing the fic the same way I’m taking comfort in reading it, or if they’re just not bothering to do their research. And so I’m really stuck on how to interact with those fics in a way that doesn’t perpetuate harm, but also doesn’t invalidate authors (and readers who might be like me!!) who are genuinely using it as a means of coping with their own struggles. The only thing I can think of is to limit myself to fics where the author discloses that they have the illness and know it’s not realistic, but that also feels really dangerous and wrong? Because I think it would just lead to people claiming illnesses they don’t have (which is problematic for all kinds of reasons but also just doesn’t help the spread of misinformation). Plus I’m not comfortable disclosing my specific diagnoses on the internet, so I wouldn’t be comfortable expecting other people to do it either. But I’m not sure how to deal with it otherwise.
Do you have any suggestions on the best way to navigate this? I’ve been thinking about it a lot since I saw your ask because it’s something I don’t really have an answer to, but I want to minimize the harm caused by misinformation. You’ve given a lot of helpful answers on this issue, so I’d be grateful for your perspective if you don’t mind sharing!! No pressure to answer though! I really don’t want to be a bother! (also sorry this got really long!)
You're definitely not a bother, anon, I'm happy to steer this ship back to a general conversation about topics like this <3 My passion about it has not died down at all. Completely drama free post incoming, promise.
You bring up a really good point, and the answer is neither clear-cut nor final and mostly related to my personal feelings on the matter and how I handle it.
To broadly summarize, there are three different kinds of representation when it comes to (mental) disorders and illnesses: accurate and respectful, inaccurate but not harmful, and inaccurate and harmful. The first and third one are presumably pretty easy to deal with, and as soon as something becomes harmful the intention behind it only marginally matters, it more relates to how the person reacts to criticism rather than the impact it has on other people.
"Inaccurate but not outright harmful" is a giant gray zone, though, and I struggle navigating that sometimes, too.
I think the first point to consider is tagging, disclaimers, and author's notes. If I write about a topic inaccurately, like hand-wavey medical facts for plot purposes ("yes the character got stabbed yes they're fine two weeks after, just bear with me here" kinda stuff), I will leave a note somewhere plus usually a tag that says exactly that. AO3 has a bunch of different tags for every topic imaginable, and tagging your fic properly should go without saying. That way the reader goes into it knowing that whatever information is presented is probably wrong in some way and not to be taken at face value.
It works the same way for these topics, a small note somewhere that hey, this is gonna be inaccurate just so you know, and there is literally zero issues (again, assuming the content is not actually harmful in some way). Asking an author to add a tag should be met with understanding, so if you think a fic would need an x inaccuracy tag for something it doesn't hurt to ask.
The second point kinda ties into the first one, which is personal comfort. If you're reading something that's not very close to reality but not offensive in any way, it just makes you uncomfortable, then opting out is always an option. Fandoms should really go back to using the term squick, something that isn't an outright trigger but you prefer to stay away from it anyway.
Any fic that just has a vibe you don't resonate with can be left behind and scrolled by, and i doubt anyone would ever be mad about that.
There is another scenario I think is worth mentioning, which is reading a fic that hasn't been tagged as x is inaccurate in some way but presents inaccurate information. In those cases I personally first assume unintentional ignorance, and I think leaving a comment along the lines of "hey did you do x intentionally because it's inaccurate in y way (totally fine if you did, just asking in case you didn't know)". The authors reaction to that usually tells you everything you need to know, either yes it was intentional in which case you can ask them to tag it as such or it was unintentional and they correct it or turn out to be a bigot that does not care.
So to try and summarize it, disclaimers are a necessity and solve most issues regarding that, and authors tend to be fine correcting something if they accidentally got it wrong. I agree that no one should have to disclose any personal information, but it also makes no difference when the content they write is hurtful, that's a clear-cut scenario and does not have anything to do with interpretation. All other cases are just a matter of personal comfort and asking for clarification if you want to.
I hope my response was helpful, anon, if you (or anyone else) have any follow-up questions, let me know!
