Hello!!
I have a question!! I hope it doesn't sound umm ignorant or anything 😅😅.
The question is that how would one write a character that is on the schizo spectrum(is that the right term?; They have some form of schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder/etc etc) in a fantasy setting? Like where some uhhh delusions? may actually be "set in reality" one would say? Like if you have a ghost hallucination, but ghosts actually exist in said fantasy setting, for example? Or like if you have any type of god delusions, and there are actual like quests where you're literally talking to a god? How would one differentiate between the fantasy settings reality talking and the schizophrenia disorder(s) talking?
I am not sure how else to word this, as I am bad with words. So I hope this makes sense and also doeent come off as insensitive or anything. 😅😅 I am curious tho so I hope I can create a character that isn't a harmful stereotype or anything like that and it'd be a genuine good character and stuff.
Hello!
What you're describing is basically just a non-bizarre (for the setting) delusion, which is very common in schizo-spec disorders. The only difference between a character having supernatural delusions in your setting vs in real life is that the delusions are non-bizarre in one and bizarre in another. You can probably just treat it as such.
The main difference between these two types of delusions is how identifiable they are to others. So other characters might simply not realize that the psychotic character is experiencing symptoms because what they believe in is technically possible, even if unlikely. You can read more on this in this really long post.
Generally, as long as you're not:
making the supernatural stuff into a "why this character has psychosis" explanation,
making the psychosis into a "why is there supernatural stuff" explanation,
or doing another gimmick that forgets that it's just a mental health condition,
you're probably good.
It'd also probably be a good idea to first establish the ghosts etc. as a part of world-building before portraying them as part of psychosis, moreso for clarity's sake than anything else.
Hope this helps,
mod Sasza
