#representation: ptsd

[representativecharacters]

Character: Simon Laurent

From: Infinity Train

Representation: Mentally Ill, PTSD, Abuse Survivor (Child abandonment)

Their Importance: ***Note: Major spoilers follow***

Simon Laurent is the deuteragonist of Infinity Train's third season and ultimately its main antagonist. He is Grace Monroe's best friend and second in command in her organization, with Grace being his only friend that he is codependent on as he had no family whatsoever for the past 8 years. 

His parental figure intentionally abandoned him to a monster and never returned when Simon was 10 years old. Simon has PTSD related to abandonment, breathing heavily and having a panic attack when confronted by his ex parental figure, the monster that almost killed him or being triggered by anything that reminds him of them. He is intensely paranoid about his friends, mainly Grace, abandoning him as a result of traumatic life experiences. 

Simon has no social skills and often assigns other his own interests. He is very impulsive, often changes moods rapidly, is implied by word of god to have thoughts of suicide, tends to view things in extreme black and white terms ("the rules of the cult I'm in can never be wrong", "that wasn't mentioned in my cult beliefs, clearly its evil") and has rapidly fluctuating thoughts on his relationships (EX: "Grace is always right and I'll lay down my life for her!" to "Grace is bad and trying to get me!"). The show heavily implies he's mentally ill which it was later confirmed by word from the writers, who said one of his mental disorders was Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Issues: In short: Villain and Character Death along with some rep conflation for mental illnesses. Whilst Simon shows some redeeming features including selflessness for Grace until he believes she abandoned him, misguided empathy for others and overall being severely misled since he was a child, he remains a villain. 

He also dies violently by being eaten by the monster that traumatized him as a kid without ever redeeming himself unlike Grace and other main characters. The word of god that confirmed Simon as having Narcissistic Personality Disorder listed that as the reason he was villainous and couldn't change. 

He is the only character to be diagnosed in the show. Also whilst definitely possessing another mental illness besides PTSD, many feel he doesn't fit the criteria for NPD and fits a different Cluster B Disorder instead such as borderline personality disorder.

Thanks to anon for the write-up!

[representativecharacters]

Character: Penelope Alvarez

From: One Day At a Time

Representation: Racial (Latina -- Cuban), Mental illness (anxiety, depression, PTSD)  

Their Importance: One Day At a Time is centred on a Cuban-American family and has won a lot of praise for tackling issues such as the difficulties of being an immigrant, racism while still being a largely gentle and frequently hilarious story.

In season 2 Penelope starts showing signs of depression, partially as a result of an increased workload. Her standards of work start slipping, she becomes irritable and restless and suddenly becomes overwhelmed with stress. This shows that mental illness can creep up on anyone and isn’t a character flaw. Going on anti-depressents is shown to be the right option for her and when she later tries to stop taking them without medical supervision she quickly crashes again and accepts that she has to use them long-term. When her mother Lydia assumes that the pills are just a crutch and that depression can be overcome with mental effort she’s clearly shown to be wrong. This is very important as this attitude is incredibly common.

Thanks to anon for the write up!

[representativecharacters]

Character: Malcolm Bright

From: Prodigal Son

Representation: Emotional Abuse Survivor, Mental Illness/Disorder (PTSD/C-PTSD, Nightmare Disorder, Sleep Disorder)

Their Importance: There are plenty of examples of protagonists who are vaguely described as being “dysfunctional” or even having flat-out non-existent diagnoses and their issues are never dealt with in any depth by the story. Malcolm, our hero is explicitly stated to have C-PTSD and night terrors as a result of the trauma of discovering his father is a serial killer and the various horrific manipulative things he did to keep the secret from everyone but Malcolm.

Unlike may fictional depictions of mental illness Malcolm’s symptoms don’t vanish when narratively convenient and they often manifest in unglamorous ways. He frequently has flashbacks, trigger reactions to cases that remind him of his own past, regular, debilitating night terrors scare loved ones and put him in danger and is often unwittingly creepy whenever particularly morbid cases come up. Like many real people with mental illnesses the severity of his symptoms fluctuates, both in reaction to distressing events and at random. He’s also regularly seen attending therapy.

Despite all his angst about possibly turning out like his father, his frequent accidental creepiness and questionable decision-making he’s ultimately a heroic character that’s excellent at his job.    

Issues: Even by the standards of your typical police procedural Prodigal Son is absurdly brutal. You’d probably need an entire website to list all the potential violence/abuse/manipulation-related triggers. 

Thanks to anon for the write-up!

[representativecharacters]

Character: Dr. Jared Hel

From: Jar of Rebuke (podcast) 

Representation: Asexual, Nonbinary, ADHD, Anxiety, PTSD

Their Importance: Jared is the main character in the podcast, he shows romantic attraction towards a character named Darius. He is clearly queer, even if labels haven't been used in the podcast itself. Also, his voice actor is an asexual/nonbinary voice actor as well! The podcast is actually full of canonically LGBTQA+ characters, even in just the first few episodes.

While it hasn’t been explicitly stated in the show yet, he has had flashbacks, panic attacks, and has been described as having hyperfixations as well. 

Issues: The representation listed for Jared hasn’t officially been confirmed in the podcast in-canon yet, but the writer and voice actor for him has confirmed it on social media/streams and it has been stated that it WILL be canonically confirmed. His asexuality has been heavily implied, but only stated as canon so far on social media.

Thanks to anon for the write-up!

[representativecharacters]

Character: Jay Singletary

From: I Am the Night

Representation: PTSD, Drug addiction 

Their Importance: Jay is a veteran of the Korean War and he’s seen some very dark stuff. He’s probably the first character with PTSD on screen that modern day vets can relate to. He uses coke and sometimes alcohol to keep his PTSD at bay so his reputation as a reporter has been ruined because of badly his mind is messed up. His flashbacks are told in this almost surreal style that’s really scary

Issues: This is not an issue with the representation as it is the show, because it’s really dark and gory. 

Thanks to anon for the write-up!

[representativecharacters]

Stranger Masterpost

This book is set several centuries after an apocalyptic event. Despite this, it’s very optimistic in tone. The main setting is an incredibly diverse and close-knit community full of super-powered mostly dedicated to protecting each other from the may threats outside which is a welcome alternative to the usual grimness. You’re more likely to have heard of the controversy over how long it took to find a publisher due to the writers’ unwillingness to straighten out a gay character.     

Character: Ross Juarez

Representation: Racial (First Nation), PTSD, Disability (Hand Deformity), Polyamorous

Their Importance: As one of the authors is a therapist who specializes in treating PTSD his trauma symptoms and his attempts to cope with them are particularly realistic as is the drawn-out recovery period after maiming his hand in the opening chapter. Even before his recovery begins he’s shown to be physically competent with strong survival skills despite his lack of education. Even he isn’t entirely sure of his racial make-up due to losing his family at a young age through towards the end he’s confirmed to be Fist Nation (tribe unknown). 

Character: Mia Lee 

Representation: Korean, Asexual, Demisexual, Polyamorous 

Their Importance: Her mechanical knowledge is vital for keeping her community running and she also plays an active role in defending the town during the climax. She notes that she’s never felt attraction to anyone else and though she’s insecure and worried that it means something’s wrong with her she spends far less time angsting about it than most YA protagonists would. She becomes romantically attached to Ross, with the implication of sexual attraction while still being largely uninterested in sex, implying she’s specifically demisexual.

Issues: It is kind of frustrating that no asexual concepts/terminology have survived while a lot of other cultural knowledge has.

Character: Yuki Nakamura

Representation: Japanese, Gay

Their Importance: His relationship with Paco is completely normalized and isn’t a source of particular drama though they get some sweet bonding moments. We also get some emotionally realistic descriptions of the alienation he feels as a result of living in a different culture from the one he was initially raised in (having been orphaned and set adrift as a child) though he clearly loves his adoptive family.

Character: Riley

Representation: Black, Polyamorous

Their Importance: Despite her young age she’s a respected teacher. Also, the averted love triangle between her, Mia, and Ross is particularly refreshing. Instead of the two friends backstabbing and angsting over a boy as they would in most stories the trio tries a polyamorous relationship. There’s no indication this is unusual and it isn’t sexualized. It’s even more significant considering how uncommon it is for polyamory to be mentioned at all, particularly in a positive way especially considering that Stranger is a YA book. 

Character: Elizabeth Crow

Representation: Racial (First Nation)

Their Importance: Nobody makes any fuss over an older First Nation Crow Tribe woman being in one of the highest positions of power in the town. She’s invariably calm and efficient in the face, instantly getting to defend the town from invaders. Despite the fact that her powers have deformed half of her face she has no trouble finding several potential partners.    

Thanks to anon for the write-up!

[representativecharacters]

Character: Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane

From: Voltron Legendary Defender

Representation: Japanese, Physically disabled (prosthetic arm), PTSD, Gay

Their Importance: Shiro is the leader of Voltron. He's the oldest and the one who helps keep everyone from fighting. He was a teacher at the Galaxy Garrison (a school that trains people to go to space), and part of the Kerberos mission (a mission to the far reaches of the solar system with only him and 2 other people). He pilots the most important lion, the Black Lion. He's also a pilot and extremely skilled in hand-to-hand combat. 

He was also a prisoner of the Galra (a race of alien) who made him be a gladiator. This caused him to have PTSD, and this is also where he lost his arm. He has a scar across his nose because of the fighting, and his hair turned white from the stress. 

It's rare to see Asian men not portrayed as weak or feminine, especially disabled ones. I think Shiro's PTSD was also handled well, for the most part.

Update: During SDCC, Shiro was confirmed as a gay character as well! It was revealed recently that he has an ex-boyfriend named Adam. As this article states, this is especially important as the show has a large LGBTQ+ fanbase. 

Issues: His PTSD was a big issue in the first season, although it seems to have been toned down as the show progressed. His PTSD originally did hamper some missions, but now it just kind of seems like it's only used for plot contrivance/when necessary. That's really the only issue I can think of for his character.

[representativecharacters]

Character: Sam Barnes

From: The Bright Sessions

Representation: Mental illness (PTSD) 

Their Importance:  Sam really struggles with survivor's guilt in a real way and she suffers from panic attacks. Seeing her work through her struggles with her disorder through therapy and gain control of herself is very helpful and played a role in inspiring me to get help for my own mental health issues.

Thank you to anon for the write up!