Okay I know I know at this point I’m practically beating a dead horse and some of you might be tired of seeing me talk about it, but I keep seeing people doing this so I’m making another separate post about it —
Please do not say that Anders’ possession by Justice/Vengeance is a metaphor for bipolar disorder or any other kind of mental illness.
Let me clarify.
Yes, I think Anders is bipolar. (I know what Gaider said, but Hepler did confirm that she wrote him with bipolar disorder in mind. Parts of her explanation are ableist but I won’t go into that right now. Point is, he was deliberately written with the symptoms of bipolar disorder in mind.)
Even if he wasn’t written that way deliberately, he’s still heavily coded as mentally ill — he’s continuously referred to as delusional, crazy, insane, paranoid, manic, depressed, etc. — all words connoting mental illness (and, unfortunately, often used in a pejorative and stigmatizing way and equated with violence, unpredictability, etc.).
BUT. I think he was bipolar even before he merged with Justice. (I talked a bit about why I think that here and here so I won’t repeat my reasoning again here because it would make this longer than it has to be.)
When you say that his possession is a metaphor for bipolar disorder (regardless of whether that was the writer’s intention), you’re pretty much implying that people with bipolar disorder are somehow not ourselves when we’re having an episode. That we’re taken over by some external force. That it’s like we’re possessed.
I’m still me when I’m experiencing manic or depressive symptoms. I might not be acting like “my normal”, but I’m me. And sometimes, when my symptoms are bad enough, it does sort of feel like I’m being taken over by some external force, but I have to remind myself that I’m still me. And actually, having people reinforce the idea that I’m not me can make it worse because it (a) contributes to internalized ableism and (b) can actually veer into unreality enough that it triggers me into depersonalization, derealization, etc. (That said, if a bipolar person does want to say that they’re not themselves when they’re having an episode, that’s their right — the language we use to describe ourselves is an important aspect of self-determination. Just don’t push that language on another person, if that makes any sense. Don’t define someone else’s experiences for them.)
So just. Please avoid the whole “possession is a metaphor for mental illness” thing. I’m willing to discuss this further (or, feel free to join in if you have anything to add). But yeah. Please. Love Anders or hate him, but please avoid being ableist when you talk about him, and please acknowledge the ableist aspects of his characterization and character arc (and in the games in general, tbh).
I full heartedly agree with this but I just have one thing to add: Ander’s shows two different types of bipolar. Anders on his on is manic depressive, while Anders/Justice is more bipolar rage.
People with bipolar rage are more likely to experience black outs induced by rage but it is harder to trigger than it is to trigger a manic or depressive episode.
Also good to note that bipolar rage is different than IED. IED is random outbursts of anger caused by hormonal imbalances where bipolar rage is influenced by hormones but it not the sole cause of it.
gamerfreakathon 