I need to give one of my characters a mental, emotional, or personality disorder for a project, but as I'm not very versed in psychology and mental health, I'm not sure where to start looking. Does anyone have any ideas of disorders/conditions I could look into?

Ideally it should be a condition that one could hide, medicate, or otherwise live a normal life without your friends necessarily noticing your "condition" right away. It's also fine if the "condition" is not a "disease" or disorder so much as it is a label... like ADHD. In other words, modern and pop psychology is fine.

Thanks for the help!

Depression sounds like it would fit. Some sufferers hide it for years though it is controllable to a degree with medication

I was thinking the same thing, Legatus.

You mean you need a mental disorder besides being a crazy writer? I'm not sure there are any worse mental ailments than that...

Oh right. You need it for a character, Nevermind.

I agree with the above that depression is a good place to start. It has many different kinds of symptoms and you could write it pretty much any way you wanted.

Hmm, a very good idea. However, I should note that the project I'm working on is comedy... I might be able to turn depression on its head, but I think something more quirky might work better. Any ideas down that lane?

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, perhaps?

Depression
OCD
Bipolar
Kleptomania
Hypochondria

Is your character male or female?

Hoarding is a scarily common mental illness. If left alone, apparently hoarders would fill their house and property with whatever they hoard (from guns to cheeseburgers, according to my source).
I think that hoarding could be slightly humorous, if the object of hoarding is something humorous or the person has another quirky trait adding to the hoarding problem.

Can I just say.... the title of this thread made me laugh. "Aubrey needs a mental disorder?!?!" O.o

Ah! I'm glad my thread title worked on someone, Airianna.

That could be quite funny, Ace. Fascinating!

My character can actually be either, Idril--I have a group of characters to choose from--but I'm leaning towards male. Those are awesome suggestions!

Thanks, Jonathan!

Someone on FB suggested PTSD. While I know that's not exactly a cheery disorder, I think with my plot I can pull it off... So I'm pondering that one.

Really? *needs to read that trilogy* *loves the movie*

Shame on you for not reading the books first.

I watch the movie first all the time.

You're a traitor to all you stand for, Philly!

Quite the opposite, my dear. I'm a screenwriter, you know.

I guess the question is then, are you more a screenwriter or an author?

Why, best of both worlds, of course. Would you expect any less from me?

Then you should read the book whilst you watch the movie. *nodnod*

Tsk, and see how badly y'all have derailed the thread! It was even one of my own mods that started it. *gasps, appalled*

She was referring to Elly.

That would be interesting to see used in a comical sense.

It's not so much the disorder itself that's comedic as it is someone else's reaction. Sadly I can't give plot details (yet), but I do think it will work given the plot I have to work with.

Interesting. Can't wait to find out more.

I wouldn't actually do depression, bipolar, or PTSD for this project. While the reaction is comedic, for people who them, it's not funny, and they get a lot of misunderstanding, suspicion, and bad reactions to them. To have someone treat it lightly is not funny or amusing. It really hurts when someone makes light of it.

So, I'd say something more quirky, like OCD or maybe even a mild, humorous form of schizophrenia.

Yes, I know that's a risk with comedy. However, I think in this case it will be fine. With the way the story is set-up, I don't think the comedy is at the expense of the disorder. The disorder is actually more a part of the "surprise ending." I've got a coauthor, though, and he'll tell me if I'm coming off wrong.

You know the story best, so best of luck to you and your co-writer then. It'll definitely be a challenge.

Thanks. Now I just need to get it written, ahem.