Writing as a Character with OCD
I have been working on a short story called 'What Crazy Looks Like'. It's written from the point of view of a distressed woman with OCD and is a response to global ignorance surrounding a seriously ill woman, who sent compulsive texts to a lover.
I won't embarrass the girl further by linking to the material, but let's just say that her text history was posted online and used for humour purposes, even though she was clearly very unwell. Furthermore, hundreds of readers took the view that the lover was the only victim, even though the girl's suffering was evident.
My story provides a perspective on a similar, fictional text history, from the point of view of a girl with OCD. It's not meant to provide any facts about the girl who inspired the story. It's merely to give an example of one of the many sets of circumstances that could give rise to a series of texts that may look 'crazy' at first glance.
This isn't the first time I've written in first person as a mentally ill character, but it has been the most upsetting. In the past I've covered bipolar disorder, post natal depression and suicide. I always feel drained after writing psychological dramas, but this piece has topped them all.
The story is only 3,500 words long but I found the repetitive and increasingly intense nature of the character's thought process completely exhausting. After writing the first draft I watched a film and had a bath but still felt completely shattered. Problems that hadn't bothered me for some time suddenly started creeping into my mind. I had difficulty sleeping because the story was spinning around it my head.
If I felt so utterly crushed after an afternoon writing as a character, then I can only imagine the torture that that girl went through. I wish that more people would stop and try to see things from the point of view of somebody whose behaviour appears 'crazy' before laughing, criticising and sharing.
What Crazy Looks Like will be available in November, as part of Seesaw (Volume II).
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I couldn't agree more. Well done on tackling these issues!