#cosleep ptsd anon – @scriptshrink on Tumblr

Anonymous asked:

I'm writing a story and the main character goes through a traumatic event and has ptsd once home, and among other things can barely sleep due to nightmares. So there's a scene where her close friend/future love interest offers to share his bed and she sleeps better due to being able to sense the presence of someone she trusts when she wakes from a nightmare. Any tips for how I can write this so it's not coming off like he's curing her?

scriptshrink answered:

This is really difficult under these circumstances. However, there might be a few different things you can do to keep from falling into this trope:

Make it clear that her nightmares were going away on their own, regardless of the presence of the other character.
Have the relief from nightmares be intermittent - sometimes sleeping next to the other character will help; other times it has no effect or even makes it worse.
Have sleeping with someone nearby as a pre-established thing that makes the character more comfortable, dating back before the trauma occurred.
Since the other character’s a future love interest, have the main character ask them to sleep next to them because of a desire for intimacy and an expression of support, not necessarily because it relieves the nightmares.

The Shrink would like to note that while sleeping next to someone may help some people with PTSD in real life, I’m specifically discussing avoiding the media trope of “true love cures mental illness,” which is what anon asked about.

starlightswitch

I’d suggest mentioning instances of other characters who know about the PTSD doing things to make her more comfortable as well. For me that would help it read as less “Love Interest is singlehandedly curing Character of PTSD through the Power of Love!” and more as “Support from people Character is close to, including Love Interest, is helping her cope with PTSD.”

scriptshrink

Another great recommendation.

#reblog #starlightswitch #scriptshrink #addition #nightmare #ptsd #this is not psychological or medical advice #this is writing advice #cosleep ptsd anon #best of scriptshrink #post traumatic stress disorder

scriptshrink reblogged

scriptshrink

Anonymous asked:

I'm writing a story and the main character goes through a traumatic event and has ptsd once home, and among other things can barely sleep due to nightmares. So there's a scene where her close friend/future love interest offers to share his bed and she sleeps better due to being able to sense the presence of someone she trusts when she wakes from a nightmare. Any tips for how I can write this so it's not coming off like he's curing her?

scriptshrink answered:

This is really difficult under these circumstances. However, there might be a few different things you can do to keep from falling into this trope:

Make it clear that her nightmares were going away on their own, regardless of the presence of the other character.
Have the relief from nightmares be intermittent - sometimes sleeping next to the other character will help; other times it has no effect or even makes it worse.
Have sleeping with someone nearby as a pre-established thing that makes the character more comfortable, dating back before the trauma occurred.
Since the other character’s a future love interest, have the main character ask them to sleep next to them because of a desire for intimacy and an expression of support, not necessarily because it relieves the nightmares.

The Shrink would like to note that while sleeping next to someone may help some people with PTSD in real life, I’m specifically discussing avoiding the media trope of “true love cures mental illness,” which is what anon asked about.

writelikeitsgoingoutofstyle

I’d like to add that another thing is just- Have your trauma survivor have other symptoms. If they’re still battling with flashbacks or dealing with anxiety or panic attacks or hypervigilance? It’ should be clear that while they’re sleeping problems are made easier- they aren’t being cured by any means.

scriptshrink

An excellent point! Check out my post on the other symptoms of PTSD here. http://scriptshrink.tumblr.com/post/154606190310/demystifying-the-dsm-v-ptsd

#cosleep ptsd anon

scriptshrink

Anonymous asked:

I'm writing a story and the main character goes through a traumatic event and has ptsd once home, and among other things can barely sleep due to nightmares. So there's a scene where her close friend/future love interest offers to share his bed and she sleeps better due to being able to sense the presence of someone she trusts when she wakes from a nightmare. Any tips for how I can write this so it's not coming off like he's curing her?

This is really difficult under these circumstances. However, there might be a few different things you can do to keep from falling into this trope:

Make it clear that her nightmares were going away on their own, regardless of the presence of the other character.
Have the relief from nightmares be intermittent - sometimes sleeping next to the other character will help; other times it has no effect or even makes it worse.
Have sleeping with someone nearby as a pre-established thing that makes the character more comfortable, dating back before the trauma occurred.
Since the other character’s a future love interest, have the main character ask them to sleep next to them because of a desire for intimacy and an expression of support, not necessarily because it relieves the nightmares.

The Shrink would like to note that while sleeping next to someone may help some people with PTSD in real life, I’m specifically discussing avoiding the media trope of “true love cures mental illness,” which is what anon asked about.

#Anonymous #asks #ptsd #post traumatic stress disorder #nightmare #nightmare disorder #sleep #love will heal you #love #character critique #characterization #this is not psychological or medical advice #this is writing advice #:(#cosleep ptsd anon