By S.G. Blaise
Recently, the discussion of mental health has become a more pertinent topic. New research emerges everyday about mental health issues. May has been declared mental health awareness month. We talk more openly about our experiences and offer a better understanding of what it is to live with mental health issues. Support groups and organizations (let it be online or in-person) offer help to anyone who seeks it. Thanks to these efforts, there has been a palpable shift when it comes to mental health from taboo to destigmatized.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Health Illness, 20.6% of U.S. adults experienced mental illness in 2019. That’s over 51 million people. One in five people are affected by mental illness each year (“Mental Health by the Numbers.” NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness, www.nami.org/mhstats.). In other words, mental health is part of our identity more often than not.
When readers pick up a book, they hope to find some likeness of themselves or something they can relate to in the characters. This connection can be cathartic and powerful. These characters provide more than just entertainment; they become like friends. Readers can follow the character’s struggle with external and internal obstacles and triumph along with their hero when they overcome these obstacles at the end of the story. The characters of today’s books have to evolve as our lives evolve and include mental health issues as part of the narrative. Yet there is a vacuum of such characters. Especially in fantasy.
Portraying characters who experience mental health issues in fantasy stories and how they deal with them is essential. Not only do these characters represent struggles with mental health issues to those who live with it, but they also offer a better understanding to those who are not directly impacted by it. That’s why it is important we portray these mental health issues with care and balance, reflecting thorough research if not written from personal experience. It is also important how the characters deal with these mental health issues. This cannot be the only central problem, but part of a bigger picture of their experiences and normalized to show that there are ways to deal with them. The more normalized these issues are, the better the reader can see a way of life that can be in balance. This balance creates a sense of belonging and inclusion across society.
Having complex and diverse characters who struggle with mental health are a window into real life. These characters are vital to represent the entirety of the human experience, furthering the efforts to destigmatize mental health issues, and connect with readers who have been suffering in silence, never feeling included or visible, even in fiction.
Stories in any form, like books, comic books, films or TV shows have been shaping our view of the world and each other and will continue to shape it in the future. It is imperative that the characters in these stories evolve to include all aspects of life, including mental health issues.
S.G. Blaise is the author of The Last Lumenian series. Her latest book, True Teryn (The Last Lumenian Series Book 2), will be released on December 7, 2021.