Need help psychologically profiling characters

[Tornadoboy]

Hi all!

I'm working on something that deals with adult characters haunted by childhood traumas and I was wondering if anyone could recommend some decent books and/or resources that aren't too heavy for a novice like myself. I have some general knowledge but in particular I'm looking for things on stuff like depression, social disfunction, antisocial behavior and specifically what could leave someone with an inability to cry.
Any help will be appreciated.

[Sentia]

Fascinating, a character unable to cry due to trauma.

I cannot recommend any books, but would suggest you call your local mental health center and see if they can recommend some books or articles online.

Good luck.

[Merricat]

I'm looking for things on stuff like depression, social disfunction, antisocial behavior and specifically what could leave someone with an inability to cry.
Any help will be appreciated.


I actually know someone with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) who is unable to cry, because of a traumatic incident that occurred in his teens. I think that's probably what you're looking for.

Here are some quick sites for you to check out regarding PTSD:

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/reliving.cfm

http://www.ptsd.factsforhealth.org/

I don't know of any good books to recommend offhand, but this website has a "bookstore" link:

http://www.mhsanctuary.com/ptsd/

Hope these help!

[James D. Macdonald]

Go to the children's room of your local library, and start reading the books about mental health there. That should get you enough general knowlege to know which books in the adult section of the library will be helpful to you.

[Shwebb]

The book Trauma and Recovery is excellent for describing the history of PTSD treatment and the process of recovery. It can be a little heavy at times, but it is, in essence, a great book.

[Azure Skye]

Another good resource is the DSMV (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0890420254/sr=8-1/qid=1144340771/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7889768-7015337?%5Fencoding=UTF8). Pricey but it's an interesting read.

[Tornadoboy]

I actually know someone with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) who is unable to cry, because of a traumatic incident that occurred in his teens. I think that's probably what you're looking for.

Here are some quick sites for you to check out regarding PTSD:

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/reliving.cfm

http://www.ptsd.factsforhealth.org/

I don't know of any good books to recommend offhand, but this website has a "bookstore" link:

http://www.mhsanctuary.com/ptsd/

Hope these help!

Excellent suggestion, given the trauma I'm assigning to my character who can't cry PTSD would certainly explain a LOT, I dare say it would fit her like a glove.
I've once met someone whom couldn't cry too, which is part of where the idea came from, but I was a kid back then and can only speculate as to what his particular problem was.

[veinglory]

I think the mechanism used to explain this would depend on the current internal state of the character. Is the symptom (no crying) because they do not feel some or all emotions, because they avoid experiences that cause emotions, because they internally suppress some emotions, because have aquired an unusual degree of control over the external expression of the emotions they feel.... Any or all of these could be caused by early abuse but would be experienced very differently and explained using difference mechanisms (anti-social personality, depression, anxiety, PTSD etc)

One you have an idea of how the character actually feels when or if they experience something mthat would cause most people to cry--then you could track down clinical descriptions of that condition -- or perhaps use intuition which may be just as good. I see rather a lot of use of psyshology (or psycho-analysis) as a blunt instrument in fiction were an intuitive approach might be more plausible.

[Akuma]

I recall watching a documentary about an African nation's children, called "Invisible Children", or something close to that. It was about children caught up in civil war and being brainwashed to fight horrible battles (and yet the rest of the world still does nothing about it).
In one incidence, it shows children who were once in these battles, but recovering psychologically.

One particular boy had very bad headaches unless he saw blood, an indication of how bad it was. Anyone know, psychologically, why this is?

Sources and what-not are very welcome.

[Tornadoboy]

I think the mechanism used to explain this would depend on the current internal state of the character. Is the symptom (no crying) because they do not feel some or all emotions, because they avoid experiences that cause emotions, because they internally suppress some emotions, because have aquired an unusual degree of control over the external expression of the emotions they feel.... Any or all of these could be caused by early abuse but would be experienced very differently and explained using difference mechanisms (anti-social personality, depression, anxiety, PTSD etc)

One you have an idea of how the character actually feels when or if they experience something mthat would cause most people to cry--then you could track down clinical descriptions of that condition -- or perhaps use intuition which may be just as good. I see rather a lot of use of psyshology (or psycho-analysis) as a blunt instrument in fiction were an intuitive approach might be more plausible.

I think of her not so much as having no emotions but as having surpressed them so deeply that she doesn't fully allow herself to experience things such as sadness, which then manifest themselves in physical ways, such as cold sweats and trembling. And she has such a fear of interpersonal relationships that she sabotages them before they can even begin, leading to her miserable social life and terrible relationship with her co-workers. However I don't want her to be a total iceberg because I want there to be at least some awkward chemistry between her and the male protagonist, what I have in mind is at its core a semi-tragic comedy/drama/mystery love story. As the male protagonist slowly begins to earn her respect and trust she lets him in little by little, eventually allowing herself to show things in front of him like a mild sense of humor and even romantic interest.
I guess in a nutshell if I were to try to spell things out clinically (It may change with research) I would say she's introverted, suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, social phobia, lots of repressed anger and a few other phobias that go with my plot. She's conflicted in that she tries to convince herself that she doesn't need companionship and yet internally she's so desperately lonely for human contact its making her become suicidal. In fact there is such a serious disconnect between her conscious thought and her inner feelings that they are constantly at war with each other and it is finally pushing her to the brink when the story begins.
Of course a good question is, how messed up does she have to be to not be able to cry? I want her on the surface to seem functional if very unlikable, and capable of having a relationship with my other protagonist on at least some romantic level, so would all that make her being traumatized enough to lose that ability unlikely?

[Phouka]

Character Traits for writers (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/158297246X/sr=8-1/qid=1144385227/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-3122795-3677557?%5Fencoding=UTF8) has some good information if you're looking for general patterns or traits. I think I remember some serious pathologies from when I paged through it.

[veinglory]

I think even quite well ajust people may not cry at all. People vary in how much they can and do control their internal and external emotional behaviors.

I would suggest something like a combination of chronic depression and agoraphobia and/or social anxiety disorder. Elements of PTSD perhaps but not at the level that would get a clinical diagnosis? You can look up the psychiatric diagnosotic manual DSM4 as mention earlier and see description of these conditions which specify the common groupings and intensities of symptom--that might help flesh things out.