Mental health and trauma are often represented poorly in fiction, particularly in the fantasy genre. And particularly when dealing with female characters and sexual assault.
I wrote an article earlier this year expressing many of my frustrations with this issue. Today, fellow fantasy author Lucy McLaren and I decided to dive even deeper into the topic of mental health in fantasy, in a two-part interview series on both of our blogs.
Go read Part 1 on her blog, where she interviews me. Then come back here for Part 2 below, where I interview Lucy.
Why Talk About Mental Health in Fantasy?
Brianna: Now, let’s turn this conversation around. It’s time for me to ask you some questions, Lucy! First of all: What initially drew you to having this conversation about mental health in fantasy?
Lucy: I’ve loved the fantasy genre for as long as I can remember, whether that be through reading books, playing video games, or watching films and TV shows. It meant a lot to me growing up and has been a big part of forming the person I am today. Mental health has grown more and more important to be over the past few years, especially with training as a counsellor in my late twenties. I began to notice that I was drawn more to stories that included an aspect of mental health exploration within them. I love books (or any other fantasy medium, really) with realistic, flawed characters. When I began writing my own book back in 2018, it wasn’t a conscious decision to include such aspects; I suppose they just naturally formed from the fact I was training as a counsellor at the time and subconsciously including them.
Anyway, that is a very long-winded way of me saying that this has led me to recently think more about mental health in fantasy and how it’s portrayed—especially after everything that’s happened over the past 18 months, where I’ve personally seen the mental health struggles increasing within the clients I’ve worked with in counselling. I began to wonder, could the inclusion of mental health issues in fantasy help the readers of those books in some way? And how can we, as writers, ensure our portrayals are accurate? And so, here we are!
The Surprising Causes of Trauma
B: What are some of the most interesting things you’ve learned in your own readings and research on trauma?
L: Oh, good question. The first thing that jumps to mind is the misconception of the word “trauma” and the level of adverse experiences a person needs to go through in order to experience it. In reading around childhood attachment theory and adverse childhood experiences (otherwise known as ACEs), it has become clear that there can be a number of experiences a child or young person can go through that is traumatic but that wouldn’t necessarily be labelled as such from an outside perspective. For example, a child whose emotional needs aren’t met by a parent can be seen to experience trauma. They may be fed, kept warm and clothed and in every other way looked after, but if they are not receiving the focused love and attention they need from a parent in their formative years, this will negatively impact upon them growing up.
Of course, individuals go through obviously awful and traumatic experiences such as abuse, neglect, assault, and those experiences can also be vastly misunderstood (especially in media portrayals). If a child has a parent who is abusive towards them, it’s not as simple as them then hating that parent and understanding that the abuse is not their fault. Many children internalise the blame and feel they must be inherently bad to be treated in such a way. It’s a way of seeing themselves that will often carry on into adulthood and can be completely outside of that individual’s conscious awareness.
I could talk about this for ages—I won’t waffle on any longer, but I will say that for anyone interested in learning more, I’d recommend the following books: The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk; The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Dr Bruce Perry and In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Maté (which has a particular focus on addiction and its link to traumatic childhood experiences).
COVID-19 and the Diversity of Mental Health
B: These are excellent recommendations, thank you for passing them on!
As a counselor who works with children/teenagers, what are some things you’ve learned or observed about how young people, in particular, experience trauma and mental health?
L: If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my work as a counsellor, it’s that no two people experience or deal with trauma or mental health issues in the same way. I am constantly having to remind myself that, no matter what I think I know about someone, I can never truly be sure of what they’re going to tell me in a session. I do believe it’s of incredible importance to allow young people to express themselves in whatever way they are comfortable doing so; for some that means talking, for others that means drawing, writing, playing games or even sitting in silence.
I believe the COVID-19 pandemic should be seen as a traumatic event on a mass scale (and in fact people far more qualified than myself have said this following various studies). In my counselling working during the pandemic, I saw a huge increase in anxiety, depression and feelings of hopelessness and loss of control. And these all presented in different ways for different people, ranging from self-harming behaviours to agoraphobia to playing too long on video games to the development of eating disorders. When we feel out of control because of trauma, we try to regain that control in any way we can—often resulting in destructive behaviour, no matter what that behaviour may be.
Mental Health in A Child’s Awakening
B: I’m sure we’ll be studying the long-term effects of this past year for a long time. It’s been such an unusual experience in the sense that it’s a world-wide phenomenon. The ripple effects of COVID-19 are probably going to be greater than we expect.
On a much less depressing note, tell us about your debut fantasy novel, A Child’s Awakening.
L: A Child’s Awakening is a multi-POV YA fantasy set in the kingdom of Septima, which is ruled by an oppressive cult called The Commune who are hunting down and seeking to control all children born with powers. We follow Evelyn, Raif, Hector and Commander Sulemon—the former three running from and the latter working for The Commune.
I loved writing from a young age but was held back from really delving into it by anxiety and self-doubt. In 2018 (during my counselling training), a friend invited me to play D&D and I created Evelyn. From writing her backstory, a larger world began to unfold. I was inspired to keep writing and see where the story went. I brought in Raif and Rose, who had been dreamt up some years earlier for a short story… and the world of A Child’s Awakening began to form. It’s become a planned trilogy now and far more than I ever thought it would be!
As I mentioned before, I didn’t consciously set out to include mental health aspects within the story, but they have become integrated within it: from Evelyn’s trauma and anxiety to Raif’s loss and grief, to Hector and Commander Sulemon both being deeply impacted by childhood experiences, I wanted my characters to feel real and relatable. I hope I’ve achieved that by utilising both my own experiences of mental health issues, and my experience as a mental health professional.
On Writing Rape in Fantasy
B: Rape and sexual assault are prevalent themes in both of our books. How did you approach writing about rape in A Child’s Awakening?
L: They are, and I was mindful going into writing these elements that they are often overused within the fantasy genre. But my intention was to explore them as issues which are sadly prevalent within our own society (rape culture, victim blaming). I wanted to be sensitive to this while also realistically portraying such incidents. I have sadly read or heard about books where rape is glamourised in some way or included as part of a toxic relationship (where the couple end up together). This, in my opinion, is an awful message to send to readers.
The rape portrayal in my book isn’t a moment of growth; it’s a horrific experience that has left the character crippled with anxiety, self-loathing and doubt. Part of A Child’s Awakening (and the subsequent books) will be for them to process what happened to them and I really wanted to make sure this was clear. They don’t just get over it. It has a long-lasting impact on them, their behaviour and feelings.
How to Write about Sexual Assault in Fantasy
B: It honestly makes me mad, hearing about rape being glamorized or brushed aside in a story, like you mentioned. Both of us are, of course, also frustrated with how rape often gets used as a vehicle for character growth in female characters. (Excuse me while I gag.) Why is this not okay? And how can writers avoid this problem?
L: Argh, where to start with this. Where and when did this trope even get started, that’s what I want to know! I personally think it links into the aforementioned rape culture and victim blaming we see within our society. Within the media, women are so often not believed or are questioned as to why they didn’t tell their story earlier, why they continued to see a person who raped them, why they didn’t go to the police… all questions the answer to which should be apparent to anyone with a shred of compassion and empathy.
Somehow within media (and the fantasy genre is so very guilty of this), a woman being raped is cast in an almost positive light and seen as the means for her to suddenly become who she was meant to be—to cast off the shackles of the patriarchy and take wing as a fully actualised being! It feels oddly disconnected from what anyone who is raped actually experiences in real life. It’s not an experience that causes some personal enlightenment; it’s not something that someone grows from. It’s trauma.
Sexual Assault as “Growth” For Female Characters
L: (continued) If you’re taking what we’ve both said about trauma within this discussion, it should be apparent why this trope is NOT OKAY. It’s damaging—for those reading it and believing it to be true, and for those reading it who have themselves experienced rape or sexual assault and haven’t had this magical moment of growth (because of course they haven’t, that’s not how trauma works). I believe that such issues should still be explored within stories—they happen in real life, we know that, and speaking about them is important, whether via fiction or in real life discussions. However, what is important is that the impact of rape and sexual assault are realistically portrayed and not skirted over—or worse, as we’ve seen.
For writers to avoid this problem, rape and sexual assault need to stop being seen as some kind of transformative experience and seen as what they are—horrific, traumatic experiences. From there, I’d recommend reading around trauma as well as looking into the Empowerment Model of counselling (which is provided to those who have been raped or sexually assaulted) to understand the work it requires to help someone move through and process their thoughts, experiences and feelings following such experiences.
Thank you again to Lucy for having this important conversation with me!
You can keep up with Lucy on her blog, Twitter, or Instagram. And remember to keep an eye out for her debut fantasy novel, A Child’s Awakening, coming May 2022!
Featured image by Luis del Río from Pexels.
