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A Goodreads user asked this question about A Flicker in the Dark:
Spoiler please: Does the "unreliable narrator" have a supposed mental illness? I'm getting really damned tired of "schizophrenic" characters that don't have a single symptom of the illness being used by ignorant authors.
Stephanie Schizophrenia would present very differently, and I don't think she was showing the disordered thinking that would eventually spin further and further…moreSchizophrenia would present very differently, and I don't think she was showing the disordered thinking that would eventually spin further and further out without medication if she was in a psychotic or trauma-triggered episode. I mean, mental illness can look very different in different people, but there are typical categories of signs and symptoms, which I don't think were present here.

But YES to your question/comment. For real, how would a Ph.D. psychologist not at least recognize some trauma or acknowledge her issues in some way, even if dismissive or in denial? Wouldn't she rationalize it or otherwise talk it away? She kind of did with the drugs, but not really.

I did not care for this book for a variety of reasons, but chief among them was this mischaracterization of mental health *and* mental health providers (main character). Even the most PTSD/trauma-addled person who has worked in the field would understand that something was going on with them. And clinical psychologists, who are usually very tightly licensed, have years — literal years! of training to see around common barriers and are usually required or highly recommended countertransference therapy (seeing a therapist to make sure your issues are not intertwined with or affecting your treatment of your therapy clients).

It just made no sense to me. (less)
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A Flicker in the Dark
by Stacy Willingham (Goodreads Author)
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