Ariel Silverstein
asked
Stacie Ramey:
I am a student currently writing my EPQ on realistic fiction and young adult novels. I was wondering what is your opinion on whether realistic fiction and young adult novels sometimes romanticise topics such as mental health, terminal illness and addiction? As you are a highly skilled author, I would love to hear your ideas on the topic. Thank you for your time!
Stacie Ramey
Ariel,
Without knowing which particular books you are talking about, this is a difficult question to answer, but I will take a stab at it. I think it's impossible to romanticize these topics if you are writing realistic fiction. Addiction is a horrible disease and it cannibalizes relationships, mental health, and has devastating effects on the addict and the family. Kids who drink a lot or take prescription drugs illegally are not necessarily addicts and that's a different story entirely. But even with those, I believe most authors are using the drug and alcohol use to increase stakes in the story, so it would be hard for me to see how the effects would seem fun. Consequences rarely are. Terminal illness is a very tricky subject and I'm not sure I'm equipped to answer that part. Mental health issues are invisible disabilities with so many barriers to treatment (addiction is the same). It's impossible to write a realistic book about a person with mental illness and adequately represent every single person with a mental illness. The experiences are colored by the characters' perspectives and those of the people around them, as well as the situations they find themselves in. As writers we tend to represent the ones who haven't found the right medications or counselors. Those who are struggling. The ones who are self medicating because they feel like it's better, easier, more in their control to do that, even though it is far from the best course of treatment for them. So when authors write about characters with addiction and mental health issues it's always with the skew towards the character who isn't following the regimen or caring for themselves and the reason/reasons they aren't. I hope that helps.
Without knowing which particular books you are talking about, this is a difficult question to answer, but I will take a stab at it. I think it's impossible to romanticize these topics if you are writing realistic fiction. Addiction is a horrible disease and it cannibalizes relationships, mental health, and has devastating effects on the addict and the family. Kids who drink a lot or take prescription drugs illegally are not necessarily addicts and that's a different story entirely. But even with those, I believe most authors are using the drug and alcohol use to increase stakes in the story, so it would be hard for me to see how the effects would seem fun. Consequences rarely are. Terminal illness is a very tricky subject and I'm not sure I'm equipped to answer that part. Mental health issues are invisible disabilities with so many barriers to treatment (addiction is the same). It's impossible to write a realistic book about a person with mental illness and adequately represent every single person with a mental illness. The experiences are colored by the characters' perspectives and those of the people around them, as well as the situations they find themselves in. As writers we tend to represent the ones who haven't found the right medications or counselors. Those who are struggling. The ones who are self medicating because they feel like it's better, easier, more in their control to do that, even though it is far from the best course of treatment for them. So when authors write about characters with addiction and mental health issues it's always with the skew towards the character who isn't following the regimen or caring for themselves and the reason/reasons they aren't. I hope that helps.
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