Guest Posting about My Fair Lady!

Why yes, I *am* still alive!

Just wanted to give a quick head's-up that I've got a guest post today over at Bring My Books. I'm chatting about the awesomeness of the film My Fair Lady, and I invite you to hop on over and join me!

 

My 2nd "Austen in August" Guest Post!

My second guest post for Austen in August is now up at The Book Rat! In this one I split up some of Austen's classic couples, and do a bit of my own matchmaking. For example, what if Elizabeth Bennet and Henry Tilney hit it off?

Head on over to The Book Rat to check it out!

Guest Posting for Austen in August!

 Hey everyone,

Just wanted to give a quick head's-up that I've got a guest post today at The Book Rat for Austen in August. It's a blog event celebrating all things Jane Austen — which I am all about, of course — so I'm really excited to be contributing a couple guest posts this year!

This first one's all about lessons I've learned from Austen's books...things like "officers may be dashing, but don't go dashing off after them" and other pearls of wisdom. Head on over to The Book Rat to check it out!

I'm Guest Posting for Fairy Tale Fortnight!

That's right, it's Fairy Tale Fortnight time again and I'm very happy to be guest posting once more! Fairy Tale Fortnight is a blog event devoted to all things fairy tale–related, and is hosted by Misty at The Book Rat and Bonnie at A Backwards Story.

My post this year is all about fairy tale what-ifs... as in, what if Goldilocks and The Three Pigs were friends? What would happen if King Midas met the characters from The Golden Goose? To find out more, check out my post over at The Book Rat!

I'm Guest Posting Today...

...over at Bonnie's blog, A Backwards Story, for her blog event A Week of Little Red! This blog event is celebrating the release of Scarlet by Marissa Meyer with a week of posts devoted to the tale of Little Red Riding Hood.


You'll have to read it to find out what my guest post is about, but I will say that I managed to work in my love of psychology somehow... ;)

 

Guest Post: How Much Should You Emphasize Your Character's Mental Illness?

I'm pleased to welcome Dr. Carolyn Kaufman, author of The Writer's Guide to Psychology, back to the blog! I interviewed her last year for Psychtember (you can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here) and this time she's participating with a guest post in response to a question I sent her. Take it away, Carolyn!

One thing I've noticed with many YA books is that when a character has a mental illness, the whole story becomes focused around that aspect and it turns into an "issue book." Do you think this is helpful, or would it be beneficial to have more stories that feature teens that just happen to have mental illnesses? Why?

I think “issue books” often do a nice job of showing what it’s like to deal with a psychological problem, which benefits teens who are dealing with a mental health issue in their own lives, or in the life of a friend or family member. As our ability to recognize and talk about psychological issues has expanded (and as diagnostic criteria have expanded), we’ve become more aware of psychological problems that used to get misdiagnosed or swept under the proverbial carpet. Even people who have not been directly impacted by a psychological disorder can benefit, because we all are bombarded with TV shows, movies, and even cartoons that make assumptions (many of them wrong) about what someone with such a disorder is like. Getting an insider’s point of view makes us more empathetic.

I do like stories that address psychological problems without making said problems the axis on which the story turns, however. Though many people with undiagnosed or newly diagnosed problems are consumed by the disorder that’s bogging them down, many, many people learn to manage their diagnoses. The diagnosis then becomes an ongoing part of their lives, but not by any means the thing that defines them.

In other words, when someone is first diagnosed with something like ADHD or bipolar disorder (manic depression) or panic attacks, they may go through a stage of using the diagnosis as part of their identity.  For example, they may say to people, “I’m bipolar,” or “One of my prominent characteristics is my ADHD,” or “I really have to think about my panic attacks before I can do anything else.”  But just like teens with epilepsy or diabetes learn to adapt and make dealing with the problem part of their daily routine, so too do many people with psychological problems.  And I’m not sure that’s portrayed often enough in fiction—people coping with their problems.

Granted, stories are more exciting when there’s drama and conflict, but the period when someone is first diagnosed isn’t the only time that things can be shaken up! For example, someone who has learned to manage a disorder must also learn if, when, and how they are going to tell others. For example, when and how does a 17-year-old girl who’s trying to impress her new boyfriend tell him she has a problem with bipolar disorder? There’s still a great deal of stigma toward mental illness, and it is usually much harder to say “I have manic depression” than it is to say “I get migraines” or “I have diabetes.” She will probably worry about how her boyfriend is going to take it, whether he’s going to think she’s “crazy” for having to take meds and visit a psychiatrist, whether he’ll tell other people. And even if he handles it well, what if his parents disapprove? And what’s he going to do the first time he sees actual symptoms? Will he be supportive, demeaning, afraid, angry?

In addition to that, her lifestyle may not mesh with her peers’ expectations. She may not be able to stay up all night, sleep irregular hours, eat like her body is a garbage disposal, let her blood sugar drop too low, use popular remedies (like appetite suppressants, high-caffeine drinks, or over-the-counter-cold medicine), or drink alcohol. (Yes, 17 is under the legal drinking age, but we know that many teens experiment before that.) Things like this can trigger bipolar episodes or exacerbate symptoms.

Also remember that stressors can aggravate many psychological conditions, so even a character who normally deals well can be thrown off track by a breakup, changing schools, or a parental divorce.

Finally, I think a lot of authors do extensive research to try to understand a disorder they want to portray, and we all know how tempting it is to use everything we’ve learned! But sometimes a light touch is best.  You can, like I said above, remind yourself that the disorder is a part of the person’s life, something that needs to be managed, not something that defines him or her.

I have a character who has panic attacks in social situations that involve pressure. This isn’t a huge part of the novel, and I never even name the problem (i.e. panic attacks). Instead, I just show him doing his best to deal with each attack as it comes. In a good novel, a vulnerability like this really should flare up and cause problems at a crucial moment, but again, it doesn’t need to define the character or the novel.

Carolyn Kaufman, PsyD's book, THE WRITER'S GUIDE TO PSYCHOLOGY: How to Write Accurately About Psychological Disorders, Clinical Treatment, and Human Behavior helps writers avoid common misconceptions and inaccuracies and "get the psych right" in their stories. You can learn more about The Writer's Guide to Psychology, check out Dr. K's blog on Psychology Today, or follow her on Facebook!

Thanks very much, Carolyn, for this insightful look at how to write a character with mental illness without turning the story into an "issue book"!

Readers — do you like it when a book zeroes in on a particular mental health issue, or do you prefer to see stories where it's there, but not the main focal point? Can you recommend some YA books that aren't "issue books" but still accurately portray a character with a mental illness?

Guest Post: Why Bully?

I'm pleased to welcome Jessica from Confessions of a Bookaholic back to the blog for another Psychtember guest post! (You can find her post for last year's event here.)

 Why Bully?

It seems that we hear about a new case of bullying on the news daily. A case where things got out of control and the victim suffered more than we can imagine. I finished my psychology graduate program last week and my thesis topic was “the emotional responses to bullying”. I picked this topic because of the overwhelming statistics related to bullying and how much more dangerous things seem to be getting over recent years.

I found some surprising facts while researching this topic. First, a bully will suffer many side effects from the act too. For example, a bully will suffer academically and emotionally along with the victim. Second, a victim may often become a bully, and vice versa. And third, peers often see bullying as a “normal” part of growing up and they may even view the victim as someone who is “asking for it”.

There are so many reasons why bullying instances increases. It is simply easier to do with technology. Nearly everyone has a computer, phone, and social media account where messages can be sent in an instant. It gives people a way to hide behind the screen and still attack. It also makes the victim feel as if there is no way to escape the act. Teachers and school administrators are unsure how to handle bullying. Although some schools implement programs into their strategies, many of them are unsuccessful.  School officials are afraid to get in trouble if they deal with a situation incorrectly.

Young children and teens often try to ignore the problem and rarely seek help from adults. If you ever notice a situation where bullying is taking place, get help! Never stand by and think that the victim will be the one to seek guidance. They will need support and friendship. Make people aware of the fact that you don’t stand by bullying. A bully rarely works alone. They seek acceptance just as much as anyone else.

If you notice someone feeling down about how they are being treated, provide support by encouraging them to pick up a new hobby or activity. Reading is a great choice! Recommend some books with positive messages that will help the person know that they are not alone. The YA book community is always willing to share ideas on what books are best in these situations. Simple acts can really make a difference in a person’s life. No one should be alone. Never stand by and let things happen. Take a positive approach and encourage others to do the same. 

Psychology background: I have my BS in Psychology from Pikeville College in Kentucky. I just graduated with my MS in Psychology last week! Much of my graduate study was focused on bullying and cyberbullying. I hope to someday develop programs that help teens and young adults with bullying and relationship abuse.

Thanks so much, Jessica, for this look into bullying nowadays — and congratulations on completing your psychology graduate program!

Guest Post: Body Dysmorphic Disorder

I'm happy to welcome Callie Kingston, author of the NA novel Undertow, back to the blog! You might recall I interviewed her for my "New Adult" Niche feature, and today she's here with a Psychtember guest post on body dysmorphic disorder.

BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORDER (aka Dysmorphophobia)

Callie Kingston

There’s a crisis which is literally eating away at our youth, and it’s time to fight back. Young men and women are suffering from a smorgasbord of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa (starving oneself), binge eating disorder (ingesting massive quantities of food, usually in secret), bulimia nervosa (purging by vomiting, using laxatives, endless hours of exercise).

Why would anyone punish her body this way?

Myriad psychological theories abound. One popular idea is that sufferers are perfectionists grasping for control, their bodies a battleground on which they battle their overpowering parents. Cognitive theories focus on the links these disorders share with obsessive-compulsive disorder, various phobias, and anxiety.

In truth, psychologists really don’t know, and there probably isn’t a single cause.

One thing most suffers share: a certain self-loathing brought about by a distorted perception of their actual body. Like looking into a mirror at the fun house, what they see is an inaccurate reflection. Twisted, magnified, ugly; these perceived defects become the focus of an incessant obsession. Taken to the extreme, this is diagnosed as Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD).

Not just limited to weight, shape, or size, the minor or imagined flaws can include any feature. Nose, lips, breasts, even toes – nothing is exempt. Sufferers are plagued by preoccupations about this supposed disfigurement and delusions that others are also focused on, and repelled by, their ugliness. An estimated 15% of plastic surgery patients have BDD.

Both girls and guys are affected, and the disorder can continue into adulthood. Treatments focus on helping the person develop accurate perceptions and thoughts, and treating the obsessive-compulsive and associated symptoms with medication if necessary.

Get more information about BDD and teens here.

Body Dysmorphic Disoder is a unique psychological condition which is undoubtedly fueled in part by media focus on physical perfection and beauty. Bodies, and lives, are being destroyed.

Let’s end this madness.
 

Callie's bio: "My home is in the Pacific Northwest, where I live with many furry creatures (including my husband). I hold a masters degree in psychology and have worked in schools for many years. When not writing, I like to explore the outdoors, especially the forests and beaches along the Oregon coast. I also enjoy a great cup of cappuccino, which happily is easily found in this part of the world." (from her website)

Thanks very much, Callie, for this informative post! It's interesting to hear about the connection body dysmorphic disorder may have with anxiety disorders like OCD.

Readers — which YA characters can you think of who struggle with body dysmorphic disorder (diagnosed or undiagnosed)?

Guest Post: The Role of Adults in YA Lit

I'm pleased to welcome Beth Neff, author of Getting Somewhere, to the blog today! She's here with a Psychtember guest post discussing the role of adults in YA.

To start with, here's a bit about her book:

"Four girls: dealer, junkie, recluse, thief.

Sarah, Jenna, Lauren, and Cassie may look like ordinary girls, but they’re not. They’re delinquents whose lives collide when they’re sent to an experimental juvenile detention program on a farm in the middle of nowhere. As the girls face up to the crimes they committed, three of them will heal the wounds of their pasts and discover strengths they never dreamed they had. And one, driven by a deep secret of her own, will seek to destroy everything they’ve all worked so hard for."

As you may have noticed, there are a lot of dead and missing adults in YA literature. The reasons are fairly obvious. First, YA characters need to be experiencing some kind of challenge, drama, or even trauma. Killing off a parent (or two) is a pretty good way of doing that. Second, YA protagonists are generally learning how to make the transition from childhood to adulthood (the ‘coming of age’ trope) and the experience is significantly more interesting and dramatic without a parent looking over their shoulders. And, finally, YA is, well, it’s YA which means it’s about young adults. The sense among the adults who edit, publish and market these books is that teenagers just don’t want to read about adults.

Where would Harry be without Dumbledore?

The truth is, though, that adults are both the primary problem-makers AND problem-solvers in the world. Whether it’s fantasy or real-lit, it’s usually neither workable nor advisable to eliminate adult voices entirely. Think of Harry Potter. He has both Voldemort and Dumbledore. Or Katniss Everdeen with both President Snow (and the Capitol) and Haymitch (‘maker’ and ‘solver.’) There are certainly exceptions but the point is that the world isn’t – or shouldn’t be – divided up by age groups and adults can serve as both excellent antagonists and critical resources in literary settings.

And, in fact, adults represent a ‘future’ that is not possible to develop in any other way. Kids generally don’t get to grow up in YA lit and yet, if we are to explore the psychologically essential (and dramatically interesting) aspects of responsibility and consequences, it is important to represent how those might manifest themselves over time. Adult characters can provide critical tension by acting as models, reflections, or even cautionary tales, sometimes all at the same time! This is the dynamic that fascinated me as I developed the characters and plot elements of Getting Somewhere.

My characters are four teen girls who have committed juvenile crimes and elect to participate in an alternative detention program located on an organic farm. Clearly, something has gone wrong for them, which probably has at least something to do with their family environments, but they are now separated from those families. Though we want to know what has happened to them in the past, the setting and the story line pretty much eliminate any significant role for parents right from the start.

And yet, adults do come to play a significant role. Three women run the farm. They are important to the story, (and to the girls!) offering that classic conflict between potential resource and flawed decision-making. Though the issues the girls are dealing with start long before they arrive on the farm, the relationships they develop with the adult women – and the relationships between the women – offer a potent context for exploring those exact issues further. Paradoxically, an understanding of the identities and experiences of the adult characters provides an opportunity to delve more deeply into the girls themselves – the impact of experience itself, the nature of emotional resources, how choices are made, how empowerment happens.

And, maybe more importantly, it is essential for our YA characters to grow, to experience some kind of transformation over the course of the story. While the love, nurture and support for that growth can come from some other source – a friend or love interest, for example – having it come at least in part from an adult (or to be visibly absent!) is rich, powerful, and compellingly realistic.

In addition to that, there is the question of how we perceive of young adult experience, both in real life and on the page. I think younger readers ARE interested in reading about adults. Authentic adults, conflicted adults, flawed adults. Maybe not as primary characters but certainly as interesting, fully-developed, authentically devised secondary ones. Teens are keeping their eyes on us – as well they should! They want to understand motives, access information, evaluate how their decisions are going to play out in the long run. As authors, regardless of genre, it is our job to give that to them.

"My first novel, Getting Somewhere (Viking/Penquin – 2012) is the story of four very different girls who serve juvenile crime sentences in an alternative detention program located on an organic farm. The setting of this YA/crossover story came quite naturally to me since I am a former organic farmer, having raised vegetables and dairy goats on an eight-acre farm for over two decades. I have also worked as a journalist, sustainability activist, and community planner and now live in lovely lower Michigan. When I am not writing, I like to garden, read, play the guitar and piano, quilt, cook and especially catch up with the busy lives of my four kids (ages 18 to 28.)" (from Goodreads)

Thanks very much, Beth, for this thoughtful look at the roles adults can play in YA!

Guest Post: Prescription Drug Abuse (and Streamline E-Book Giveaway!)

I'm pleased to welcome Jennifer Lane, author of the YA novel Streamline, to the blog for a Psychtember guest post!

First, a bit about the book:

"Seems like Leo Scott has it all: looks, brains, and athletic talent. He's captain of his high school swim team with a bright future in college and beyond. But Leo has secrets. His mother's crippling car accident has devastated his family and left Leo to deal with his father's abuse, battered and alone.

Leo's girlfriend Audrey Rose is poised for her own share of success. As one of Florida's top high school swimmers, Audrey dreams of college swimming stardom. But there's an obstacle to her glorious rise to the top. Her number-one supporter-her father-is in prison for murder.

Part murder mystery, part tale of young love in a military family, this gripping story takes readers on a journey from Pensacola to Annapolis. Leo and Audrey must band together to rise above the adversity they encounter and find their true selves in the process. When everything's on the line . . . streamline." (from Goodreads)

Thank you to Danya for inviting me to the Psychology YA Event!

As a psychologist/author (psycho author), I’m fascinated by mental health issues, especially in the Young Adult/New Adult age group. My high school and college psychotherapy clients are really fun to work with because there’s so much opportunity for growth during this time of life. They also teach me how to be hipper and more technologically advanced!

Today I’ll highlight the issue of prescription drug abuse in teens, which is a growing problem. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, every DAY 2,000 teens abuse prescription drugs. Taking these medications without a doctor’s prescription can be dangerous, sometimes even more so than illegal drugs. “Abuse can include taking a friend's or relative's prescription to get high, to treat pain, or because you think it will help with studying.” (http://teens.drugabuse.gov/facts/facts_rx1.php)

I feature oxycodone addiction in my YA sports romance Streamline. Leo Scott is a 17 year-old swimmer who faces his naval commander father’s impossible demands. When Leo inevitably falls short, his father beats him. At first Leo tries his mother’s Oxycontin pills to help recover from physical pain. But then he gets hooked on the drug’s numbing effects on his emotional pain. He’s less aware of his low self-worth and high anxiety when he steals his mother’s medication.

If you’ve ever taken prescribed pain medication and disliked the effects as much as I have, you might wonder how an individual could become addicted. But only a minority of users is most susceptible to getting hooked. I heard one doctor estimate that only 10% of individuals enjoy the feeling provided by pain medication. Some risk factors for addiction are:

* Family history of addiction (alcoholism, drug abuse). There’s evidence we can inherit brain pathways that light up with euphoria from alcohol or other drugs. Most people can control their use because their brains have a more moderate response.

* History of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Recent research shows that individuals with PTSD experience more physical pain and may use substances to numb out from flashbacks. There is a high correlation between sexual abuse and addictive behaviors.

* Poor coping skills. Negative feelings are a part of life. Buddhism’s first Noble Truth states “Life is difficult and painful by nature, not because we’re doing it wrong.” When we learn how to cope with heartache effectively (e.g. talk to friends, ask for help, write in a journal, exercise, pray, be mindful, engage in self-care) we don’t need to numb out from negative feelings. But many of us don’t know how to deal with the crap life throws our way. And those who have other risk factors might succumb to drug addiction.

Streamline follows Leo’s journey. His initial euphoria and numbing fade over time, until he’s not using the drug to feel good, but instead to get back to baseline. Feeling compelled, he takes the drug despite all of the negative consequences it causes. Leo learns that Oxycontin affects the brain like heroin, and his withdrawal is awful—like the worst flu of his life.

Can Leo discover his strengths and learn to like himself better? Can he develop more effective skills for coping with negative emotion? Like anyone addicted to pain medication, he has a tough road ahead of him.

"People fascinate the psychologist/author (psycho author) known as Jennifer Lane. Her therapy clients talk to her all day long about their dreams and secrets, and her characters tell her their stories at night. Jen delights in peeling away the layers to scrutinize their psyches and emotions. But please rest assured, dear reader, she isn’t psychoanalyzing you right now. She’s already got too many voices in her head!

Stories of redemption interest Jen the most, especially the healing power of love and empathy. She is the author of The Conduct Series—-romantic suspense for adult readers—-and is currently at work on the third and final installment: On Best Behavior. Streamline is her first foray into writing for young adults, but she’s found this sort of writing even more fun. A former college swimmer, Jen was able to put a lot of her own experiences into this book."

Thanks very much, Jennifer, for this informative post on prescription drug abuse in teens and your book Streamline!

Jennifer has generously offered up an e-book copy of Streamline for giveaway:

The rules:

- Entrants must be 13 years or older.

- Open internationally

- One entry per person

- Following and tweeting are not necessary but always appreciated!

- Ends Sept 30, at 11:59 pm EST.

- Winner will be selected randomly and contacted by e-mail

To enter, please fill out THIS FORM. Comments are fabulous but do NOT count as entries.

Guest Post: Hoarding and OCD in The Butterfly Clues

I'm happy to welcome Rebecca Taylor back to the blog for another Psychtember guest post! You can read her guest post for last year's event here.

I wanted to start by thanking Danya for inviting me to guest blog on her site, I love connecting with other bloggers and having the opportunity to reach a wider audience. So to all you fellow bloggers who are reading this (hint, hint) feel free to hit me up about a multitude of topics (psychology, writing, reading, working, kids…you name it!)

So I wanted to write about hoarding for several different reasons. One, I have had my copy of THE BUTTERFLY CLUES by Kate Ellison sitting on my bedside table for months waiting patiently for my attentions. For those of you who are not familiar with this book, the main character, Lo, is a hoarder AND has OCD (counting, word repetitions, and complex rituals.) Two, I have recently become completely addicted to watching HOARDING: BURIED ALIVE on TLC. And three, it was the first topic that sprang to mind that wasn’t already being covered by another guest blogger.

I like to start by saying that unlike many other “topic” YA books, THE BUTTERFLY CLUES is not actually about hoarding or OCD. It is actually a mystery about a murdered exotic dancer named Sapphire and Lo’s drive to solve that murder. For you writers out there, the hoarding and OCD are really used more as interesting character flaws and also serve (quite nicely I might add) to create conflict and serve certain plot elements where needed. Having said this, I would say that the hoarding and OCD come up so frequently throughout the book, that they are almost like another character in and of themselves or a C storyline if you will. Which, given the nature of these disorders, seems appropriate because both hoarding and OCD can be so disruptive to typical life functions that they become entities to contend complicating even the most simple of daily functions. So why the book is not about hoarding directly, I think Kate Ellison did a really wonderful job of showing how the disorder impacts Lo’s ability to solve this mystery much the same as how real people need to manage their real life under the constraints of a debilitating disorder.

I really did enjoy this book.

As far as hoarding goes, oh lord, what a challenging mental health condition that impacts every area of a person’s life. Hoarding is a new disorder being considered for addition to the DSM V (now set for publication in May of 2013) and the criteria under Obsessive Compulsive and Related disorder are looking something like this:

A. Persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of their actual value.  

B. This difficulty is due to a perceived need to save the items and distress associated with discarding them.

C. The symptoms result in the accumulation of possessions that congest and clutter active living areas and substantially compromise their intended use. If living areas are uncluttered, it is only because of the interventions of third parties (e.g., family members, cleaners, authorities).

D. The hoarding causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning (including maintaining a safe environment for self and others).

E. The hoarding is not attributable to another medical condition (e.g., brain injury, cerebrovascular disease, Prader-Willi Syndrome).

F. The hoarding is not better accounted for by the symptoms of another DSM-5 disorder (e.g., hoarding due to obsessions in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, decreased energy in Major Depressive Disorder, delusions in Schizophrenia or another Psychotic Disorder, cognitive deficits in Dementia, restricted interests in Autism Spectrum Disorder).

Specify if:

With Excessive Acquisition: If symptoms are accompanied by excessive collecting or buying or stealing of items that are not needed or for which there is no available space.

It goes on to address to what degree the person has insight into their disorder and this appears to be the key to whether or not they are successful in diminishing the hoard through therapy because the people who have poor insight into their hoarding tendencies seem to go round and round in a frustrating and confusing cognitive loop of justification for their hoarding. Practically every item has great necessity and value to the individual and their anxiety about parting with their belongings is so intense, when challenged to even make decisions about letting a singular item go to either the dump or donation, those with poor insight become masters at avoidance, deflections, and circular logic. When pressed, they sometimes become very angry and aggressive probably as a learned behavior that is often successful in driving others away. If hoarding continues unabated, living conditions can become so dilapidated that routine maintenance and cleaning become impossible. Kitchens and bathrooms become unusable as toilets and sinks overflow, pipes break, walls and roofs deteriorate, bugs and animals move in and food, garbage and feces pile up and into the preexisting piles.

In THE BUTTERFLY CLUES, Lo’s hoard is contained in her bedroom and is not noticed by grief stricken parents: a drug dependent and depressive mother and a workaholic father. I would say that Lo’s insight into her hoard is very poor and, while it is not addressed directly in the book, it does not seem like she would, at this stage of her life, be very receptive to therapy. But, as I said before, this is not really the point of the book in the first place so I’ll just keep my armchair quarter back opinions to myself, ahem.

In short, yes I recommend reading THE BUTTERFLY CLUES. I do not recommend hoarding.  And now, I’m going to go clean out my closet.

Rebecca Taylor is a school psychologist and author of YA fiction. ASCENDANT, the first book in her ASCENDANT series, releases in June 2013 from Crescent Moon Press. She is represented by Emma Patterson at The Wendy Weil Agency Inc.

Follow her at:

Twitter: @RTaylorBooks

Facebook: http://facebook.com/RebeccaTaylorBooks

Blog: http://rebeccataylorbooks.blogspot.com

If you would like Rebecca to be a guest blogger on your site, email her at Rebecca@rrtaylor.com

     

ASCENDANT by Rebecca Taylor
(Crescent Moon Press, June 2013)

When I was twelve, my mother disappeared. I was the first person to never find her.

I’m sixteen now and she has never been found, alive or dead.

I’m not the girl I should have been.

When Charlotte Stevens, bright but failing, is sent to stay at her mother’s childhood home in Somerset England her life is changed forever. While exploring the lavish family manor, Gaersum Aern, Charlotte discovers a stone puzzle box that contains a pentagram necklace and a note from her mother—clues to her family’s strange past and her mother’s disappearance. Charlotte must try to solve the puzzle box, decipher her mother’s old journals, and figure out who is working to derail her efforts—and why. The family manor contains many secrets and hidden histories, keys to the elegant mystery Charlotte called mom and hopefully, a trail to finding her.

Thanks very much, Rebecca, for this thoughtful and informative discussion of the OCD/hoarding portrayal in The Butterfly Clues!

For those of you who have read The Butterfly Clues, what did you think of the presentation of Lo's mental health issues?

Guest Post: Best Friends Forever...Whatever

I'm happy to welcome Jeannie Campbell from The Character Therapist back to the blog for another Psychtember guest post! You can read Jeannie's guest post for last year's event here.

Best Friends Forever….Whatever

By

Jeannie Campbell, LMFT

There seems to be a growing trend in YA novels to feature a heroine with low self-esteem who has to endure the malevolent ministrations of her so-called best friend.

The heroine is usually too timid to speak up for herself at the beginning of the book. Her “best friend” gives her backhanded compliments and teases her in the one area that emotionally cripples the heroine.

One book with the scenario above is Jennifer Echol’s The One That I Want. Gemma’s frenemy, Addison, wants the guy Gemma does. She makes things intolerable for Gemma with cutting remarks about Gemma’s weight or fashion sense.

Claire LaZebnik’s Epic Fail features an uprooted young heroine, planted in a hip Los Angeles prep school. She gets in with the “in” crowd, who only turn on her with cruelty to ruin her life.

I began to reflect whether this accurately reflects the pulse of young adult female friendships and did a little research.

Apparently, it does.

In 2010, Dr. Michelle Anthony and Dr. Reyna Lindert wrote Little Girls Can Be Mean,  a book that addresses this very issue.  They focused on elementary-aged girls (K-6) and the friend-slash-bully their own daughters had faced.

It seems that boys don’t typically have this type of covert bullying. They are much more physical in how they intimidate and manipulate each other. Girls, on the other hand, rarely do overt bullying, and tend to favor the old saying, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

Bullying best friends only gets worse as time passes. The stakes are higher, as are the social consequences. Many of these girls have been mistreated for so long that by high school, they succumb to the feelings of hopelessness and helplessness and never imagine they could change their social situation.

As a mental health professional, I am concerned about the lack of a role model these heroines would be for my own daughter, were she old enough to read these stories. And while I’m secretly glad that the evil best friend gets her comeuppance by the end of the book, she does so only after the heroine either humiliates her publically or tells her off privately.

I’m not a fan of these inappropriate portrayals of how to solve interpersonal conflicts. Teens should be able to communicate in an assertive manner what their needs are, whether those needs are emotional, social, or physical. If a friend stands you up in favor of hanging out with someone else, no girl should just “let this slide,” or make up excuses for the friend’s behavior.

I realize that fictional books have to take the heroine through a journey. The internal character arc of being fearful at first and then growing courageous enough to speak up for yourself is attractive to many authors. It’s an easy sell, but there can be so much more to fiction!

I’m appreciative of the YA books bringing this issue to light, but we have to be careful about what message we are sending out to teens. We want to reach them where they are at, and many a teen girl will relate to being bullied by her best friend.

Great, that means she’ll pick up the book off the shelf.

So let’s make sure that when she does so, what she reads is like a road map to show her how she can better her social life through assertive communication, not aggression, revenge, or passive-aggressiveness. 

Jeannie Campbell is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of California. She is Head of Clinical Services for a large non-profit, but has worked in a variety of venues, from a psychiatric hospital to private practice. She is the owner and operator of The Character Therapist, an online therapy service for fictional characters where writers can receive her professional insight to improve characterization with psychology. 

Thanks very much, Jeannie, for drawing attention to this unsettling trend in teenage girl "friendships" (and YA)!

Readers, what books have you read that portray these types of relationships? Have you ever had a "best friend" of this variety?

Guest Post: Where Real Meets Unreal

I'm happy to welcome Dr. Sarah Fine, author of the upcoming YA novel Sanctum, back to the blog for another Psychtember guest post! (You can read Sarah's guest post from last year here.)

Where Real Meets Unreal: Characters’ Reactions to Trauma in YA Speculative Fiction

When I was in the early stages of writing SANCTUM (which comes out only a few weeks from now! October 16^th! Yipes!), I made a decision: The protagonist, Lela, had to be a tough, scrappy fighter, someone who could believably sneak her way into hell and battle whatever she came up against. Out of that decision blossomed Lela’s past, which is marked by abuse and loss. But … as a psychologist who’s worked with kids who’ve been through some pretty tough stuff, I couldn’t give Lela that kind of history without consequences for her as a character. It left her wounded. Vulnerable. In need of some healing even though she couldn’t yet ask for it.

Basically, I created a character who exhibits many symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), though in the contemporary urban fantasy world of SANCTUM, it is never called exactly that. But if we consider the formal diagnostic criteria in the DSM-IV, Lela’s experience definitely meets Criterion A (a trauma which involved a threat to her “physical integrity” and her own helpless reaction to it), Criterion B (re-experiencing of the trauma; I’m trying not to spoil things so I won’t get specific), Criterion C (at least three symptoms of avoidance/numbing of responsiveness), and Criterion D (at least two symptoms of hyperarousal, things like exaggerated startle response and hypervigilance to threats) for PTSD. The trauma occurs two years prior to the start of the story, and the symptoms have dogged her ever since. How they impact her actions and relationships—and how she evolves as a result of what she goes through in the dark city beyond the Suicide Gates—is a significant part of her development as a character throughout the series.

In fantasy, there’s often not a lot of room for formal diagnostic talk or labels, which is something you see more often in contemporary YAs like Wintergirls, Hold Still, Willow, and Life Is But A Dream. A few contemps, such as Compulsion, are specifically about a mental illness but don’t necessarily label it. A notable exception is Jackie Morse Kessler’s fascinating fantasy series about the Riders of the Apocalypse, in which several of the characters have diagnosable disorders, including anorexia and self-harm (which is a nonspecific symptom of several different disorders, actually).

But usually, in speculative fiction, we don’t see this so much. Considering the occurrence of mental illness in adolescents (1 in 5!), you might think we would, but the sci-fi/fantasy genres tend to have a different focus. The big exception here, however, is reactions to trauma. Which makes sense, because the characters regularly go through terrifying, life-threatening things. In fact, I might argue that we don’t see truly impairing reactions to traumatic events in YA sci-fi/fantasy/dystopians as often as you might expect, given what authors (including myself …) put their characters through. I mean, there aren’t a ton of studies on how frequently PTSD occurs after a traumatic event, but in a study of folks in Manhattan after 9/11, it turned out well over 50% had at least one identifiable symptom of PTSD in the 5-8 weeks afterward. In other words, it’s pretty common to experience some lingering effects after something that scary.

The Marbury Lens is all about what could be considered an acute stress reaction (ASR) but is not at all a clinical examination of it (because it’s A LOT more complex and wild than that). And in Insurgent, Tris exhibits several clearly identifiable symptoms of Acute Stress Disorder, the only thing she could really be diagnosed with so shortly after a trauma (PTSD can only be diagnosed a minimum of one month after the trauma). She has some re-experiencing of the event, avoidance of things that remind her of it, and symptoms of increased emotional arousal. HOWEVER … she doesn’t exhibit any dissociative symptoms (that I could detect), so she doesn’t actually meet formal criteria for the disorder. That doesn’t mean she isn’t deeply affected by what happens at the end of Divergent, though.

In Catching Fire and Mockingjay, Katniss experiences debilitating symptoms of PTSD (so do a few of the other characters). In reading those books, I really felt like Suzanne Collins captured how persistent and crippling those symptoms could be. I appreciated how, in books that portray incredible brutality and violence, she did not shrink from showing the severe and lasting effects of those things on the characters. It wasn’t like they got out unscathed—quite the contrary. They (most of them, at least) were not destroyed by their experiences, but they were changed by them, and not in a good, healthy way. Despite that, they persisted, and in my opinion, there’s true heroism and bravery in that alone.

What are some other fantasy or sci-fi books you’ve read that cover the characters’ reactions to traumatic events? Are there any that strike you as being particularly well done? Have you read books where you wonder how the character manages to endure intense trauma and come away seemingly unscathed? Where do you think this type of thing—true PTSD or any other mental disorder—fits within the scope, plots, etc. of non-realistic/contemporary YA fiction?

Sarah Fine got her doctorate in clinical psychology and specializes in working with children and their families. Her YA urban fantasy debut, SANCTUM, will be published on October 16th (Marshall Cavendish Children's Books/Amazon Children's Publishing). She is represented by Kathleen Ortiz at New Leaf Literary. Her blog, The Strangest Situation, is about the (messy, awesome, blurred, thrilling) intersection of those two endeavors.

Thanks so much, Sarah, for this insightful analysis of trauma portrayals in YA fantasy and sci-fi! Readers, what are your thoughts on this topic? How would you respond to the questions Sarah raises?

Guest Post: Teens, Bipolar, and a Very Different Ghost Story

I'm happy to welcome Jeannine Garsee, author of The Unquiet, to the blog today for a Psychtember guest post!  

First, a little bit about the novel: 

"Sixteen-year-old Rinn Jacobs has secrets: One, she’s bipolar. Two, she killed her grandmother.

After a suicide attempt, and now her parents' separation, Rinn and her mom move from California to the rural Ohio town where her mother grew up. Back on her medications and hoping to stay well, Rinn settles into her new home, undaunted by the fact that the previous owner hanged herself in Rinn's bedroom. At school, her classmates believe the school pool is haunted by Annaliese, a girl who drowned there. But when a reckless séance goes awry, and terrible things start happening to her new friends—yet not to her—Rinn is determined to find out why she can’t be "touched" by Annaliese...or if Annaliese even exists.

With the help of Nate Brenner, the hunky “farmer boy” she’s rapidly falling for, Rinn devises a dangerous plan to uncover the truth. Soon reality and fantasy meld into one, till Rinn finds it nearly impossible to tell the difference. When a malevolent force threatens the lives of everyone she cares about--not to mention her own--she can't help wondering: who should she really be afraid of?

Annaliese? Or herself?" (from Goodreads)

TEENS, BIPOLAR, AND A VERY DIFFERENT GHOST STORY

Jeannine Garsee

I notice people often casually toss around psychiatric terms, like “I’m feeling kind of schizophrenic today.” Or, “God, I’m so moody—I must be bipolar.” For years, my own knowledge of mental illness was strictly limited to movies like Sybil and The Three Face of Eve…or the occasional patient I’d have (I’m a RN) that all us of nurses labeled as “totally nuts”—often because they rang their call bell fifty times a shift, demanded steak dinners, or cussed us out for no reason.

           
As far as bipolar goes, I thought it was a pretty cut-and-dried mental disorder. You were either high and happy or very low and depressed, right?

Wrong. Until I started working in a psych unit back in 2008, I had no idea that bipolar disorder was such a serious disability, and that people who go untreated can become as actively psychotic as any schizophrenic.

           

Bipolar disorder is sometimes referred to as a disease of judgment—poor judgment. The belief that there’s nothing wrong with you, that it’s everyone else. The risk-taking behavior. The reluctance to take any mood-stabilizers because it knocks you out or dulls your senses. After all, it’s fun to feel high, and productive, on top of the world—that is, until you lose your friends, your job, and even your family support because, frankly, no one can put up with you anymore. Not only does your “high” behavior pose a danger to your life, but the depression that often follows can sometimes lead to suicide.

           

When I started The Unquiet back in 2005, it was to be strictly a ghost story. But after working on a psychiatric unit, and spending many hours around people who saw things and heard things no one could see or hear, who insisted they were speaking to “spirits” and “demons”—and observing their bizarre reactions to these hallucinations—I decided to up the ante and give my main character a mental illness, leaving the reader to wonder at certain points: is this really happening, or is Rinn, imagining it?  

Rinn is complex character. She’s unique in the sense that she accepts her illness and is motivated to stay well, and still very typical of many others with bipolar disorder. No one “wants” to depend on medication, especially psychotropics, for the rest of their lives. Sadly, there is still a stigma connected to mental illness; often the strange, destructive, and socially unaccepted behaviors are viewed as attempts to garner attention or as a weakness in one’s self-control. The reluctance to take medication may be due to embarrassment (Rinn’s terrified her friends will find out she is on antipsychotics). Psych drugs also have some very unwanted side effects: Some cause weight gain and some decrease your sex drive, while others can affect your body’s metabolism as well as your immune system. Many require regular blood work to monitor the drugs levels and to make sure you’re not susceptible to infections. Who wants to be stuck with needles all the time?

Teens are particularly vulnerable to medication non-compliance. Take the raging hormones of adolescence and the not-quite-mature brain of a teenager, add to his or her never-ending quest for self-identity and acceptance, and you can imagine why they’re reluctant to admit the need to take medications that might label them as “crazy.”

Bipolar disorder is not something you outgrow. It’s not something that can be controlled with willpower, or diet, or merely ignored in the hope it’ll disappear. Rinn learned this the hard way; her refusal to stay on her medications led to the loss of all of her friends. Her behavior was obnoxious, and often illegal. She used drugs and acted out sexually. She broke into a home, and later, into a stable to ride her favorite horse—an incident that could have ended in tragedy. It takes a real tragedy, the death of her grandmother—inadvertently caused by Rinn while in an acutely psychotic state—to make her realize that staying on her medications is the only way to keep her, and everyone around, safe. It’s also this incident that triggers her parents’ separation and her subsequent move to River Hills, Ohio, where her best intentions to stay on her medications is compromised by a ghost named Annaliese.

Because bipolar disorder is now being diagnosed very early in some cases (source: Reuters--http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/01/15/us-usa-child-trial-research-idUSTRE60E0NC20100115), children as young as preschool age are now are able to receive the proper treatment. It’s my hope that young adults will not only pick up The Unquiet to discover an entertaining ghost story, but that some of them—those with bipolar disorder or other mental illnesses—will see a bit of themselves in Rinn…and realize they can control their illness and lead normal, happy lives. 

Copyright 2012 by Jeannine Garsee

"Jeannine Garsee has been telling stories since before she could write. "I was addicted to the Sunday funnies," she says, "and my dad worked in a book-binding factory. He'd bring home a slew of paper every week, and I'd draw scenes on every page. Later, when I learned to write, I'd add the captions--and then the captions just grew longer and longer till I didn't have any room left for the pictures." Jeannine, known as "Jen" to her friends, works as a psych nurse in a busy inner-city hospital. Born and raised in Ohio, she lives with her family in a southwest suburb of Cleveland." (from her website)


Thanks, Jeannine, for dropping by and discussing bipolar disorder and your novel The Unquiet! 

Guest Post: Bibliotherapy and the Power of Books

To kick off Psychtember, I'm pleased to welcome Len from Musings of a Reader Happy to the blog for a guest post on bibliotherapy!

Bibliotherapy seems to be a straightforward term.  Derived from the greek word, Biblion (book) and therapy (treatment).  Though in reality its definition can vary from the simplest to a broader range. 

David Russell and Caroline Shrodes (1950, from Allen et al., 2012) have deduced from their review of literature that bibliotherapy, “as a process of dynamic interaction between the reader and literature – interaction that may be utilized for personality assessment or for adjustment, preparation, healing and growth.”  The Greeks even posted above their library doors the words, "the medicine chest of the soul."

Though literature and other researches on this area suggest therapeutic attributes of reading books, it does not necessarily follow that it meant to be a form of psychotherapy, or for teachers and librarians as therapists.  Librarians themselves agree, that handing out books to those who are already under forms of clinical stress might even prove to be detrimental to their healing.  They cautiously approach this matter.

As a personal stand, bibliotherapy can be a supplementary form of therapeutic activity, or in itself an informal type of release.

We have heard a lot of stories and comments from fellow readers of how books (or reading) have changed their lives. 

“Life-transforming ideas have always come to me through books.” — Bell Hooks

I even remember this event called #YASaves, where some fellow bloggers speak out in reaction to an article lamenting on how dark the trend of YA books have become.  It stirred my own experience with books, because I myself was saved by books.  Perhaps the word, “saved” is a bit dramatic for some but it is true, and just one of the things a book can do to a reader, depending on his/her experience of it.

“There are only two worlds - your world, which is the real world, and other worlds, the fantasy. Worlds like this are worlds of the human imagination: their reality, or lack of reality, is not important. What is important is that they are there. these worlds provide an alternative. Provide an escape. Provide a threat. Provide a dream, and power; provide refuge, and pain. They give your world meaning. They do not exist; and thus they are all that matters.”
— Neil Gaiman, The Books of Magic

Jami Jones reiterates that, “anytime a book is read by someone who needs its message to solve a problem or reflect on a challenge, bibliotherapy has occurred.”  Ask any reader and they always have their own fair share of stories of how books helped them. 

“We live and breathe words. It was books that kept me from taking my own life after I thought I could never love anyone, never be loved by anyone again. It was books that made me feel that perhaps I was not completely alone. They could be honest with me, and I with them.”
— Cassandra Clare

Now, whether reading books is in itself an act or a therapy, simple or complex, how or why, I think it’s best to say that books are indeed powerful.  That they have the power to change us.

(x)

sources:

Allen, James R., Allen, Sandra F., Latrobe, Kathy H., Brand, Michael, Pfefferbaum, Betty, Elledge, Brenda, Burton, Tracey, and Guffey, Matthew.  (2012).  The Power of Story:  The Role of Bibliotherapy for the Library.  Children and Libraries.  
Jones, Jami L.  (2006).  A Closer Look at Bibliotherapy.  Young Adult Library Services:  Feature. 


[Len Delgado (maidenveil) graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology, and MA in Counseling Psychology. She's currently focused with research and recent studies on social, young adolescent, gender, and personality, and exploration on Forensic Psychology.]

Thanks very much, Len, for sharing your thoughts on how books can impact us! Readers, do any of you have experience with bibliotherapy? What books have changed your lives in big ways?