Hollywood Psych

And how does Buffy feel about that?

Let me tell you something interesting about me: my dad is a psychology professor, so by extension, I am a psychology student. I'm sure you've met parents who take their work home with them. Disorders and statistics are dinner-table fare at my house. I'm no expert, of course, but I like to think I know a little, and it seriously affects the way I look at psychology in Fictionland.
Let's take a look, shall we? If only I had a cigar...
First off, I figure a lot of the inaccuracies in literature and cinema are due to simple laziness. Nobody likes doing research. It's a fact. It can often make this grand, exciting creative endeavor feel like a homework assignment. Blech, I say. But sometimes it's necessary.
For example, how many characters pop into your head when I give the acronym ADHD?
Okay, now, how many well-written characters pop into your head when I give the acronym ADHD?
Most attention/hyperactivity disorders are grossly oversimplified in media. To my understanding, the condition affects the train of thought, so that the person in question makes leaps of reasoning and connections that mere mortals like ourselves can't get. As for the distraction bit, it's part a focus problem, and part an overactive problem. There's way more to it than, "Oh, shiny!"
Next on misunderstood mental disorders, what do you think of when I mention schizophrenia? It's frequently used as a misnomer for multiple personality disorder. Schizophrenia is a disconnection with reality, but often is used to refer to a person with Jekyll and Hyde tendencies.
Okay. Now that I've shown off enough, let's take a gander at a few better-handled examples in fiction.
Just last year, I started watching a long-running British sci-fi program, Doctor Who. In case you're one of the uneducated, it centers around an alien with mind-boggling healing powers and a strangely shaped time machine.
When the reboot series opens, we're introduced to a grouchy, grim, sarcastic man named the Doctor. And we are introduced to a very new side of this character when we discover a few things he's been through. A commentator-I don't remember who-claimed that Christopher Eccleston's performance showed clear signs of PTSD-or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a condition often found in war veterans, symptoms including flashbacks, nightmares, and newfound phobias. I applaud the directors and screenwriters for this decision, not only in representation, but in characterization, as Nine's character was masterfully shown and understood in only 13 episodes.
It's worth noting that while I chose Nine as the candidate here because I love and know him well, Suzanne Collins' series The Hunger Games is also a faithful representative of this same disorder, perhaps even better than Russel T. Davies'.
Author Rick Riordan is the second example. If you don't know his books, I advise you to find a library, stat. He depicts both ADHD and dyslexia excellently in his lead character, Percy Jackson, and for good reason-both his sons have these two disorders. His(partial) explanation of why he put this in his books is as follows, "Making Percy ADHD/dyslexic was my way of honoring the potential of all the kids I've known who have those conditions. It's not a bad thing to be different. Sometimes, it's a mark of being very, very talented." While I seriously doubt that most kids with those conditions will suddenly find that they're the child of a long-lost god and have the power to control water and breathe without air and stuff, the sentiment still works for me.
Finally, one of my favoritist screenwriter/directors ever, Joss Whedon, represents depression practically as the main villain of BtVS's sixth season.
While I can't say too much without huge spoilers, let's just say that while there are a few villains marching around the season, the main issue for a lot of it is Buffy trying to deal with the ramifications of the previous finale. She finds the petty foes she now faces near impossible to defeat, and her righteous fire and enthusiasm for slaying seem to have disappeared. Her fire for everything seems to have disappeared. Again, most depressive people don't have to fight unholy monsters on the side, but it can feel like it.
So, before I say the word disorder again and it no longer looks like a word, I bid you adieu.
May your swords stay sharp and your chocolate stocks always plentiful.