Educating our loved ones.
I have been going through a very long, very intense episode over the last couple of days. Things are finally starting to settle as I, yesterday, finally got to experience the safe space I had been missing so much.
As I ride the waves that come with entering the real world again and am able to look at the situations with a clearer view, I can't help but wonder;
How many of us are navigating the world of PTSD, often tied in with other issues like anxiety, depression or OCD.
So, I went looking for recourses to educate those who don't experience, hoping to find something like the scene in Inside Out 2, doing such a great job portraying what a anxiety attack looks and feels like.
Nothing. No short stories, no animations, no real moviescenes. Nothing. Only medical-like articles that coldly list off symptoms, which is helpful but nowhere near the "experience".
So, I (mostly to help my SO understand what it's like, how crippling it is, how logic goes out the window,...) want to write a short story. Not hoping to make it as a big time writer, lol. I just want to create a medium that allows the reader to "experience" without actually having to live the horror that took us there.
My idea is to create a universe, in a fantasy setting, but have the main-character be a fantasy-version of a Reacher-Punisher-John Wick type of thing. Where the main character sets out to go into his/hers partners brain, determined to slay the monsters that cripple them. Unaware of the fact that there are no monsters, it's the brain itself. He's forced to navigate a world where what's seemingly normal changes at a whim, triggers do not make sense, the enviroment changes when navigated wrong and destroys itself.
So, while I am 100% capable of writing from my experience, I want to include a wider narrative.
So, for those of you who are comfortable, would you be willing/able to share what happens in your mind when you fall into the chasm that is an episode? How does your reality get distorted? Any other pointers you would like to share?
TIA.
Posted Dec 13, 2025, 10:48 AM UTC