My RP OC, Kahrin, has chronic depression, survivor’s guilt, has battled with (and overcome) suicidal tendencies, and sometimes copes through drinking and self-harm.

She is not, however, suffering. She is living. Sometimes it is hard and it hurts, and it hurts people around her, but she is surviving and living, even if no one else around her understands.

I think the key is to do as much research and consultation as you can. Like I said in the post about Anders, I think that what was intended was a fair idea. It was the delivery that fell flat for me from a disability right’s activist standpoint. I think seeing positive portrayals of disability in video games is something we need to see more of.

66% DEATH RATE OK! I mean…the guy needs some lovin’.

/joins you under the rock

I mean, I love all the DA and DA2 characters, really, honestly, but Carver is the one that has this je-ne-sais-quoi that is a mix of troubled, confused, uneasy, clumsy, loyal, passionate, boiling, simplicity, and directness, and this whole unbalanced mixture of emotions and attitudes torments him a little and it comes out in random moments that always surprised me and made me want to hug him.

Hug a fictional character. Me.
/crawls back under a rock

My canon Warden is a dual-wield warrior, and now I only like playing mages in DA2 (where I never got a mage past Ostagar in DAO). Just because I like the guy so much!

I have a ton of Carver fanfic, too. Most of it with said Warrior… >.>
I am a bit hooked.
*regrets nothing*

Thank you for sharing this link, I have bookmarked your post for future references (because I tend to have Carver in many of my fanfics, whoops)

Know the current information about OB/GYN care. It’s a huge pain, but the information is out there in medical journals that are free to the public to read. Your doctors should be reading them as well, and if they are not, you will be prepared. Information is your best defense against needless invasion of your body, and the best weapon you have to insist upon your rights as a patient.

I had an ectopic pregnancy a few summers ago that ended in termination. My IUD had to be removed in order to safely handle the situation, and I was promised that I would be able to simply get another as soon as my body recovered.

When I went back to get it, the nurse midwife tried to block me from getting one, telling me that IUDs increased the risk of ectopic pregnancy. This is both false, and irresponsible of her. The truth is that IUDs do not affect the chances of ectopic pregnancy. Rather, they are so effective at preventing pregnancy that just about the only failure that happens would have to be an ectopic pregnancy. The odds are that you would have had that same ectopic even without the IUD, but it stands out because it is birth control failure. The statistics get skewed.

I did my research, and found a journal article that was less than a month old demonstrating that there was no contraindication with IUDs and ectopic pregnancies. I took it with me to my actual GYN and showed it to him, and he THANKED me for being informed and for showing this to him, because he said he had read that there had been such info, but hadn’t yet read the article. I got my IUD that day. He was also understanding about my concerns with paps and pelvics. He has been one of my greatest women’s health care allies at this hospital.

That was more than you asked for, but honestly, while we shouldn’t HAVE to go to such lengths, knowing your shit about your body and about your medical options is an invaluable weapon. Doctors and other medical professionals do not know everything, and are fallible just like everyone else, they just tend to forget it more often, IMO.

I respect what she was trying to do. I feel like it could have used a bit more consultation, because I don’t feel it was successful. Though, I do appreciate the effort. We don’t see sympathetic portrayals of mental illness in video games often.