Alex Greenslade

Mr. White
Period 4
10/7/16

Research Paper
Much of the research was focused on researching three specific mental illnesses; major
depressive disorder, post traumatic stress disorder, and dissociative identity disorder. This was to
ensure that, when writing a play that involves characters with these disorders, these characters
are portrayed as realistically as possible.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a mental illness that is defined by the victim having
some sort of stressor, which comes from an event they witnessed or were apart of (Friedman,
http://www.ptsd.va.gov). This victim will afterwards continue to relive the event via flashbacks,
nightmares, and bad thoughts if these things are triggered by an event or noise. Other symptoms
include sudden bursts of anger, always feeling on guard, and have difficulties sleeping as a result,
wishing to avoid the place of stress, becoming emotionally numb and wishing to isolate
themselves from others, and/or forgetting bits and pieces of the event that caused their PTSD.
Problems victims with the disorder can fall into include depression, substance and or drug abuse,
problems finding a job, physical and relationship problems (http://www.ptsd.ne.gov).
The next mental illness was Major Depressive Disorder. This is a mental illness that's
typically associated with hard economic burden, loss of a loved one, loss of one's job, and can
lead to other mental illnesses such as anxiety or eating disorders (http://www.cdc.gov).
Symptoms include feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, guilt, loss of will in doing activities
they originally enjoyed doing, lack of energy overall, difficulty sleeping and/or oversleeping, and
constant suicidal thoughts that may cause the victim to act on them. Treatment for MDD can

include a combination of therapy and antidepressants, although it depends on the patient and how
severe their condition is (www.nimh.nih.gov).
Dissociative Identity Disorder is a mental illness shrouded in controversy, as it has is
debated whether the illness even exists, as some mental health officials believe that it's really an
offshoot of another mental illness called Borderline Personality Disorder, or a means for the
patient to cope with their relationship problems. Nevertheless, if we assume this is a factual
illness, then there are several theories for how it forms; the result of extreme early childhood
trauma, which results in the individual developing other personalities to help deal with this
abuse, or misconduct by the individuals therapist (Schmidt). One theory suggests the disorder is
a neurological one, as the Orbitofrontal cortex, which controls the decision making and your
sense of self, functions abnormally in patients with DID, which could allow the patient's brain to
create multiple selves (http://www.bu.edu). Other symptoms of the disorder besides other
personalities forming include frequent instances of memory loss, lack of self identity, out of body
experiences, and other things such as anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and depression (www.nami.org).
Like with writing anything in general, writing a play is not an easy task. First you wanna
do is start by first developing the play's theme, then do worldbuilding, flesh out the characters,
then start writing (http://hrlibrary.umn.edu). When writing a play, its important to know that they
must be written in a very specific way with specific font usage and specific spacing of words
depending on what part of the play you are talking about, like how the font that must be used is
courier and in 12, and how the margins of the title page, for instance, must be top is 3.5 left is 4,
right as bottom are both 1 inch (ptfaculty.gordonstate.edu). As for writing the play itself, it is
recommended that the play be exciting and paced well, as in keeping soliloquies and monologues

to as much of a minimum as possible; the audience could become easily bored(Fowler). It's
recommended you read other plays to get an idea on how you should write yours.

Works Cited
Friedman, M. J. (n.d.). PTSD: National Center for PTSD. Retrieved February 23, 2016,
from http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/PTSD-overview/ptsd-overview.asp

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Department of

Nebraska Veteran Affairs., 2007. Web. 07 Oct 2016. http://www.ptsd.ne.gov/what-isptsd.html
Depression National Institute of Mental Health, n.d. Web. 2016.
<https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression/index.shtml>
Depression. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d. Web. 07 October.
2016<http://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/basics/mental-illness/depression.htm>.
Schmidt, Tom , Integrative Research Paper: Dissociative Identity Disorder. , November
29th, 2007. From http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED501858.pdf

Matton, Sean. Arts and Sciences Writing Program. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2016.
<http://www.bu.edu/writingprogram/journal/past-issues/issue-3/manton/>.
"Dissociative Disorders." National Alliance on Mental Illness. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct.
2016. <https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions/DissociativeDisorders>.
Fowler, N. C. (2006). How to Write a Play. Retrieved from
http://www.theatrehistory.com/misc/how_to_write_a_play.html
This article the website uses was created in 1913.
Gordon State University, (n.d.). The Standard Stage Play Format, retrieved from

http://ptfaculty.gordonstate.edu/lking/CPF_play_formatting2.pdf

Chung, Jwion, and Mariana Leal Ferreira. University of Minnesota Human Rights Center,
n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2016. <http://hrlibrary.umn.edu/edumat/hreduseries/TB7/Chapter
%203%20P15-P28.pdf>.