This is my third blog post for my story that finally has a name, ‘ The Whispers, They Scream’. In this blog post I will be reasearching to back up the plot outline for the first half of my story, the ‘exposition’, ‘point of attack’ and ‘rising action’. I will mainly be reasearching how peoples personalities change and mental health, since that pertains to the first half of my outline.
First of all, I will talk about peoples personalities and how or why they change. Personality is a complex and unique make up of who a person is, and can be shaped or changed by many factors, like hereditary traits, cultural values, relationships,and life experiences (1). It’s generally assumed that in the Nature vs. Nurture debate, that parents play a primary role in their child’s personality, but a lot of personality developpment can also be linked to socialization with other children (2). We learn how to adapt from social experiences, how to intergrate or differentiate ourselves within social groups, and how our percived strenghts and weaknesses influence our self esteem through interacting with peers at a young age (2)(3). Our personalities and the way we act can also be formed by our primary caregivers (3). We tend to ‘attach’ onto the person whom we spend the most time with as children, so if our caregiver was loving and reliable we would probably develop a self-assured and trusting personality (3)(2). On the other hand, if our caregiver tended to be more neglectful, we might turn out to have a more anxious or withdrawn personality (3). In some cases, personality coaching and development is an outlet some people use to change and transform their mindset (4). Personality development coaching focuses on improving various parts of a persons personality, and helps people grow in areas like, communication, emotional intelligence, leadership and confidence (4). People’s personalities can change for a myriad of reasons, like, going through a traumatic experience, or beause of substances they’re taking, whether medication or addiction (5)(6).
Another reason someone’s personality could change, or others my notice they’re ‘acting weird’ is because of mental health (6). People can experience symptoms such as confusion or delirium, hallucinations, delusions and mood extremes; these changes of personality and behaviour can be on account of general medical conditions or mental health issues (6). Bipolar disorder can often make peoples mood swing from mania to severe depression, while anxiety disorders can cause exessive worry or panic and withdrawl from social interactions (7)(6). These changes in personality might also be accompanied by seelp disturbances, appetite changes, or difficulty concentrating (8)(6). Changes in mood or strange behaviour that has not been noticed before on a person can be a warning sight that something wrong, and should be an indicator to loved ones to potentially research more or get help (8)(7).
In my next blog post, I will do some more research about the second half of my story, the ‘climax’, ‘falling action’ and ‘resolution’, to help me write to my best ability and the most accurate degree.
Sources:
- https://www.apa.org/topics/personality
- https://medium.com/change-your-mind/what-actually-shapes-your-personality-backed-by-science
- https://www.helpguide.org/mental-health/psychology/personality-types-traits-and-how-it-affects-mental-health
- https://personality-compass.com/the-power-of-personality-development-coaching-unlock-your-full-potential
- https://www.healthline.com/health/behavior-unusual-or-strange
- https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/mental-health-disorders/overview-of-mental-health-care/personality-and-behavior-changes
- https://www.chateaurecovery.com/what-can-cause-sudden-personality-changes-in-adults
- https://www.progranulinnavigator.org/resources/personality-changes-psychiatric-dementia