For simmers everywhere, making the perfect Sim is always fun – you get to customise appearance, voice, personality, clothing, and aspirations, all of which will affect the way your Sims behave. Something that has been rising in popularity in the mod market allows you to give your Sim traits related to mental illness. In January, I chanced upon Depressed Trait by saphryn and, of course, gave it to the Sim I named after myself. A few days ago, I found several more similar mods. I downloaded Social Anxiety Disorder – Trait by iridescentlaura and Bipolar Trait by emile20 and got to playing.
They are absolutely brilliant (in retrospect, I should not have started with a household of three Sims, each with social anxiety, bipolar I, or depression).
It is difficult for individuals who have never experienced mental illness to empathise with those who live with it on a daily basis. Perhaps, with such mods, it could make it easier for mental illness to be understood, and give individuals a rough idea of just how frustrating living with mental illness can be.
Bipolar Trait [Mod The Sims]
“Bipolar I Disorder features sims experiencing a range of emotions either manic highs or depressive lows or both at the same time. With this expect sims to gain buffs that last up to 18 hours sometimes multiple which can affect their moods. Sims will either get a depressive episode (which makes them very sad), Feel Empty (which makes them tense), Feel Irritable (which makes them very angry) or have a manic episode (which makes them feel energized.”
The mod comes with both Bipolar I (as seen in the picture) and II. On its download page, there is a link to a page with more information on bipolar. A sufferer of bipolar, the author shared this mod with the intention of spreading awareness. The author also speaks of the therapeutic value of playing with such a mod, which I definitely relate to.
Social Anxiety Disorder – Trait [Mod The Sims]
“Sims with social anxiety disorder suffer from distorted thinking, including false beliefs about social situations and the negative opinions of others.
Without treatment, social anxiety disorder can negatively interfere with the sim’s normal daily routine, including school, work, social activities, and relationships. A Sim with social anxiety disorder may be afraid of a specific situation, such as speaking in public. However, most sims with social anxiety disorder fear more than one social situation.”
The author, who has social anxiety disorder, seems to have created this mod with spreading awareness in mind. Certain careers are more difficult for a Sim with this trait, and these Sims are also subject to anxiety attacks. The author also created Healing from Anxiety and Liberated Traits, reminding us that recovery is possible.
Since this site is only a month old, there isn’t much technical information on bipolar and anxiety as yet, but I’ll be working on articles about them in the next month.
I will be reaching out to saphryn, iridescentlaura, and emile20 – hopefully, we’ll be able to hear (read) some words from them about their creations, and get to know the heroes behind these mods better.
wow!!