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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 14th Apr 2018 at 6:13 PM Last edited by Astha123 : 15th Apr 2018 at 9:11 AM. Reason: message
Default How do you play sims with mental disorders, sleep disorders, etc?
I haven't seen a thread about this and I was curious so here we are.

I play sims with depression by making them avoid the other people in the house, walking out of the room when anyone else enters, using boolprop to keep decreasing their energy, make them use several forms of escapism (Mostly the Internet and books) and make them stay up late.

EDIT: A few people don't like to play sims with disorders, and people are disagreeing. I just wanted to say that it's okay if you don't want to play sims with disorders. Some find playing sims with disorders cathartic, some others don't want to remember their problems while playing. Every reason is fine, and I think we would all prefer it if this thread remained free of judgement, so please use the disagree button sparingly.
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 14th Apr 2018 at 6:27 PM
Normally if I think a sim has a disorder I just freewill them and they tell me what disorder it is. When Tommy Ottomas was depressed because his high school sweetheart burned to death on the day she was supposed to take her SATs, I had him in college with his best friend and his girlfriend's sister, and except for making him write a term paper and changing his appearance to make him progressively grubby I didn't direct him to do anything. Eventually he met another girl and started picking himself up.

Some sims have special rules, such as a dyslexic who isn't allowed to skill through reading. Someone with ADHD might not be allowed to lock wants. That sort of thing.

I value and envy sims' disorder-free sleep too much to muck with their sleep.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Mad Poster
#3 Old 14th Apr 2018 at 6:46 PM
I don't. I have the luxury to have healthy-happy sims since EA didn't introduce mental illness and the likes. So I enjoy it.

Je mange des girafes et je parle aussi français !...surtout :0)

Find all my old MTS Uploads, on my SFS, And all new uploads Here . :)
Scholar
#4 Old 14th Apr 2018 at 10:01 PM
The only mental issue I've allowed in my game came about because of a glitch. After having more than one sim fail to obtain the "learn to study" memory, despite asking for help more than once, I made the decision to explain the anomaly by saying that the sim in question must have dyslexia. As I have the Harder Homework mod, it's important that sim kids learn to study just for the speed boost. However, anyone with a learning disability has no option but to work for longer to achieve the same result.

Quote: Originally posted by Peni Griffin
Some sims have special rules, such as a dyslexic who isn't allowed to skill through reading.
That's an interesting idea, Peni. I may have to incorporate that into my play-style.

No need to use my full name, "Selly" will do just fine.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#5 Old 14th Apr 2018 at 10:12 PM
I don't, I get enough of that in real life and have no wish for it to continue over into my relaxation time.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
#6 Old 14th Apr 2018 at 10:46 PM
I've had full-blown breakdowns-and while sometimes it's possible to play it out, it makes living with that pixel hard for their family. I had to switch aspirations for one who lost his position as a surgeon due to medical malpractice-it was quite the blow for him and he just couldn't get over it. Grilled cheese came into his life and his mind was saved.
But his family grew to fear his rants on it...

Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
Grave Matters: The funeral podium is available here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/e6tj...albits.zip/file
My other downloads are here: https://app.mediafire.com/myfiles
Field Researcher
#7 Old 14th Apr 2018 at 11:10 PM
Yeah, I personally feel very uncomfortable forcing sims to have disorders or handicaps, especially because I myself suffer some. It also tends to delve into stereotypes, real-life disorders are very complex and don't have the same effect on every individual every day, but the sims are relatively simple, living simple lives. Also, I tend to be a very nice simgod and it would pain me too much to do all that extra work just to have a perfectly healthy sim be miserable.

There are also a lot of (symptoms of) disorders you just can't simulate in the sims. How does a sim get a psychosis? They can't get paranoid since sims don't have 'beliefs' to begin with, hallucinate things other than shrinks and social bunnies, or have other kinds of hallucinations than the visual, fail at understanding the simlish language, fail at speaking simlish, emote less (okay, maybe with a posebox overlay you could simulate this!), get catatonic, or whatever I forgot about psychoses.
They don't have trouble at communicating like people with an autism disorder (you can't just have them not talk, we can talk fine!), or trouble with certain areas of arithmetic, reading sims' faces or start throwing chairs when immensely frustrated (not common, especially not when teenager or older, but I've seen it happen!). They don't have attention spans to begin with (although 'not locking wants' is an interesting idea) whether they stop or start doing things is depended on how an interaction or object is coded and lastly, violence is almost non-existent in the sim world.

I guess it would be interesting to make sim disorders, maybe as a challenge, like never locking wants, not being able to learn a specific skill, not being able to skill with certain objects or play without seeing the wants so fulfilment is accidental and aspiration tends to be low. 'No social interactions which require talking' could be an option and it does not really have a human counterpart: the deaf can speak and so can the mute either with training, sign language, writing and/or computers. The problem with that is that the sims would still talk automatically on community lots and the like. Of course, the so-called 'asylum challenge' has the 'do not control' rule for the fellow residents. This way, a sim can be directed to do things by other sims but is otherwise left to the programmer's mercy . You can also only let them skill or earn badges when they have the want but until then, they can only use non-skilling objects for fun, kind of like the escapism you mentioned. Or only let them do certain things if they use the appropiate aspiration reward, which means that they need to have golden aspiration to begin with. Anyway, there's probably lots more I can't think about.
Mad Poster
#8 Old 15th Apr 2018 at 12:22 AM Last edited by simmer22 : 15th Apr 2018 at 12:38 AM.
^ For portraying deafness, sims do a sim version of sign language most of the time when they talk (particularly if they talk about interests).

Aspiration failure is probably the sim version of psychosis, and the therapist comes for a visit. For social failure/depression, they hallucinate the social bunny is there to cheer them up.

For stories I may use creative posing, clothes, makeup, etc. to portray various kinds of disorders, but outside of storytelling my sims live happy, long lives without any such problems. They do have a sleep disorder called "maxmotives" though, meaning they don't sleep. Except, of course, if i need them sleeping for a picture. Similarly, they also don't eat, shower, go to the toilet, etc. unless I need them to for a picture, or if I'm in the mood to do play family-style, which I only rarely do in TS2 nowadays.
Alchemist
#9 Old 15th Apr 2018 at 12:30 AM
For depression/anxiety, I'll give them extra fear slots. Depressed Sims might have their aspiration lowered, have disordered sleeping and eating. I use the skill limiter to keep some Sims from maxing out their skills.
Top Secret Researcher
#10 Old 15th Apr 2018 at 12:50 AM
I tend to avoid it but, having said that, I did have one Sim who had a breakdown. He was panhandling and being visited by the shrink, etc. I got family members to show concern in the story. He enjoyed fishing which raised his mood a bit and was like a therapy. But he died pretty soon after.
Scholar
#11 Old 15th Apr 2018 at 12:51 AM
It's not something I ever do intentionally (even the Asylum Challenge was just uninterrupted free will), though there have been times when Sims have struck me as having depression or some other disorder. In Acadie, David Ottomas had his parents committed to an asylum, and shortly afterwards made enquiries about Sharla, too. Don't judge the guy - Sharla called him to come home because their parents were just wandering around, sighing, wringing their hands and staring off into space for hours. Sometimes they would eat food she cooked, but they never cooked for themselves though they often screamed about being hungry. I really have no idea what was going on with them, since Samantha at least had a reasonably high aspiration level, but they just wouldn't care for themselves or the children and often just 'forgot' to do as I directed. So they were sent to the 'asylum', which basically means I put them in an apartment with no stove (so they couldn't start a fire) and turned free will off. They had to reach permaplat in order to be released. A day or two after that, teen Sharla started attacking Tommy. David was afraid for Tommy and the twins, so he called the parish office to see what could be done. Sharla was placed in an orphanage in downtown Orleans, run by the kindly Sister Claire, and loved it there.

And then there was my Vow-of-Silence Nina Caliente, whom I played as a crazy cat lady, but that was a glitch rather than something I did intentionally. For some reason, she was unable to do anything while a male Sim was on the lot; whatever she had been going to do dropped out of her queue (including going to work, because her car pool driver was male) and she just stood there and could not be directed until the male left. I gave her two cats and got them jobs, and I let her buy a new fridge when hers was empty because she couldn't order food over the phone or go to the store.

I've had Sims be very depressed after a family member died, but my goal was always to get them happy again as quickly as possible, not to play the mental health issue as a thing in itself. Tommy Ottomas of Sheffield was given a kitten to cheer him up after his gran died. A YA Sim who had low aspiration and kept stopping to cry after his mother died was allowed to retake his failed semester, something I don't allow under normal circumstances. The Sim whose school grade remained stuck at D even after he'd finished all his homework on two consecutive nights was deemed to have a learning disability and given "private tuition" in the form of the Simlogical Schoolwork Table.

So I don't assign disorders to my Sims, but if they appear to have one, I treat it as best I can.
Lab Assistant
#12 Old 15th Apr 2018 at 2:15 AM
Putting your sims constantly on the verge of aspiration failure and depriving them of social interaction seems to bring out the instability in them.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#13 Old 15th Apr 2018 at 5:25 AM
Dear disagreers, you disagree that sims should be relaxing for me or that I don't have enough problems with mine and family members health? Please elaborate, would you like a list of them?

Quote: Originally posted by Isa-WP
Yeah, I personally feel very uncomfortable forcing sims to have disorders or handicaps, especially because I myself suffer some. It also tends to delve into stereotypes, real-life disorders are very complex and don't have the same effect on every individual every day, but the sims are relatively simple, living simple lives. Also, I tend to be a very nice simgod and it would pain me too much to do all that extra work just to have a perfectly healthy sim be miserable.


^ Exactly.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#14 Old 15th Apr 2018 at 9:04 AM
Quote: Originally posted by omglo
For depression/anxiety, I'll give them extra fear slots. Depressed Sims might have their aspiration lowered, have disordered sleeping and eating. I use the skill limiter to keep some Sims from maxing out their skills.

Interesting, I'll probably apply the extra fear slots too.
Instructor
#15 Old 15th Apr 2018 at 1:51 PM
They don't. There's enough of mental or physical disorders running in my family to be so glad there is a world without all those difficulties. Where Sims just can chat with anyone without being overwhelmed. My Sims' lives aren't perfect happiness but at lest they're saved from that.
Mad Poster
#16 Old 15th Apr 2018 at 1:53 PM
Aspiration failure or near one already portrays the sims having a depression for me. I take it as Sims have different symtoms than we do with our mental illness.
Field Researcher
#17 Old 15th Apr 2018 at 6:48 PM
I think depression fits aspiration failure better than psychosis. I wrote down a small list of stuff that happens during a psychosis on purpose, hallucinating is only a small part of it! Hallucinations are actually more common than people realize and they can happen during depression. People can also have breakdowns during depression like the sims do during aspiration failure.
I like the idea of giving a sim more fear slots, I wouldn't have thought of that. Can you also reduce the want slots to below the standard amount? I won't do both, but it would make keeping up the aspiration harder.

@simmer22, that's right, that's why I said that it doesn't really have a human counterpart! I meant stuff like no talking, gossiping, joking, admiring, only socialize by doing joined activities, playing certain games, hugging, back rubbing, kissing. It would make it way harder to start relationships for the sim. The deaf can talk and joke, I've known several who did just that. I think this would portray more of a language-less person, who are rare but do exist. In real life, these people would have a ridiculous hard time learning chess though. For sims, it seems to come naturally. :D
Forum Resident
#18 Old 16th Apr 2018 at 5:23 AM
Mental disorders are a very serious issue and not something that I'd add to my game play on purpose. However, in my game I consider mean/playful Sims (having 0-2 nice points/4 or more playful points) as having a personality disorder. The local herbal store sells magically spiced sugar which helps their personality and enable them to make friends and maintain relationships in spite of their bad attitudes. I've found this trait runs in one particular family in my game. It's not so prevalent any more as parents whose children have the trait begin encouraging them to be nice while they are children and once they become teens begin their regiment of spiced sugar. I found that it is possible (although time consuming) to improve a Sims personality, reputation and standing in the community with regular doses of this elixir. Family and friends help to make sure that the afflicted take their medicine especially when they are out and about.

I also consider Sims who struggle maintaining their daily aspirations as suffering from depression. I try to give them ample opportunities to fulfill wants on their own; wants that need my assistance must make sense. I've only had one Sim have a full blown nervous breakdown from aspiration failure. It happened on his birthday, during his party, he was rejected for a kiss and went to pieces. However he had an awesome birthday party!
Mad Poster
#19 Old 16th Apr 2018 at 7:02 AM
This is one of those things that I think TS3's trait system could work well for, if it was ever implemented into my dream remake of TS2.

Aside from that, I don't go out of the way to make Sims with mental disorders, but sometimes in a story it makes sense - for instance, when Nervous Subject was rescued from the Beakers, I made up a story that he started going to therapy and taking medication for his issues.

Or stuff they do when noncontrollable. When my self-Sim ended up sitting in Chester Gieke's apartment and watching him sleep for hours, I figured it was just lingering weirdness from whatever caused her to lose all her memories aside from a "ran away from home." She also tends to get so focused on reading books at parties that she doesn't notice fights or Sims woohooing on the bed next to her chair.

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
just a girl
#20 Old 16th Apr 2018 at 5:52 PM
There are some interesting ideas in this thread.
Quote: Originally posted by Nukk
2) I know I'd be really inconsistent and forget which Sim has what and how I was playing them. I forget to do some important rolls half the time, let alone playing certain Sims with specific restrictions.

This.

I don't mind a few rules, but they tend to grow and I get overwhelmed sooner or later. That's why I started to love mods. If something's ingrained in gameplay mechanics, it's easier to follow.
Alchemist
#21 Old 16th Apr 2018 at 7:21 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Isa-WP
I like the idea of giving a sim more fear slots, I wouldn't have thought of that. Can you also reduce the want slots to below the standard amount? I won't do both, but it would make keeping up the aspiration harder.
I'm pretty sure you can't drop below the standard 4. I don't remember if you can remove slots earned in University.
Mad Poster
#22 Old 16th Apr 2018 at 7:49 PM
You can't drop it below 4. I tried once. You can add more fears though, which might work for a Sim with anxiety.

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
Alchemist
#23 Old 16th Apr 2018 at 8:25 PM
This is really interesting. I never thought about putting systematic disorders in the game, but I think it's because of the way I play in general. I have virtually no aging and I follow up on random occurrences so that the sims evolve over a long time, all the while working toward more and more autonomy. So, if some of my sims have "issues," (like Angela Pleasant who's still pretty messed up because she was dead for six years), I may tweak them a bit in SimPE so that they will automatically behave more like I think they should. Sometimes I tweak the need modifiers or like... a child randomly appeared with no family, so I assume she was neglected when young. I made her very grouchy so she's more likely to act out. Or, like one sim who has evolved into sort of a minion who's obsessively in love and may have run off with a baby... he arrived with no skills and seemed a bit challenged intellectually, so I don't give him a chance to build logic, hoping that he'll behave naturally more as I think he would. I have experimented with putting in very bad memories or making bad ones worse and that seems to affect them for a while. Sometimes a drama just happens in my head if I can't play it out and we "come back" after it, like the jump that TV shows make when they come back for a new season after the summer re-runs, but, in general, I try for a world that almost runs itself. This thread has given me some new things to try, thanks!
Mad Poster
#24 Old 17th Apr 2018 at 2:34 AM
Actually, to be fair, in the game, some of the personality types are indicative of a personality problem.
For instance-an 'ultra neat' (8+ points) pixel might have OCD as part of their makeup-obsession with cleanliness.
Or a very shy (less than 2 points) pixel might have social anxiety disorder.
An extroverted pixel might be demonstrating signs of exhibitionism.
Just a few examples. This page explains a few others..which could be used as guideline for those affected by them:
http://www.personalitytestfree.net/...y-disorders.php

As for other disabilities, I'm loath to use them in game to play off. Being disabled myself, I'm pretty harsh on those who insist that deafness is a disabling disability that renders me too stupid to think. What an insult! Being born with a disability is just half the problem. The other half is how the rest of the world treats you as a person.

Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
Grave Matters: The funeral podium is available here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/e6tj...albits.zip/file
My other downloads are here: https://app.mediafire.com/myfiles
Lab Assistant
#25 Old 17th Apr 2018 at 4:51 AM Last edited by SakuraKiss : 17th Apr 2018 at 4:52 AM. Reason: tmi
I suffer from mental disorders (depression, anxiety, etc.) so I don't normally want to give my sims the same life that I have, but if I want a sim who's bad at dealing with stress or with anger issues, for whatever reason, I just keep their fun need low pretty constantly... it's a fairly accurate depiction of day-to-day life, lol.

"'Why is Shinji blushing over everything Kaworu does,' you ask? He's gay..... gay gay gay gay gay" -Actual Kaworu
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