@HaleyTheRandomYou know, this is one of those "Hair Trigger" topics where I can safely say: fuck what the haters say. Partially because things like depression and anxiety tend to affect the mind differently, person by person. The general symptoms are usually ones you can portray easily, simply by reading them up on wikipedia. However, everything else, how it affects a person's social life, their work, their school, their family, and more importantly, their personality, all depends on the individual. As well, depression is among the most common mental illnesses, along with anxiety, so you have so much research out there that generalizes it because it's impossible to collect data on how depression affects every individual person in certain ways.
Honestly, though, as someone with depression, what I can tell you right now that offends me the most: it's when the mental illness is the character. The same goes with homosexuality. Or Race. Avoid letting the label become the character, and you're Scott free; never base a personality around one "interesting" thing. Literally, if you're researching this like you do everything else you write, then you're a-okay. You're fine. If you get worried about messing things up and offending someone, then you're already digging yourself into a hole. Don't let your mind focus on this one aspect of your character or your RP, or else that's all it's ever going to amount to.
(I want to put in there, somewhere in here, at least, that stereotypes are both your best friend and your sworn enemy. Learn how to use them, when to use them, why they're used, and when not to use them. Nothing's unique and anything "unique" is just a pile of shit with a snowflake on top.)
If you're doing something that's a hot topic, that "triggers" a lot of people (and I use that term loosely because it takes away from the actual meaning), then you're most definitely going to get some backlash from it. That's just what happens. It's hard getting that negative reaction, but it's going to happen regardless of whether or not you tried your damn hardest to write it in a way that gives it justice.
As long as you understand that there's a line between "writing the issue," and, "letting the issue write for you," and you understand that the former is the one you're trying to for, then you're fine. If it offends someone, that's their issue. The idea is that you're trying and the fact that you make sure you have your facts correct before writing puts you way ahead of the game.
Just remember, in the future, if you're going to write about something that deals with potentially opinionated views, whether they be religious, political, or what not, that you do so without succumbing to your own passion and opinions. Writing a racist character is one thing; writing a character racistly, is another entirely. Writing about genocide and murder is one thing and can easily be achieved without bleeding into something that has malicious intent behind it. You know what I'm talking about? One's writing (about) the issue, and the other is letting your passions and own opinions write for you.
I guess I keep repeating myself, but it's a good thing to hammer in. Writing from the heart is great and amazing, as long as you don't let that overtake whatever you're writing. Knowing what you're writing about, especially if it's a hot topic issue, will often allow you to overcome that passion to use it in a way that strengthens your writing. But, you have to know when an unbiased voice is required, even in writing fiction.
Just worry about your characters. If someone's sending you hate mail, ignore it and report it. If someone's legitimately concerned about what you're writing, and is offended by it, strike a conversation with them. Chances are, they're just trying to tell you that they're a bit hurt by what you wrote and trying to reach a compromise. You won't learn from anyone who's only there to spout their vitriol, but you will learn miles and miles by allowing yourself to be open to change and compromise. Of course, sometimes it's hard to discern whether a person is just talking to spew hate at you or if they've got legitimate feedback for you. But, that can be solved by allowing yourself to step back for a moment and come to the issue later. Or, to have someone read what's been written to you for you. I know you're good friends with Lady A and I think she has a great eye for these things. If you trust her with info like this, share it with her or with anyone else you trust, to make sure that what you're receiving is what you think it is.
If you require any help with certain things, especially with things like this, or even with PMs people are sending about your characters or roleplays, I'm always available and willing to help. If you need someone to look a character over, or a premise/idea, I'm also available and can help clean certain things up. I like to think I'm rather culturally aware, but if I don't know something, I think I know people who do.
As a side note, it's very easy to just swear off these topics, in general. Oh, it's so easy to put all of these things into a quarantine and just stick with the things you know won't get a negative response. I commend people who are brave enough to explore these topics and subjects of writing knowing they might get some backlash out of it. Because you will. In this day and age, it's like walking on eggshells. Either someone's calling you a Feminazi or an MRA; either someone's calling you a neckbeard, MLP loving redditor or a hipster, SJW tumblrite. It's one or the other. And it's really, really hard to tread that line without getting some kind of flack for it. A good thing to do is to find your friends, your real friends, and stick with them because they're the ones who aren't going to yell at you for not writing a female a certain way, or using correct gender terms, or something that some extremist group out there's going to scream at you for and call you Hitler.
So, I commend you for being able to write about these things and anyone who's sending you hate mail can shove it up their ass, along with whatever pole they have stuck up there.
(i didn't know this was five days old, but i figured... eh, this advice doesn't need to be present to help. I think?)
