Mental health and the Star Army

[Mad_Stylus]

So one thing I wanted to figure out was how the Star Army handles mental health of its troops, both in practice and in theory. For the sake of fairness, while Yamatai may be the focus, I'd be interested in hearing other factions feedback.

As Yamatai is fairly progressive and tries to treat its mass-produced killing machines as people, I do agree with Wes that it'd be more than likely severe issues (ex. soldiers with suicidal thoughts) would at the least be taken off active duty, if not removed entirely. Put them out of harms way and where they can get treatment.

Because of the nature of Neko and the... strange circumstances of their context, though, I figure that'd throw us some curveballs that don't necessarily exist IRL.

For example, Neko are made to consider their military service a core of their personality. Sure, they might be straining under the pressure but removing them from that might actually hurt them more. They'd be rudderless, with no way of proving their worth.

 

[Fay]

It's hard to imagine what it must be like to be a homemade killing machine that may or may not be exactly like the sisters born with you. However, I have been toying with an idea of how some former NMX Nekos might be going through this same issue since that war ended if they can't/won't join SAoY or find some sort of mercenary work. Or even perhaps a singular one that is suffering from a form of PTSD because of the horrors she witnessed during the war, perhaps even from either side of the conflict?

If anything, it would be more so a reminder that mental health is a very important thing IRL, and bringing up the issue in SARP could help raise awareness for those that do need help. It might not completely translate due to the setting or alien biologies, but if it helps one person or expands the knowledge of someone within the SARP community to be able to reach out to people who need help, I think it is worth it.

 

[raz]

Okay so. The Star Army, "in theory," does not allow recruitment of individuals who are mentally unstable in the first place, or simply kicks them out of the service if their problems can't be handled with quick therapy and/or an ST backup.

But realistically, that eliminates how most people play their Nekovalkyrja. (Rofl. Sorry, bros).

So idk what that means practically in RP, tbh fam. Most players consider their characters' quirks acceptable when the reality is those characters have severe mental illnesses that a technologically-advanced nation like Yamatai would not tolerate because they could filter or fix those "operationally debilitating quirks."

tl;dr: People gonna play how they want so don't worry about their crippling mental neuroses.

 

[Fay]

To be fair, that's where the Independent scene comes to bring these characters out... but you are right. Yamatai would definitely try to "fix" them, for better or worse.

 

[Kim]

As a result of combat, some neko can snap. Eve is a good example of an unstable neko. The benefit with having a digital brain is that that trauma can be erased, sealed or otherwise modified. If a Yamataian soldier gets too jacked up that they become a risk, they can be discharged from the service. Otherwise, there are a series of medications that can be prescribed to keep them level (at least there used to be).

 

[Ira]

Couldn't the Megami just patch the problem up?

 

[Mad_Stylus]

I mean, your not wrong, Raz. Its like how we're a soft military setting, but we can still attempt to be narratively convincing. Or to put some extra thought into how we handle that. Sure, we want to accomodate all the strange quirks of our characters, but having that framework can be helpful.

I feel like the "fixes" wouldn't be inhumane. Yamatai has, at least, seen the practical benefits of benevolence. Reprogramming for viable service sounds like a thing that'd exist, but I'd also imagine they'd require explicit consent for the procedure. Theirs also the question of where lines are drawn: When someone might just need monitoring, then medicinal aid, then drastic psych-eval.

I feel like that'd probably where a lot of laxness might come in that'd allow such a merry band of occasional misfits. I mean, I know a lot of PCs are nutty, but I'm also operating on the assumption that most other non-played characters of this faction are NOT as nutty. That player characters are inherently stand-out. Hence some Neko in charge waving off some concerns, downplaying, "Cats will be cats."

Patients running the asylum or something.

Theirs also the question of complexity with the Neko digital brain. A thinking machine like that would be incredibly complex, even to a like intelligence like a MEGAMI. Simply deleting a gig of depression seems... too easy. Especially from a story telling standpoint. It could be done, but a lot of things would probably be easier to just have some counseling or the like.

Also how common do you guys think post-backup identity crisis would be? Am I real, or am I just a copy wearing the skin of a dead woman? How do I prove that I am myself, despite this reincarnation?

 

[Toshiro]

It varies depending on personality. Miles Gunn went on a rampage when STed, some people couldn't care less, and there are all manner of in-between. Part of that is the culture teaching people to accept it as well. It is possible to edit out memories that cause trauma, though I wonder if those memories still influence their "personality data".

 

[Kim]

Of course! How emotional trauma is actually dealt with in setting is based on RP. Trauma can lead to great RP between a player and their medical staff or with another shipmate. You can RP a depressed neko going through therapy or have your character run away when pressed in combat. These sorts of things are great for human rp.

SO there have been threads and characters that have dealt with the gravity of being the ST back-up, (see Koharu). It gets stranger when there is a ST back-up but the original is actually still alive (see Hanako). How your character reacts to being a ST back-up is ultimately up to the player. I've had Sora get freaked out to the point of asking to not be revived in a will if she was killed in combat. It's not weird to want to add depth to a character by having them feel like something is wrong or possibly re-examining how they are living their lives. It is quite common to have a character have an identity crisis. It gets more interesting when a lover is killed and the other survives. There is almost always a gap in memory so if something significant happened between the death and the ST process, they won't remember.

Can you imagine falling in love, and getting married and then having that character die? And that resurrected character had no memory at all of remembering those moments? How heartbreaking would that be for the survivor? Would the resurrected character fall in love with them again? Would the lover fight too hard and drive their spouse away in their attempts to rekindle that passion?

Things get worse when the ship gets destroyed and the ST back-ups are gone. It's why it is so critical to find the "black box" of a Yamatai ship so you can revive people. I don't know if the mechanic has changed so that the ST back-ups are on a bigger global network that the MEGAMI can instant upload to PANTHEON if the ship gets completely destroyed.

 

[Wes]

I think the first line of defense would be the ship's medical personnel who would likely have at least a little training in providing counseling services.

 

[Zack]

https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2017-06-26

Schlock Mercinary is a comic space opera that covers a lot of things. One of the big topics is ST copies and how characters deal with knowing they died. Needless to say there are a wide range of emotions that characters express when their love ones die and when they are brought back.

 

[Mad_Stylus]

Not to mention the squad setup is probly a great big ol support group right there.

Assuming they don't stigmatize therapy/mental illnesses like actual Japan does, anyways.