Brainstorming: Is Effy crazy? Discuss!

[cobalt_siren]

Ok, first, brief description of the fic I'm planning: Post-4.5, Effy has a lucid dream while unconscious in the hospital, and takes an Alice-Through-the-Looking-Glass-style allegorical journey through the problems faced by her circle of friends and her own mental issues.

My question to pose to group discussion is this: Do you think Effy is

Comments

[immortality]

I know this will probably sound weird, but I don't think Effy is crazy at all, I think the writers made her crazy. I think JB wanted to make Effy crazy to further his own agenda, IMHO. I think she does have some issues (who doesn't?), yes, but I would never write her as being "crazy."

[xthe_ingenue]

it doesn't sound weird at all! i actually completely agree.

[prunesquallormd]

Totally and absolutely THIS!

[lioness_rawr]

I think she's bi-polar. In severe cases it can cause hallucination and Effy's behaviour in Freddie's episode in S4 was extremely compatible to that diagnosis, from what I've seen. Either that or severe depression. I could always tell she was a little off, certain behaviours and lines etc. Even in S1; particularly in S1 actually. I've seen someone behave just like Effy in Freds episode, so much so that I was in shock at how similar certain phrases and behaviours were to one other.

Note when Effy tells Freddie to fuck off when she tries to ..mount him, but later regretting it and begging for him to respond and if you look at the texts, there's a familiar pattern of what her emotions are at the time of the text - I thought that was so well done by Skins. It was such an accurate detail that I was blown away.

I can go on and on about this to be honest. S4 E5 was most likely the best episode of any show I've ever seen.

[xthe_ingenue]

if you take her entire character into account (from series one on), i don't think you get a picture of a crazy girl at all. not to say she doesn't have issues, because she certainly does, but i don't think she's truly mentally ill. freddie's web md self diagnosis aside, they never even gave a proper name to what effy supposedly had.

personally, i think she became overwhelmed by her situation (family life, no tony, cook & freddie problems, etc)/emotions throughout s3 and s4, which led to her having a breakdown. but past that meltdown in 4x05, i don't believe effy is crazy. not for a second, actually. i think she's led to believe by other people that she's crazy, specifically freddie and doctor foster. but as for actually being truly mentally ill? nope. no way.

[immortality]

Mm, I agree with this. I think it was a mental breakdown due to stress. Freddie's Web MD diagnosis of course would give the impression that she's crazy, because a) symptoms of a mental breakdown could coincide with other mental illnesses and b) he probably sought out the most "crazy" definition, based on his mom.

Frankly, the whole situation that is presented to us in Freddie's episode is unreliable, as we're only seeing what/how Freddie sees Effy doing/acting. He's basing his perception off his mother -- and who knows what her issues were -- so everything is tilted more towards the "crazy" angle.

But seriously, Effy's "sane" in every episode except 405 and (most of) 407. Even in 408 she acts fine -- she doesn't even freak out when Cook arrives, like she did in 405. She's more like, Yeah, cool, whatever.

[lioness_rawr]

Though can't one argue that her "Yeah, cool, whatever" can be as much of a sign of instability as her behaviour in E5? I don't know, people put masks on like Effy does and I see it all the time - that's what I saw.

[immortality]

I suppose you could make that argument, true, but I don't think that was a conscious part of BE to write it like that -- instability, I mean.

Tbqh, I don't think she was ever intended to be written as a character with a mental illness -- or really, not "crazy" -- and that JB just wanted to give a character a mental illness to push his own "therapists are bad" agenda. (Which he basically said he did anyway, so.)

I suppose you could take the perception that she was crazy all along, and I wish I could agree with your theory of bi-polar disorder, but I just don't see it. I had a roommate in high school who was bi-polar and it was ... I guess "consistent" is the word I'm looking for. S4 aside, I just don't think Effy embodies that illness. *shrug*

If I was just looking at 405 exclusively? Absolutely, it's bi-polar disorder. But examining Effy's character/life as a whole? It doesn't fit.

[cobalt_siren]

Yeah, I agree with what most people have said, that she's not "crazy" in the sense of what most people generally think of the word, like psychotic or something. She's probably at worst depressed/bipolar, but most likely had a breakdown from stress or emotional instability due to her family issues or whatever.

Sometimes I also get the feeling, like xthe_ingenue mentioned, that she played it up when people thought she was crazy, that a lot of her actions, the extreme partying in S1/2, meddling in people's relationships, "the list", fucking Freddie and Cook around for a year, the breakdown, had a lot more to do with boredom and power/control than real mental instability. She may have had the same feeling as Tony expressed in series one after Michelle broke up with him, that nothing ever happens in Bristol so he makes shit happen because it's fun and because he can. I don't know that that's what they were going for with Effy but the similarities in behavior are definitely there. Thanks for all the input guys, if anyone else has an opinion feel

[prunesquallormd]

A little late, and I haven't read the comments above (also, I have NO EXPERT KNOWLEDGE WHATSOEVER :D).
So, 'crazy'? Absolutely not. No way, no how. If you ignore the couple of episodes in season 4 you have a picture of a deeply troubled, definitely depressive, possibly bipolar girl (although, bipolar requires manic periods too, and we see none of those that aren't drug assisted). She's also emotionally repressed, and dealing with the fact that her beauty, mystery and charisma make people fall in love with her without knowing her, or even bothering to get to know her. And even when they want to know her, she finds it incredibly hard to let them in

[doreah]

THIS. Every word.