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[Owlbread]

I just think insanity shouldn't be the end of a dwarf. It's not like mentally ill people don't live for decades after developing their illnesses.

[Bohandas]

I just think insanity shouldn't be the end of a dwarf. It's not like mentally ill people don't live for decades after developing their illnesses.

Not just live, but sometimes thrive, like former president George W. Bush.

[Owlbread]

I just think insanity shouldn't be the end of a dwarf. It's not like mentally ill people don't live for decades after developing their illnesses.

Not just live, but sometimes thrive, like former president George W. Bush.

Exactly.

[NW_Kohaku]

Now lets look at the time frame of the game: Circa 14th century. Until 50 years ago or so we where sticking metal rods into kids brains to try and fix them... the modern conception of mental health is really not in keeping with the context the game. Consider also how different the psychology of two societies can be, let along two separate races in a  fantasy world. If you wanted an understandable psyche for dwarves, it would have to be way too human. The nobles (mayor and manager?) already council angry people, so at best, we could expand the emotional buffers from friends and family. Urist Mcpyscholgist is just not in the feel of the game I feel.

There could still be some sort of doctor of the mind. Mental health care has existed for millenia, it's just been absolutely terrible. It'd at least be nice to have a dwarf that can look after an insane dwarf so he doesn't die. Remember, this doesn't need to be too deep, you could just have them dealing with melancholy dwarves, babbling wrecks and berserkers.

You could even have that method where the doctor drills a hole in the head of the afflicted. Trepanning. Perhaps that, or some sort of lobotomy, could cure a berserk dwarf if you restrain them, reducing them to a babbling wreck that you can take care of. This means his family won't be devastated over his demise. For melancholy dwarves, perhaps he could prescribe medicine such as suggesting chewing on a dried toad to remove such dark, unhappy thoughts.

I think I read a suggestion quite some time ago referring to dwarven massage therapists. Surely that could work as a form of stress release? If our muscles get sore driving, what about digging out a great hall singlehandedly with a copper pick?

In real-life Europe, depression was "recognized" as Sloth, one of the Seven Deadly Sins (previously Sloth was Tristitia, which literally means "sadness").  They considered being depressed (even after the death of a loved one) to be either a human failing, or outright caused by a demon eating a portion of your soul responsible for keeping you upbeat and happy. 

The cure was an exorcism to drive the demons of sloth out of you.

Even then, it was viewed as the person's own fault for attracting a demon into them in the first place, and not having the strength of faith in God to drive it away. 

Basically, you know how people complain about Wangst in modern stories, even if the character has some very good reasons for being depressed?  Yeah, wangst was basically seen as a human failing with no excuse, if not being conquered by a demon outright. 

[NW_Kohaku]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Might not be perfectly accurate, but I think it's roughly right.

Somehow, I don't think "drunk" and "sanity" should correlate quite so well...

"OH GODS! URIST HAS GONE AXE-CRAZY! QUICK, SOMEONE GET HER SOME BEER! SURELY LOADING HER UP WITH ALCOHOL WILL MAKE HER LESS PRONE TO VIOLENCE!"

[Kicior]

Some dwarven mental health care treatments may include lobotomies and stuff.

What about the “ice pick lobotomy”? Someone called it “nothing more than a gross and unwarranted mutilation" so it fits DF perfectly.

"The operation involved placing the pick behind the eye socket of the patient and breaking through the thin layer of bone found there by applying a hammer to the end of the pick and driving the instrument into the frontal lobes. The pick would then be swung medially and laterally to separate the frontal lobes from the thalamus. In 1948, he embellished the procedure by adding the deep frontal cut, an additional swing of the pick deep into the lobe which placed such an increase of strain on the instrument that it occasionally snapped off while in the patient's head, necessitating surgical retrieval. "

[Owlbread]

Now lets look at the time frame of the game: Circa 14th century. Until 50 years ago or so we where sticking metal rods into kids brains to try and fix them... the modern conception of mental health is really not in keeping with the context the game. Consider also how different the psychology of two societies can be, let along two separate races in a  fantasy world. If you wanted an understandable psyche for dwarves, it would have to be way too human. The nobles (mayor and manager?) already council angry people, so at best, we could expand the emotional buffers from friends and family. Urist Mcpyscholgist is just not in the feel of the game I feel.

There could still be some sort of doctor of the mind. Mental health care has existed for millenia, it's just been absolutely terrible. It'd at least be nice to have a dwarf that can look after an insane dwarf so he doesn't die. Remember, this doesn't need to be too deep, you could just have them dealing with melancholy dwarves, babbling wrecks and berserkers.

You could even have that method where the doctor drills a hole in the head of the afflicted. Trepanning. Perhaps that, or some sort of lobotomy, could cure a berserk dwarf if you restrain them, reducing them to a babbling wreck that you can take care of. This means his family won't be devastated over his demise. For melancholy dwarves, perhaps he could prescribe medicine such as suggesting chewing on a dried toad to remove such dark, unhappy thoughts.

I think I read a suggestion quite some time ago referring to dwarven massage therapists. Surely that could work as a form of stress release? If our muscles get sore driving, what about digging out a great hall singlehandedly with a copper pick?

In real-life Europe, depression was "recognized" as Sloth, one of the Seven Deadly Sins (previously Sloth was Tristitia, which literally means "sadness").  They considered being depressed (even after the death of a loved one) to be either a human failing, or outright caused by a demon eating a portion of your soul responsible for keeping you upbeat and happy. 

The cure was an exorcism to drive the demons of sloth out of you.

Even then, it was viewed as the person's own fault for attracting a demon into them in the first place, and not having the strength of faith in God to drive it away. 

Basically, you know how people complain about Wangst in modern stories, even if the character has some very good reasons for being depressed?  Yeah, wangst was basically seen as a human failing with no excuse, if not being conquered by a demon outright.

Indeed, I believe another suggestion spoke of a Witch Hunter noble that would perform exorcisms and the like, as well as hunting out Dwarfish Vampires. Perhaps this could be closely linked to the new religious buildings and religious figures being added to the game? Perhaps there would be a religious equivalent to the hammerer that would exorcise dwarves (even for simple matters such as extreme depression or melancholy) if an appropriate psychiatrist was not at hand.

[Zesty]

For the OP: Babbling and Melancholy dwarves could also benefit from this.

I always wished I could keep babbling and melancholy dwarves around, as they provide me much amusement... but they can't feed themselves...

[Owlbread]

For the OP: Babbling and Melancholy dwarves could also benefit from this.

I always wished I could keep babbling and melancholy dwarves around, as they provide me much amusement... but they can't feed themselves...

It would certainly keep their families happier too. I'd suggested trepanning for the berserker dwarves, turning them into babbling wrecks that could then be subdued and kept safe.

[dwarf_sadist]

My suggestions, not all to be taken seriously:

1) Make DF into the sims, and give all the dwarfs a Social metre that slowly falls. (Or make it emo dwarf fortress and replace the social metre with a angst metre that slowly fills up, making the dwarf cut himself every so often and play really depressing harp music.

2) Make a sanity stat that lowers when the dwarf is faced with a very overwhelming emotion or situation, such as having their whole family die, or getting chased by a fire demon. You could even have it like amnesia: the dark descent, in which having low sanity will result in shaking, heaving breathing, the occasional hallucination of bugs crawling on you, culminating in your character sliding is face along the ground, drooling and mumbling like an idiot.

3) Hallucinations, either good or bad. Good being imaginary friends to talk to. Bad being nightmares while awake, using your dwarfs dislike to find the perfect hallucination. May lead to the awkward realization that your miner has 30 friends when there are only 7 dwarfs, or that the dwarf has enjoyed a lengthy conversations about politics with his cat recently.

Perhaps there would be a religious equivalent to the hammerer that would exorcise dwarves (even for simple matters such as extreme depression or melancholy) if an appropriate psychiatrist was not at hand.

Exorcism via hammer? Dwarf priests don't mess around.

[Owlbread]

3) Hallucinations, either good or bad. Good being imaginary friends to talk to. Bad being nightmares while awake, using your dwarfs dislike to find the perfect hallucination. May lead to the awkward realization that your miner has 30 friends when there are only 7 dwarfs, or that the dwarf has enjoyed a lengthy conversations about politics with his cat recently.

I actually really liked this idea.

[EveryZig]

I feel like you could have a lot of fun with secrets effecting sanity. Sort of Call of Cthulu like, some secrets would permanently decrease the dwarf's sanity.

And hallucinations could be ultra-Fun in adventure mode.