Recently over on r/Fantasy, there was a discussion thread about mental illness portrayed in the fantasy genre. As I'm sure you can all guess, Brandon Sanderson was a name that cropped up - with much controversy about whether his portrayal was "good." It got me to thinking. 1/7

I felt that his portrayal tended to be a little on the nose, lacking depth. However, I've also read MANY novels that deal with mental health. When discussing his contribution, you HAVE to consider that he's one of the few Extremely Mainstream authors tackling mental health. 2/7

No matter how flawed his representation is, if you've never read a fantasy book that felt like it was trying to understand you before, it's going to make a huge impact. I think that's why it matters so much to so many people. They get to see themselves in mainstream fantasy. 3/7

Because they get to see that so rarely, it resonates more strongly because they have never felt seen before in their genre of choice. But now they get to, and it's beautiful and painful to see yourself reflected even imperfectly. 4/7

And when it's the first time you've encountered that kind of reflection? You aren't going to be picking it over for flaws the way you would if you've read a lot of fantasy where you get to see yourself. 5/7

There are authors out there who are better at handling mental health issues. I think that people who have experienced it firsthand often portray a more nuanced and authentic feeling representation... BUT... 6/7

...when you're in the pits of depression and finally, finally come across a book that tackles it, it doesn't matter that other books do it better if it's the first time you've felt like a book has tried to understand you. What matters is that it tried when others didn't. 7/7