elektra + mental health (616)
while i touch on this often in threads i’ve never really written anything solid on the topic (i can write paragraphs of replies but fuck me if i can’t seem to coherently string together two sentences of headcanon content). the way i approach elektra’s mental health is a mix of what i know as fact from different comic runs and what i’ve inferred after 4+ years of writing her
elektra’s childhood was extremely traumatic, with ongoing as well as specific events that contribute to the trauma she carries with her for the rest of her life. depending on the verse she either lost her mother very young and witnessed the murder, or never met her mother at all because she was shot dead by an assassin when elektra was still in utero and so she was born post mortem. either way the story is told, her mothers death impacts her life view greatly and her upbringing as her father is overprotective to the point of overbearing as his own way of dealing with his wife’s death
she was also kidnapped and assaulted as a child, prompting her foray into self defence but also prompting mental deterioration starting while she was still a preteen. shortly after her kidnapping she is plagued by hearing voices, seeing visions and having flashbacks of the traumatic event. she also begins to self harm as a child in an attempt to cope, when her father noticed he had her sent away to a facility for treatment (i place this at about 11-12 years old in the timeline of her life) which she did respond to positively and gained some stability after this
in her teen years she struggled with identity and a proclivity for darkness though this time in her life is relatively peaceful. she is isolated some by people her own age and has trouble making friends (especially with moving about for her fathers work) but still get help at this time in managing her trauma even if it’s less regularly than when she was a child
it’s also in this section of her life that she moves to america, attends columbia university and meets matt murdock. while i don’t prescribe to the idea of love curing all with mental illness, having somebody that seemingly understands her and is a companion she can ally herself with is helpful and her year of dumb young love is one of the best of her life
until she is kidnapped once again at the age of nineteen, along with her father. the struggle the ensues in the attempt to get free ends in her father being shot dead accidentally by a police officer in the chaos and this shatters what’s left of elektra’s naivety and trust in the world
her death and resurrection years later is the final big trauma (because there are thousands of little ones that keep on coming and never seem to stop) that has a lasting effect on her mental psyche. elektra struggles with her identity as well as the alterations the hand tried to make on her mind and the disturbing event of piecing together and eventually remembering her death and resurrection
in her years after this (and the main verse timeline i have for comic based elektra) she’s a bit of a paradox in that she has gained ultimate control over her mind and body in the years of training. she has seeming endless control over subduing her emotions and some limited psychic abilities which were only attained by mastering her mind. however she is just as traumatised and mentally ill as she was as a child, she’s just conquered the skill of sectioning off that part of her for the most part.
elektra still often experiences false memories, sometimes voices and visions and has to sort out the real from the fake when these occur. she has an addiction to violence which stems from her parents violent deaths and her childhood trauma. she often has trouble separating love and abuse, finding difficulty in regular, loving relationships. her trauma is not addressed as an adult in any way, the few attempts since before her father’s death have been wildly distressing for her and so she avoids any kind of help and keeps her mental discipline on suppressing her trauma rather than ever facing it
