Zuko, Bipolar Disorder:
Sometimes, he feels so high, like noting can touch him. He doesn't sleep, yet he moves faster than normal. He talks non-stop, when usually it's hard to get him to say a word.
And other times, he feels so low. He's always emotional and tosses and turns in bed at night. He enjoys noting and thinks even less of himself.
And then there are the times when he feels normal.
Zuko just wishes that he had more control.
Ty Lee, Anorexia:
When she was with the circus, it was easier to hide the fact that Ty Lee never eats and that she exercises all the time. It's a good excuse to; when people ask why they can see her ribcage she tells them that in show business, the skinnier the better. The skinnier the better, how true. If she can just lose more weight, she'll be perfect, just a couple more pounds. Because right now she is fat and fat means ugly.
When she joins Azula and Mai, they make her eat. Can't they see that food is only weight and she needs to lose some? If she can't keep the weight out of her body, maybe, just maybe, she can get rid of it before it does any damage.
It seems only natural when Ty Lee starts making herself throw up after every meal.
Katara, OCD:
Kartara's hands are raw and bleeding, yet she still scrubs them. They're not clean, at least not in her eyes. What if there's still some horrible germ on her hands and it gets on the food when she cooks and then they all get sick and die? Then the word would end because the Avatar isn't there to battle the Fire Lord, her father would be heartbroken (not to mention the Fire Lord would probably kill him) and it would be all her fault!
Twenty minutes later, Katara declares her hands clean and begins to cook dinner, though worry still clouds her mind.
Aang, ADHD:
Aang has always had trouble concertinaing, has always been forgetful and most likely these traits will carry on into adulthood. But lately they seem to be causing more problems. He zones out at important meetings and apparently his fidgeting is distracting. He interrupts important speeches and has a tendency to babble.
But what's brothering Aang is that he can't seem to help it at all.
Mai, Depression:
Mai remembers a time when the world was good. Now it is just bleak and sad. She remembers a time when she was good, now she is just bleak and sad. So freaking sad and it feels like it's consuming her.
She doesn't talk much anymore, doesn't sleep much anymore, doesn't really do anything anymore and doesn't really care anymore. Why should she? She hasn't felt pleasure in a long time; she hasn't felt anything in a long time. She wants to cry but she can't. She just can't.
Sometimes Mai thinks she'd be better off dead.
Suki, Generalized Anxiety Disorder:
Sometimes the worry gets so bad that Suki thinks she's going to die. The times when it gets so bad, it blinds her, so that her world is pure anxiety. It spins out of control and all there is anxiety and worry and the feeling of her heart going a million miles a minute. It's like a storm and she's powerless against it. And it's inside her, that's the worst part.
And then it recedes and then it feels like her worlds been turned upside down, like noting is real anymore, like noting is solid. Like the table she's learning on will dissolve at any moment now and give way to the world where there is nothing but pure anxiety, hell, again.
Suki wishes she wasn't so familiar with that world.
A.N. Metal illness is an extremely hard thing to deal with, it is also extremely misunderstood. If I have insulted anyone, I wish to apologise now, it was not my intent. The only illness I did no research for was Generalized Anxiety Disorder, I instead wrote from my own experiences with it. I also feel I should note that some of Aang is based on my sister who has ADHD.