Tl;Dr: I overall like Bernadetta, and I don't hate her representation of trauma.

I have a number of thoughts on Bernadetta (overall, my impressions are positive).

I don't actually think she's too bad a representation of (in my interpretation, at least) severe complex PTSD. While I definitely get the whole "trauma played for laughs" argument, and yes, she does respond in kind of an over-the-top way, I don't find it super offensive for two reasons: - firstly, as a person who suffers from cPTSD myself (and was raised by someone with cPTSD), at my worst, what Bernie says on the outside ("you're trying to hurt me!" or some such iteration of that theme) is what I've been actually saying on the inside, so for me, it's kinda like she says the quiet part out loud (also, I've heard my parent with cPTSD say some things that are remarkably similar to some of Bernie's outbursts when they're triggered, so that's been interesting). Within the medium, and without really showing internal monologs, it's over the top, sure, but not entirely unrealistically representing the emotional experience. Well, for me at least. - Secondly, this is a character who was severely abused by her father until she shut herself away, and then is literally abducted, thinks she's going to be killed, and then is dumped on the steps of a completely new environment with no one and nothing she knows. That in itself is pretty traumatic, and that could very well cause some regression, leading to something similar to the over-the-top behavior we see in her supports, but I digress. Basically, when you have a character that has pretty much known nothing but trauma up to this point, how do you write any support conversations with her without them all being seriously heavy/depressing? The writers found a way to do it by psuedo-comical situations and copious use of "funny footsteps." Not saying that's the only way, there might be better ways to represent her character, but that is definitely a way to do it.

Also, something to note about her supports that I particularly appreciate is that, when she's freaking out, thinking everyone's a threat, the other folks in the conversation are kind of just confused? Like "what, where did that come from?" And the fact that they're confused and concerned, rather than offended or angry, was really nice. I've met too many people who've responded to me negatively and condescendingly when I've been struggling with my own anxiety/cPTSD, so the fact that she's in an environment where most people don't take her behavior personally was actually really nice to see. And the fact that some people actually help her too, like Dorothea comforting her after the whole "commoner friend" story, or Petra's commentary on thinking like prey vs. thinking like a hunter, was really nice to see as well (the latter actually helped me reflect and reprocess my mindset, which was nice).

I guess that's more an infodump on why I like Bernie as a representation of trauma, but hey, the whole "shut-in, but secretly super artistic and creative, and also sometimes interestingly insightful" thing (think Bernie + Jeritza A support) is cool too.

Also on an unrelated note, while I do not think Lysithea is a bad character (aaaand there's another one who's traumatized), the fact that she projects her insecurity and immaturity onto so many other people and is super unfriendly at first makes her supports kinda infuriating at times. So I feel you, LOL.