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this is APPARENTLY a HOT FUCKING TAKE but

i would rather someone live out the rest of their life dependent on or addicted to a pain medication that helps with their pain, than suffer in pain that could be helped for the rest of their life just so self-righteous dicks can say "thank god they're not an addict"

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Yesterday my library invited a disabled author, Melissa Blake, to come speak about her newly published book Beautiful People!

When internet assholes told her she shouldn't be legally allowed to post pictures of herself online, she decided to follow it up with about three more pictures of herself, and it became a viral tweet. It seems like that was part of the reason why she went forward and wrote the book, but I can't say for sure.

It's available in hardcover, ebook, and audio book right now. She mentioned that paperback is going to be available next year.

They were selling copies while she was there so I got one

Apparently, she took a picture of herself each day for a year after the comment. Which are used for the book cover.

The excerpts she read were honestly powerful, and I recommend checking it out!

#disability #disability activism #disability rights #freeman sheldon syndrome

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i’m not posting the actual tiktok because it involves another patient being recorded without their knowledge and clearly not doing okay but y’all we were so close to mental illness being destigmatized. we were so close but now the general public sees mental illness as two separate groups - the quirky relatable depression and anxiety, and the weird cringy scary schizo-spectrum disorders, ocd, personality disorders, and so on. #mentalhealthmatters as long as it’s not one of those weird scary illnesses

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I don't have DID but may fit the term plural through MaDD (I don't know the possible discourse, so if I heavily pissed you off with that, sorry). If so, then I started fitting into the term when I was like 9 or 10.

Basically, I fit the general description of maladaptive daydreaming disorder for most of my teen years, and even throughout childhood, I constantly daydreamed, even when treated for inattentive type ADHD.

I created a storyline and constantly added and altered it along with the main characters of it.

I wanted to make comics of it or animate it, but decided that career aspirations should have healthcare in mind.

I typically talked to one for advice and made him to have someone I could relate to. His brother exists for protection and as an outer shell, but wasn't originally made with that purpose. He was originally the villian in the story.

And I give them these attributes before applying them back to myself. They are halves of me, but are also their own separate entities. They have their own story but also exist in a separate world made for a general representation of the mind. This has other characters, or paras, but the two brothers, who I haven't named in the post because it's obvious a child named them, are the main ones.

Orion, Stitched, and Zox all came later, and their names make me less self conscious. Orion is the paraself and I think I may have a drawing of him somewhere-

I drew this when I was 15 and its been transferred through two phones so yeah it doesn't look the best but that's him

But yeah, they help me figure out how I feel and what to do next at this point because they've developed to a point where I can't really control what they say or do.

And I'm thinking of this now because one of them became more active again to help me out, and I honestly love him.

I know that it's not exactly a neurotypical thing to have my cognition like this, but since it's not harmful in itself, I don't really care. It would just be better to know how other people describe it so that way I can describe it better myself.

#maladaptive daydreaming #rant

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either the absolute best or horrifying feeling

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my biology professor: here's how the autonomic nervous system works

me to my body: are you taking fucking notes?

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Social Security includes the number for a suicide hotline on the envelope they use to tell me they have decided to deny my disability

There’s a depressing ass poem hiding in here, but im too tired to put it together.

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Pills.

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I read Neuroqueer Hieresies by Nick Walker and it introduced me to new ways of looking at things, but mainly solidified my grasp on things I already knew about.

There were a few times I didn't appreciate what the author had to say ("if this was done to x minority on college campuses there would be a big deal out of it" I hate to break it to you but I've seen that happen on my college campus, called it out, and nothing happened more than once. I am still in school).

I also question letting cishet people use queer, even if its in a separate term. Question as in walking on ice. I am not as well versed in slur reclamation, but from what I've seen, it's still better for cishet people to not use queer when referring to the LGBTQIA+ community. Since neuroqueer is a term that takes from queer theory, it's ultimately related to the same community, but at the same time displaced because cishet academics would still use "queer theory" without issue.

Then I wonder if I'm neuroqueer or neuroqueering anything if my behavior was never conscious in its nonconformity. Walker puts it in a way where there's a select effort to allow your behavior to be different or considered neurodiverse in some way. While I have had pressures to stop stimming (my dad getting frustrated with my pacing, my mom slapping my hand away from my hair while I played with it) I never stopped. I never made the decision to, I just kept doing it, because it would have been more stressful otherwise.

Some things I have consciously done, like bring a plushie with me to class or allowing my speech to be impulsive because otherwise I wouldn't speak at all out of nerves.

But the things I do daily are not intentional. In fact, picking at my skin is for sensory stimulation but I want to stop because I can end up bleeding at times. For years I've been trying to find another stim that's good for the feeling and not messy (ripping apart erasers or pencils was the closest but made a mess and needed to be replaced often).

I don't think it should matter, as my behavior is still nonconforming, but she did make a point of it being purposeful. Idk, thinking to myself, I guess. I could always try to contact them and ask.

#neurodivergent #neuroqueer

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Before we continue, is this a personal moral failing or a mental illness? I need to know whether I should treat you like an evil monster or a helpless child when I unperson you.

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Greetings bugs and worms!

This comic is a little different than what I usually do but I worked real hard on it—Maybe I'll make more infographic stuff in the future this ended up being fun. Hope you learned something new :)

If you are still curious and want to learn more about OCD, you can visit the International OCD Foundation's website. I also recommend this amazing TED ED video "Starving The Monster", which was my first introduction to the disorder and this video by John Green about his own experience with OCD.

The IOCDF's website can also help you find support groups, therapy, and has lots of online guides and resources as well if you or a loved one is struggling with the disorder. It is very comprehensive!

Reblog to teach your followers about OCD

(But also not reblogging doesn't make you evil, silly goose)

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“It’s not just bad, but worse than people can imagine. This unwinding has not been about determining who is eligible by all possible means, but how we can kick people off by all possible means.”

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don’t know what parent of an autistic child needs to hear this but as long as they’re not harming anyone your kid’s stimming is not a “problem behaviour”

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#thank you holy shit #Its helpful to people like me who want to be supportive but don't know how

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if you're a recovering addict, i want you to know you're doing good.

you didn't use today? you're doing good. you used recently and you're still recovering? you're doing good. you sought support today? you're doing good. you practiced harm reduction? you're doing good. you want to relapse and haven't? you're doing good. you're getting involved, even if others are doing more? you're doing good. you're resting today? you're doing good. you're alive? you're doing good.

this shit takes time. you have spent a considerable amount of time doing harmful things to yourself, or others. you're not going to change overnight. all you can reasonably do is get through the day, adding as much good to your life/the lives of others as you can. it doesn't matter what happened yesterday, or what's going to happen tomorrow.

all you have is this moment, and if you're on the path of recovery... you're doing good. this is your story. not someone else's. not some idealized version of yourself. it's yours, just as you exist, right now. that's all you have, and all you need.

keep going. you got this. i'm glad you're here (and so is everyone else who interacted with this post).