Where Every Scroll is a New Adventure
it bothers me so much when "mental health advocates" are only supportive of the "acceptable" symptoms and disorders...
people who "advocate" for depression but call others disgusting for having trouble showering, or people who "advocate" for trauma survivors but say you shouldnt express your trauma in art or talk about it because its "triggering"...
people who "advocate" for BPD but demonize NPD and ASPD as if they arent in the same cluster...
people "support mental health" until it isnt relatable. people "support mental health" until it cant be romanticized. people "support mental health" until symptoms disrupt life. people "support mental health" until symptoms are noticeable and not easily hidden.
you are not an advocate if you do not advocate for us all. you cannot be a mental health advocate while also talking badly about people with personality disorders, including ASPD and NPD. you cannot be a mental health advocate if you make fun of autistic people who are visibly autistic. you cannot be a mental health advocate if you call the police on someone with psychosis for talking to themselves in public.
if your entire "advocacy" revolves around demonizing more "severe" symptoms or disorders, and romanticizing the "good" and "relatable" symptoms or disorders, you are not an ally. you are feeding into stereotypes.
i have ASPD and NPD. the amount of hate i see in "advocate" spaces is honestly shocking. if your entire advocacy revolves around "helping depressed autistics escape evil narcissists!!!!", you are not an advocate, you are ableist.
people with stigmatized disorders or symptoms should not have to water down the way they experience life and describe their personal symptoms and experiences just to avoid being called bad people. by demonizing some disorders while romanticizing others under the guise of "advocacy", you are spreading misinformation and reinforcing stereotypes. you are worsening the stigma for people who already struggle. you are harming everyone with struggles, because a lot of society does not see a difference of "good" vs "bad" mental illness. to ableist neurotypicals, we are all bad.
you hurt the entire community by excluding your own.
you advocate for all of us, or you help none of us.
it makes me kind of sad to see how many people online make fun of autism depictions in media... even the "stereotypical" ones. i often see people make fun of media with autistic characters (either canon described as autistic, or heavy implications and autistic traits) and then say its because its "inaccurate" and "stereotypical" and "overexaggerated" like... are we ignoring the fact that some autistic people do present that way?
my personal example of this is the tv show the good doctor, i watched the first couple seasons when i was like 14ish and first coming to terms with my autism diagnosis (before that point i had done everything i could to ignore it, and my mom had hidden the fact that i was diagnosed from me for a few years because she didnt want me to feel bad... i was diagnosed around age 10 and really would have benefitted from support, but never got any)
i am aware that the show doesnt have the best representation and isnt the most accurate, and i do wish the actor who played the character had been autistic, for better representation as well as promoting autistic actors... but i still loved the show, medical science is a special interest of mine and i have wanted to be a surgeon ever since i was very little, so i really liked to see a show about a topic i love that shows someone like me being successful! i was very happy!
later on i ended up going online and searching the show, all i saw were people making fun of the show and making fun of the character for autism things... all done under the "nobody actually acts like that" argument... it really did hurt me a lot, because i actually act like that. a lot of the struggles the character had are real struggles i face as an autistic person, even if the show doesnt always represent them the best
i struggle with making friends, i struggle with physical touch, i struggle with saying the "wrong" thing and not really knowing how to converse (especially in emotional situations), i am monotone, i need rigid routines, etc etc... so i was very happy to see a show with someone like me!! and it makes me sad how many people make fun of it with the excuse of "nobody is actually like that" because yes! people are! i am!
okay fellow autistics & people who have sensory issues or trouble eating specific foods: hear me out.
I’ve been trying my best to eat more fruits & vegetables & more generally “healthy” food (I don’t think we should label specific foods as “good” or “bad” because food at all is better than no food etc, but that’s besides the point) & I’ve realised something.
If I pretend to be a specific animal while eating a certain food, it can be marginally easier to eat. HEAR ME OUT, OKAY?! Put away the reactionary part of you that goes “wow, that’s cringe”, because this genuinely helps me. I don’t care if you laugh, grow up.
For example, if I pretend I’m a bunny rabbit while eating celery or lettuce, it sort of becomes fun! It turns into me playing a part in my head, kind of. I also do this with sultana bran/raisin bran kind of cereal, where I’m like “hehe this looks like bird/rabbit food” & it becomes easier!
I just thought I’d share this trick in case it helps anyone else. It’s alright if it doesn’t help you, but I’m proud of the efforts you’re making to get better at eating certain foods, it’s not easy. & if you’re finding it hard to start trying foods out of your comfort zone, I’m proud of you as well 💕💕