#ESPECIALLY if you know the person has a mental illness

[iatrophilosophos]

This is an extremely lopsided way of looking at things tbh

If you read psychiatric writing about things like biomarkers or medicalization, especially long career retrospectives, you'll have the very fun time of watching someone who poured their entire life into something fundamentally stupid wrestle with the three or four different layers of cognitive dissonance they've built up to obscure what's written plainly on nearly every page of the DSM:

Reproducing normative culture is "good for you". Mental illness is failing to reproduce normative culture. If you don't even WANT to try to reproduce normative culture, you're extra sick (antisocial) and need extra force.

Most of the people who implement that force think themselves kind.

I think it follows pretty naturally from a lot of what you're saying that it's impossible to write out a definitive diagnosis of any mental illness that is universally self-affirming: like you've said, there's matters of perspective here; and thus, the entire psychiatric complex is reliant on authority and force. Almost all psychiatrists have completely bought their own hype and continue to search for mythical biomarkers to unite classes of patients when what actually unites us is usually a lot closer to the surface (society sucks).

Narratives are not inherent to reality-- there is no god or great creator telling the story, and all we've got are fallible meat sponges throwing connections together. Medicine is, fundementally, a narrativizing process, even though western doctors like to kick and scream about how they alone have the divine right of kings about it. We can call it a predictive model, if narrative is too woo. We know, from contemporary and historical sources, that lots of medical modalities are & have been functional while using decidedly un-scientific predictive models--which occasionally even stand up to scientific vigor when done in good faith & including legitimate experts in non western modalities (see: integrative TCM). A diagnosis is when you pick some data points and tell a story about it; and if it's good medicine, that story will do what the person who is telling the story wants it to. It's all definition games and social contracts: if a doctor can tell a story where it would be better for a loud, difficult, resistive patient to be lobotomized to become quiet, agreeable, and not do much of anything...unfortunately they usually get to be "right".

Which is all to say... yes, this is the "internal" problem of psychiatry as it has defined its own truths and objectives (asterisk being that, as a field made up of People, we can always find psychiatrists who personally disagree with this assessment): but that the problem in greater context is less about the efficacy of the predictive models and more about who is telling the stories, what their goals are, and what that means for those of us with conflicting interests.

Now, I do not believe that the sum total of experiences labeled under mental illness are fake, or that if psychiatry disappeared tomorrow we'd all just be kicking it. I also don't object to concepts like "symptom" clusters or some form of physical/neurochemical basis for the different ways people tend to struggle--mind body dualism is a scam after all and adding similar experiences to one's predictive model can be incredibly useful. But who is telling the story matters a lot. The consequences don't neccesarily come from ineffective interventions--taking a drug that doesn't do what you want it to is usually pretty low-stakes and there's a lot of options and preexisting information out there for people to titrate the risks they'd like to personally take on. It's individuals' lack of personal control/decision making authority in the process.

You have correctly identified that it can be relatively easy for systems of power to decide what story they want to impose about who is sick and who is well, but extremely difficult to actually impose that story onto people by force. Learning more about the brain in ways that could make that easier is good for power; but because my goals and desires in the world are fundementally opposed to power, I don't really think it would be good for me.

The problem with psychiatry isn't that in principle there can be no such thing as a disease of the mind or a treatment for such a disease, it's that psychiatrists don't actually know how the mind works at any kind of fine mechanical level, the way a medical doctor roughly does with the body; where we know what a heart attack is no one knows what schizophrenia or bipolar disorder is. And no one has a good and consistent answer for where the line between mere idiosyncrasy or difference of viewpoint, preference, or behavior and mental pathology should be drawn. The problem with psychiatry in other words is that psychiatrists don't actually know very much, they are trying to treat you by letting blood to balance your humors and hoping it improves something. And it may, or it may not, or it may yield illusory improvements (as bloodletting sometimes did) while doing more damage than it is healing, or whatever else. Because psychiatrists are treating an organ (the brain) whose workings neither they nor anyone else actually understands.

[skyfallscotland]

I don’t know if this is weird, but I don’t have many friends and I am weird, admittedly so…yolo, but this is just a diary post really of all the things on my mind right now.

• The response on ink & mistletoe was really lovely and I’m especially grateful for it while I’m still having a rough time.

• I really wanted to write more this week because I wanted to finish off ink & mistletoe and Truth & Talon before Onyx Storm comes out, but I have a migraine again and I’ve just been so exhausted it’s not happening, which sucks.

• I did start a new book though—my first of 2025—Just For the Summer by Abby Jimenez. One of my resolutions for the new year is to read more actual books, so I’m off to a start at least. One thing that wigged me out though, it’s first person past-tense? What the fuck is that, why are we doing that? My brain does not like.

• Speaking of Onyx Storm, should I start posting my theories now as I write them, or just save it for one big post a few days before?

• I’m still incredibly bothered by not only the continuing trend of oh surprise another special edition with content not available to you! But also mostly the response from other people to it, mostly Americans, because no one else is saying “no one’s making you buy them all” or “having choices is a good thing” because uhh *checks notes* we don’t? We just pay twice the amount of money you do for made-in-a-sweatshop, falling apart crap with less features.

• Also, just as an aside so you all are ready, I’m fairly certain there’s a special edition of Iron Flame coming…probably with bonus content. Someone asked if she was going to do one because it just had plain edges and she replied with a winking face. I’m going to say in Feb/March, and with dragon edges to match OS & the original FW print run. Call me Cassandra, idk.

• My (undiagnosed, I guess) OCD is getting worse, so if anyone has any tips or tricks for that throw them my way because seeing a psychiatrist in this town is not only the price of a small car, but almost impossible. Everyone’s books are closed, because we’re all a fucking mess apparently idk. They did say they had someone who might find me and my eclectic collection of mental illnesses “interesting” though, so I at least get to send my referral through 🙃

• Lastly, I am once again calling for people to stop drowning. If you come to Australia, please understand how rips work. If you’re not a strong swimmer, don’t swim anywhere there aren’t lifeguards. You are not as safe as you think you are, I promise you. Almost every day there’s been another drowning death that’s been entirely preventable and it’s infuriating, half the time there are kids involved. Don’t put your kids at risk for fuck’s sake. View the below if you’re curious (or coming here). I wouldn’t blame you if you couldn’t spot them from front on, most people can’t unless they grew up on the beach, but again, if you can’t that’s why you shouldn’t swim anywhere help can’t get to you. 31 people drowned in four weeks is madness when there are over 600 patrolled beaches in this country. And people worry about the wildlife, good lord.

[luckheist]

y'know what's gross ?

seeing people use SCHIZO as an insult . people want to preach about being accepting of mental illnesses and trying to erase stigma ... but then throw around a term that's considered by most people with some form of schizophrenia to be a slur .

as someone who has schizoaffective disorder and suffers from what psychiatrists consider a form of schizophrenia , it makes me physically ill every time i see this and really shows me who is and who isn't a safe person for someone like me to interact with .

the only people who should be using this term are those trying to reclaim it . for me to say "my schizo brain won't let me find words" or other things like that is different from people without the disorder saying " xyz is schizo and crazy and needs to be locked up " .

what you're doing by saying that is showing that you believe people with severe mental illnesses should be taken out of society and locked in asylums or prisons or wherever else so they're out of sight and out of mind .

it's really upsetting to see and i'll be blocking from here on out if it's on my dash . i already feel shitty enough about friends and family having to deal with my worst days , i don't need random assholes on the internet making it worse .

[atangledfate]

The mouse was glad that the man let it go, as she didn't wish to get Altriss involved. She knew how rough around the edges the old Doc was, and how straight forward he could be. The last thing she wanted to do was get him involved, especially with how hectic everything was. She wasn't sure why the Lemur requested no one be let in to see her, but they would honor it even if it was making the Mouse uncomfortable.

With things back to normal the facility was as busy as ever, with the various nurses going about there duties. Though Dawn herself would be happy when this chaos was over and she could rest. Holding this many clones for so long wasn't easy but, it wouldn't be the first time she'd had to do it. Of course just when she thought the menace as over she was startled by the female Lemur.

The Clone opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the head nurse, or in this case the original Dawn. She hoped a person of authority would put Miss Grimrose in her place and quell the situation but--- she had a feeling she'd be a problem.

" Hello Miss Grimrose, I am Head Nurse Dawn of Restoration Medical Staff. As you can clearly see the attack on Restoration has taken a heavy toll on its staff. Between the crash, and GUN at our doorstep we are in a state of high alert--- As such i am sorry but none one is allowed in without clearance by either a commanding officer or the doctor himself. "

She took a deep breath and gave the elder woman a stern stare down as she felt like this woman was going to be a problem.

" You are within your right to file grievance, though suing restoration would be a bad look for any firm don't you think? Your daughter will be out of our care in next 32 hours... 24 hours if she takes to her treatment. I'm happy to answer any questions concerning her condition to you but i will not let you disturb her while she is recovering... and i'm not about to interrupt Doctor Altiss's work for this either... and trust me--- you do not want to interrupt him with this. "

Dawn took another deep breath and gave Claire a firm star down with her gaze going from the usual sweet natured nurse. To one of icy steel, as she wasn't budging on the issue. She had an overbearing mother to--- and lord she felt bad for Tangle now.

" Your Daughter is an Adult Miss Grimrose, and of sound mind and body. If she doesn't want to see you right now, You should respect that... especially when you know she's ill, or injured... especially when you know she's resting and recovering. Yell at her later when she's recovered, have this argument with her when she's well and mentally prepared. But--- i won't hesitate to throw you out of this facility if you cause a scene... are we clear? "

"Just make sure to move it along as quick as you can." Twist didn't expect the doctor to rush, though didn't want him dragging his feet either. For now the lemur would take a seat, sitting stern and with his arms crossed. Seems he wasn't one to let himself relax much if at all, though he did use to be a soldier himself and still had a strong mindset for it as well.

A few minutes would pass before another lemur wearing a business suit walked in looking rather annoyed as she walked over to Twist. They would seem to be having a quiet argument before she would make her way to the nurse. "Excuse me, my name is Claire Grimrose. Knowing my daughter I'm sure she requested none see her, though I am legally put as a health care proxy which I can enforce if I think she is making poor medical decision. So, why don't you hurry along and get the doctor so we can sort this out, yes?" She spoke with a rather sweet yet threatening tone.

[kyouka-supremacy]

Mmmhh...

[edge-oftheworld]

one thing I love about following celebrities/artists who are honest and proactive about their mental health struggles etc is I can’t count the number of times someone I know is going through something and I’m like ‘I’ve got a song for u’ and how much of my life involves telling myself ‘if [redacted] can do something/get better/etc then so can i’ (and having actual real evidence of it in front of me) and I can’t understate how much I appreciate these things.

but at the same time it involves a whole lot of watching people I care about suffer and you learn to read the signs and infer between the lines in songs and interviews, and yes we can never fully know what they don’t share with us, but when they do share things it’s not a big stretch to be like ‘this seems like it’s what life is like for you and I have taken encouragement from it but you deserve so much better’. and it’s easy to find ways to get angry at a predatory industry and realise things that could be hurtful if you’re already fragile.

and we can advocate for some things and help ourselves and the people around us feel better but it’s hard to meaningfully reach your faves as an individual. and there are things we can’t say on the internet in too much detail, speculation becomes the harmful kind of gossip, and so sometimes it’s a whole lot of internally saying ‘you’re doing incredibly well to have gotten to where you are but I wish for your sake things would get better faster’

[diseaseriddencube]

tempted to make one of those old style theory posts where every character secretly represents a mental illness owoooouughg spookyyyyy

but for the akudama

[ourladyoftheflytrap]

It's fucked up that the sober population straight up ignores how a huge portion of addicts have chronic illnesses

[seafoam-taide]

You know I thought for awhile that I was just a rare type of person who sure, liked people well enough but was okay being alone didn't necessarily need anyone and NO. NO. NO. OH MY GOD . YOU GIANT DUMBASS. NO HAHAHA NOOO NOPE

[agentemo]

i have borderline personality disorder and i will not be showing you receipts

i deserve empathy for my disorder, not hatred or fear or demonization

i also don't expect a romantic partner to put up with my worst parts if they can't handle it, as much as that hurts to say and experience

[katyspersonal]

I used to take meds back then from autumn 2018 to autumn 2019. They were helping with paranoia, hyperactivity, impulsivity, anger issues, delusions, panic attacks, etc, you get the drill. They had good effects, such as me having been rather calm (to the point people were joking about how nothing could ever anger or scare me, lol), as well as more focused on writing or drawing things more than I've ever been in my life. But also they've made me so sleepy that I basically barely finished my last uni year when dozing off at every class, and I had a hard time providing the engaged, invested, "nerdy" conversations on every other topic like I do. I just quit them because not only being sleepy ALL the time would not let me work a job normally, but I also started to worry that I've been losing myself as a person. I was just so... detached and boring in conversations while medicated? Like you guys here know me as a person who is chronically like this:

But when I was medicated, it was far not this way. I was giving like... kinda tame and normie responses and thoughts, still excited but not TOO excited, etc. I am surprised that even while being a total slug on meds, I still had it in me to start fearing of losing my "eyes on the inside" xd

But I've been just thinking about stuff recently. I still loathe it when it is being handled like "you are a dangerous harmful monster that doesn't deserve compassion and trust and should be exciled from society", obvs, but the problem itself exists. I am kinda too intense, too much, too impulsive, my mood can drastically flicker within a second and flicker back just as fast. And I am paranoid. This year I even exhausted another paranoid person with being worse at it than them :/ (it always reminds me of a dream I had once, where Mic0lash of all people told me that I was "too crazy" for him fdshfh xD) I am extremely blessed to have friends and simply familiar people who accept and love me the way I am, but I am really starting to think that maybe I should delve back into it. That maybe something was wrong with the meds or the dose I used to be taking and I should try again. It is just really strange that being healthier would be able to "ruin" my passionate, nerdy, engaged personality. I've always been 'over the top' with how I think and with my creativity, even before any mental illness showed up, so sure it is just me and not any sort of positive symptom...? Like, clearly this is just my autism, not one of those other "mental illness" guys?

Well, all this talk is just in the scenario if I get enough financial stability to be able to afford monthly repackaging of meds. I am just having second thoughts on whether it is really a choice with no good option, and that maybe that previous doctor just made a mistake with prescriptions (could happen with anyone, even a professional). Or maybe I needed to demand trying something else but didn't. And I just assumed that "meds are a diabolic device to destroy a creative, nonconforming brain" (notice how it itself sounds a bit like a paranoid delusion, so clearly those meds were not quite helping with it lol). Not gonna lie, I am still scared that being calmer will kill the "real me", but at this point pain, paranoia and anger keep chopping away from my days and from my good experiences. And I can't control it.

But maybe I just should not have expected to hit the right way instantly, some people try out different meds for years before they find something that genuinely makes life better. Like maybe I got scared of how things have changed and gave up too soon, when I should have like, bugged doctor to try something else. I just want to believe that I don't have to choose between "being nerdy and engaged" and "stopping having panic/anger attacks that quite literally make me lose my mind". At least I gather enough optimism and benefit of the doubt to consider delving into it again, so there is something..

[forgotten-daydreamer]

one day people will stop saying they have bpd just because they get "irrationally angry sometimes", but that day is not today, unfortunately for us all.

[isakaru]

a core tenet of my beliefs is that people deserve basic kindness and respect regardless of how rude or annoying or obnoxious they are. if the most obnoxious person i know told me they couldnt afford food and i had the money for it you bet your ass im gonna buy them some food

[creaturebehavior]

here’s how i arrived back to the conclusion that i probably am autistic: always thinking to myself damn for someone who’s not autistic i sure am autistic as hell

[tittysuckersworld]

vent tw, if you have depression please please just dont interact-

[crenandos]

Aaaaaaaaaa fuuuuuuuuuck

Giiiiirrlllsss