#bipolar vs ADHD

[hs2024]

Adhd vs bipolar, very important

ADHD vs Bipolar

Neurodivergent Insights

[undedkat]

Probably the worst part about having both bipolar and adhd is that you never really get a break. Having to deal with both, especially at the same time, is absolute fucking hell.

[yonemurishiroku]

Wondering the whole thing about loyalty being Percy's fatal flaw might actually be on a much more personal level rather than an encompassing "children of Poseidon"-trait.

This is to say that Percy's problem with unhealthy 'loyalty' could be a consequence of his upbringing. You see. The whole point is that Percy can be wary, yet once he deems someone an ally/ not-enemy, it's dangerously difficult for him to see them in a negative light. It's this sort of bipolar disorder but the categories are "Friend or Foe", each of which comes with a package of completely separate treatment. He put Luke in the Friend lot and he nearly died for that. He distrusted Nico but he didn't see him as an enemy and fell for the kid's trick still.

Revert back to his childhood. IIRC Percy had two parent figures growing up, i.e. Sally and Gabe. And here's a thing. They are basically two ends of the spectrum of Parenting. Gabe was an abusive, negligent, alcoholic, problematic stepfather whereas Sally was like a saint or something, who had sacrificed for him so much. So Percy had only experienced two types of attitude in his perspective-shaping phase: extremely loving and downright scornful.

This could thus limit his relationship categories, and later create a hole in his view of others' attitudes, I believe. His relationship table basically has only two columns, Friendly vs Not friendly. Percy puts people in those lots based on how they treat him, how they express themselves to him, how he sees them. But people are way more than just one facet. People can be many things at once, and so are the relationships. Percy's system is lacking, so he suffers from being twirled around in complicated, multilayer dynamics.

Imagine Percy, who only has two sets of acquaintances in his life, one of which gives him misery whilst the other fights for him, is thrown into a mess of two-faced lies and concealed intentions. He doesn't have the specialized code of reaction for that. There's no special section in his handbook dedicated to "People you need to beware of" or "These guys seem friendly, but better be safe than sorry". Once Percy has decided to put you in his mind as not an enemy - he would actively refuse to treat you as an enemy because that's not the way he does it.

And because Percy has so few 'Friends', you know, that he intrinsically, automatically puts you in the Friends column as long as he finds no hostility from you. Yeah, he has Sally, Grover, and Annabeth, but he also has Gabe and Nancy (?) and IIRC the bullies. He has always felt like he didn't fit in (no thanks to you, demigod-bonus ADHD and dyslexia). Percy has had to put too many in the unfavorable section that he, subconsciously or not, favors amicable acquaintanceships - that's why Luke got to him so effortlessly, just by treating him decently.

It's quite similar to the other category too. The best example I can come up with now is Bob/ Iapetus. Bob first made his entrance as Percy's enemy aka Iapetus, and later became harmless to him after getting his memories erased. You'd think Percy would rearrange the columns, but the fact is that Percy technically didn't even remember Bob, or Iapetus for that matter, after leaving him in Nico's care. If my theory is of any credit, I suppose Bob didn't make it into Percy's 'Friends' category, i.e. Percy hadn't considered him a friend. Bob landed in as a Foe and he stayed there in Percy's head - at least up until the Tartarus debacle.

So, like I said: a bipolar relationship classifying system.

[blackcandlesinwinter]

There's a shit ton of really bad takes on that post I reblogged from @nothorses about signs of addiction which I generally expect when it comes to this topic. But I really want to draw attention to the knee-jerk defensive reactions from folks trying to draw a sharp distinction between "medical use" and "recreational use" because I think this is both extremely reductive and also harmful.

"Medical use" is, if anything, a legal distinction, not a medical one or a moral one. Medical use means that a doctor wrote the prescription for the drug you are using and you are presumably using it according to the instructions you were given. Medical use doesn't mean you're not addicted to a drug. Lots of folks are addicted to substances that they are legally prescribed. That doesn't mean that it's bad for them to use the drug, or that they need to stop using it, or that doctors shouldn't prescribe it! There's a cost-benefit analysis that goes into the decision to take any medication. Every person has the right to decide for themselves if the benefits to their quality of life outweigh any downsides, including the possible downside of addiction.

"Recreational use" doesn't mean that people aren't using drugs as medication. It just means that the drugs a person is using are not prescribed to them by a doctor or are not being used as indicated. People often have both medical and recreational motivations to use non-prescribed drugs. Like, a lot of folks smoke weed to deal with pain, but also they might enjoy the feeling of being high. Lots of folks with anxiety or depression take drugs for fun, and sometimes part of the fun is that it eases the symptoms of their mental illness. Folks with ADHD may seek out recreational stimulants. Folks with bipolar may use substances that make their mania more fun and less stressful. Folks with addictions may use additional drugs to ease withdrawal symptoms or to extend their high. Folks with terminal illnesses may use substances to allow them to forget about death for a little while. Lots of people whose drug use is "recreational" also have underlying illnesses that factor into their use, whether they are aware and diagnosed or not.

And this is not to insist that all drug use must have a secret, tragic, underlying medical reason that makes their drug use totally out of their control. I've already written my rambling essay on how I find that sort of agency-denying woobification of drug users to also be rather unhelpful. I'm saying that we can't neatly sort people into "pure, innocent drug user who has a medical excuse to take drugs so it's ok" vs. "bad, irresponsible drug user who has no excuse and thus deserves judgment for their bad decisions." And we shouldn't be trying to.

[aspd-culture]

Sorry ig in advance since you get questions a lot but got curious about a few things

1. Is it normal for pwASPD to view unbeneficial relationships as chores? I know I, a likely prosocial, when I don't see the benefit in a relationship, I have to view it as being a chore to continue it.

2. If a connection is established between harming others and being harmed, will a pwASPD, for lack of a better term, be able to mimic empathy or remorse?

3. Do you know if pwASPD and another comorbid disorder, if the other disorder causes already low or fragile self esteem (like another cluster B), can seem like they don't have ASPD?

These are mostly for project research but also out of curiosity because I can

Nothing to be sorry for!!/gen

1.) Oh yes. So very, very much yes. And honestly, it's even worse than a chore - more like if a dead-end job decided to stop paying you but you'd go to jail if you quit. If you've ever seen a kid stuck dress shopping with their mother on TV, that's the way I would like to act through every single interaction with an equal part useless and annoying but unavoidable prosocial irl. Every single non-Exception prosocial is that coworker you hate who won't leave you alone./hj Joking aside, not all prosocials are actually that annoying actually. So it kind of depends; sometimes it's fine at least for me.

2.) Yeah, I'd say so. This goes differently for all of us, but for the most part "connection formed" would probably go in the direction of an Exception, and that's where some symptoms of ASPD are lessened for those of us that have them. That includes often having some degree of effective empathy and/or a desire to work on cognitive empathy with them in particular (I use them as practice to make the necessary use of cognitive empathy less annoying with non-Exceptions). Ditto with remorse for some pwASPD, though for me in particular that depends on the Exception in question. Some still do not bring out remorse in me for whatever reason. This is a good place to note that actually, since I don't think I've mentioned this elsewhere. Exceptions do not all have to be the same even for the same pwASPD. Two friends may have different symptoms they alleviate vs don't affect vs worsen, and of course platonic vs sexual vs romantic Exceptions often vary in that as well. For me and a few other pwASPD I've met, this may also occur with some groups of people who aren't Exceptions but cause an Exception-esque response. For me, kids get that as most do other people struggling with mental health disorders beyond just depression and anxiety (nothing easy about those two it's just in our current world most people have those). If I hurt a kid's feelings, 25/10 times I am going to cry with them or force myself not to. And that will vary for each pwASPD based on how much social neurological development was completed before it was fundamentally changed and started developing antisocially too. Some of us have more empathy than others, or more remorse than others (and vice versa) in general, so that'll impact those situations too.

3.) So this depends on what you define as "seem like they don't have ASPD", though it won't be self-esteem that affects that. Generally I'd point that more in the direction of NPD. But yeah, looking at the symptoms of ASPD, there are a few specific disorders that cause someone who very much has ASPD to not be diagnosed and/or believed both professionally and personally. In personal relationships, it's honestly just not being a serial k*ller that will get most to think you don't have it. Professionally, you're looking at disorders that cause social problems (such as autism, SAD - social anxiety, and GAD - generalized anxiety), impulse control (ADHD mostly), emotional instability (bipolar disorder, IED - intermittent explosive, ODD - oppositional defiance, and yeah your other cluster b PDs). There are others that make a whole lot less sense imo to get in the way of an ASPD diagnosis too. Schizophrenia comes to mind, with some professionals thinking that it's just... so many episodes of psychosis that it starts to look like ASPD which, don't even get me started on how much of a medical failure it is that I have heard of that specific thing happening. But mostly, it's going to be the ones I listed previously. None of these are mutually exclusive with ASPD, but they have symptoms that overlap with or mimic ASPD's, and so you'll have genuinely good professionals who are trying to avoid over/misdiagnosis where it applies to a *very* stigmatized disorder, and you'll have lazy ones that don't care to try and pick out which it is if not both. That will all just depend on the pwASPD's presentation of symptoms. I had more than one professional refuse to believe I had ASPD, and my (very lovely and dilligent/gen) psychiatrist was also leaning to just diagnose autism until I said some line about the reason I try for social interaction not being because I want to but because everyone has to to be able to get what they need in life. Once she realized I see it as an irritating requirement to associate with other people - even ones I kind of like - she quickly turned on that and diagnosed both. That's why it's important to speak openly and with as much of the mask removed as possible without getting yourself in trouble. They will try and avoid labelling you with something like this unless they are 1000% sure because of its connotations and the social and professional implications of having ASPD. It is very possible to pick out which is which or if it's more than one with overlap in regards to any set of comorbidities even outside of ASPD, but it takes a lot of work for that to be done properly especially if you're still masking in front of them.

I have no issue with anyone asking just out of curiosity by the way. Seriously like I guess I see why some people feel weird about it, but genuine interest is the reason why disorders get looked into, researched, and potentially normalized and accepted. There is nothing wrong with being interested in any topic as long as you're respectful in your interactions with sensitive subjects, and this ask was completely respectful, so I'm happy to answer it./gen

Plain text below the cut:

Nothing to be sorry for!!/gen

1.) Oh yes. So very, very much yes. And honestly, it's even worse than a chore - more like if a dead-end job decided to stop paying you but you'd go to jail if you quit. If you've ever seen a kid stuck dress shopping with their mother on TV, that's the way I would like to act through every single interaction with an equal part useless and annoying but unavoidable prosocial irl. Every single non-Exception prosocial is that coworker you hate who won't leave you alone./hj Joking aside, not all prosocials are actually that annoying actually. So it kind of depends; sometimes it's fine at least for me.

2.) Yeah, I'd say so. This goes differently for all of us, but for the most part "connection formed" would probably go in the direction of an Exception, and that's where some symptoms of ASPD are lessened for those of us that have them. That includes often having some degree of effective empathy and/or a desire to work on cognitive empathy with them in particular (I use them as practice to make the necessary use of cognitive empathy less annoying with non-Exceptions). Ditto with remorse for some pwASPD, though for me in particular that depends on the Exception in question. Some still do not bring out remorse in me for whatever reason. This is a good place to note that actually, since I don't think I've mentioned this elsewhere. Exceptions do not all have to be the same even for the same pwASPD. Two friends may have different symptoms they alleviate vs don't affect vs worsen, and of course platonic vs sexual vs romantic Exceptions often vary in that as well. For me and a few other pwASPD I've met, this may also occur with some groups of people who aren't Exceptions but cause an Exception-esque response. For me, kids get that as most do other people struggling with mental health disorders beyond just depression and anxiety (nothing easy about those two it's just in our current world most people have those). If I hurt a kid's feelings, 25/10 times I am going to cry with them or force myself not to. And that will vary for each pwASPD based on how much social neurological development was completed before it was fundamentally changed and started developing antisocially too. Some of us have more empathy than others, or more remorse than others (and vice versa) in general, so that'll impact those situations too.

3.) So this depends on what you define as "seem like they don't have ASPD", though it won't be self-esteem that affects that. Generally I'd point that more in the direction of NPD. But yeah, looking at the symptoms of ASPD, there are a few specific disorders that cause someone who very much has ASPD to not be diagnosed and/or believed both professionally and personally. In personal relationships, it's honestly just not being a serial k*ller that will get most to think you don't have it. Professionally, you're looking at disorders that cause social problems (such as autism, SAD - social anxiety, and GAD - generalized anxiety), impulse control (ADHD mostly), emotional instability (bipolar disorder, IED - intermittent explosive, ODD - oppositional defiance, and yeah your other cluster b PDs).

There are others that make a whole lot less sense imo to get in the way of an ASPD diagnosis too. Schizophrenia comes to mind, with some professionals thinking that it's just... so many episodes of psychosis that it starts to look like ASPD which, don't even get me started on how much of a medical failure it is that I have heard of that specific thing happening. But mostly, it's going to be the ones I listed previously. None of these are mutually exclusive with ASPD, but they have symptoms that overlap with or mimic ASPD's, and so you'll have genuinely good professionals who are trying to avoid over/misdiagnosis where it applies to a very stigmatized disorder, and you'll have lazy ones that don't care to try and pick out which it is if not both. That will all just depend on the pwASPD's presentation of symptoms. I had more than one professional refuse to believe I had ASPD, and my (very lovely and dilligent/gen) psychiatrist was also leaning to just diagnose autism until I said some line about the reason I try for social interaction not being because I want to but because everyone has to to be able to get what they need in life. Once she realized I see it as an irritating requirement to associate with other people - even ones I kind of like - she quickly turned on that and diagnosed both. That's why it's important to speak openly and with as much of the mask removed as possible without getting yourself in trouble. They will try and avoid labelling you with something like this unless they are 1000% sure because of its connotations and the social and professional implications of having ASPD. It is very possible to pick out which is which or if it's more than one with overlap in regards to any set of comorbidities even outside of ASPD, but it takes a lot of work for that to be done properly especially if you're still masking in front of them.

I have no issue with anyone asking just out of curiosity by the way. Seriously like I guess I see why some people feel weird about it, but genuine interest is the reason why disorders get looked into, researched, and potentially normalized and accepted. There is nothing wrong with being interested in any topic as long as you're respectful in your interactions with sensitive subjects, and this ask was completely respectful, so I'm happy to answer it./gen

[pennysperfectpolls]

Penny poll Bracket 2 Finals

Penny Lamb/Jane Doe (Legoland / Ride the Cyclone) vs

Penelope (The Odyssey)

Propaganda under the cut

Penny Lamb/Jane Doe (Legoland / Ride the Cyclone)

• Okay I am not the person to be propaganda making for her but she's so cool she died once and then came back she's also a bit uhh deranged is a good word

• Penny Lamb (and her younger brother Ezra) lived in a hippie weed growing commune until she was thirteen and snuck out to a walmart, eventually leading to the entire thing burning to the ground. Then they lived in a tiny town named Uranium City and she got relentlessly bullied and even set on fire until she was given a cd by another girl from a band called Seven Up. She formed a parasocial relationship with the singer, who then turned into a misogynistic rapper. She travelled from northern Saskatchewan to Florida to meet him and thank him for basically making her life tolerable and enjoyable, and then ended up tearing a chunk of flesh out of his face with her teeth all at the age of 15 years old. Two years later after a concert with her school choir, she was beheaded on a fair rollercoaster called the Cyclone, becoming a Jane Doe until she was voted back to life. While she was Jane Doe, she wore the head of a porcelain doll as to not freak the other kids out!

• she was born a hippie, she bites and maims a famous rapper with hot coffee, she has a little brother obsessed with german philosophy, she plays the ukulele, she has a fuck ass bob. she gets fucking DECAPITATED by a roller coaster but survives because she is so offputting. what else do you need in a woman

• Where do I START with Penny. Basically she grew up socially isolated on a community pot farm until the age of 13, where she and her brother ran away to Walmart and started pretending to revive him from seizures because of how much attention she got. She was eventually driven back home where the entire community was drug busted burned to the ground, their parents being arrested, friends taken away, entire home destroyed. Instead of being sent to foster care, she’s and her brother are sent to a catholic boarding school, where they live mostly unsupervised. Penny is relentlessly bullied for supposedly being a lesbian, and diagnosed as bipolar and manic depressive while her brother (three years younger than her) sells his adhd medication to college kids to make ends meet. Soon after having her backpack lit on fire by bullies, she starts to fall into a deep depressive episode, not coming out of her room for days, until a catholic girl takes pity on her, and gives her a hiphop/boyband CD for her to listen to called 7-up (important later). Penny obsessed on the lead singer Johnny moon to an unhealthy degree until the band breaks up and Johnny rebrands to JK47, a misogynist gangster rapper who penny can’t stand. Penny and her brother run away from middle of knowwhere Canada to Florida to meet him so penny can win him back and remind him of how much she loves him and how cool he used to be. This doesn’t go well, as he doesn’t drop his gangster persona, calling her the same insult all her previous bullies did, leading to her throwing hot coffee on him, tearing a chunk off flesh out of his face with her teeth, and subsequently being arrested and later out on probation. Penny ALSO gets her own movie (in the play) and tells the audience this very story in a presentation with goofy puppets. Penny’s story is funny and absurd but at the same time incredibly tragic and heartbreaking. She also appears in ride the cyclone where she’s revealed to be the identity of Jane Doe (who had her head cut off before she was found dead in the rollercoaster accident with the other choir kids and was therefor never identified)

• she is a femamist lesbian and I am in love with her

• She's known as Jane Doe throughout the musical because she doesn't know who she is in death, her head is a doll's head because she lost her real one in the rollercoaster disaster that killed all the characters, she's the one who wins the prize of coming back from death which is when we learn her true name Penny. Her song is absolutely *beautiful* (The Ballad of Jane Doe) and she is the Penny of all time because I love her

• Girlie already lost her head we can’t take her victory too :(

Penelope (The Odyssey)

• She waited about 20 years for her husband to come home she used her huge brain to keep the suitors away for ages I just think she's neat

• She is LOYAL. She is SMART. She is HARDWORKING. She waited for TWENTY YEARS. Penelope is a QUEEN (literally). PENELOPE SWEEP

[saintjosie]

the constant battle between my autism wanting structure and schedule vs my adhd wanting to do what it wants to do always vs my bipolar that says fuck you to both

[writingquestionsanswered]

Okay, i don't know if I need to ask a blog specifically for writing mental health, but here goes nothing.

One of my main characters is mentally ill (Bipolar, OCD, and Anxiety), and their girlfriend wants to help her partner through their mental health struggles. How do I write a person being supportive to their partner with their mental health, without falling into the "love cures you of mental illness" lie?

Illustrating Support vs Trying to Cure

I do think it's worth reaching out to a blog specific to writing mental health if you can find one, but I will say there's a difference between being supportive and trying to cure someone. And I think on the surface, that's really the key... doing the research to learn what support looks like (specific to providing support to a loved one living with a mental illness) so you can illustrate supportive behaviors versus corrective behaviors. For example, when I was younger and had a lot of ADHD-related meltdowns, it didn't help me when people tried to correct my behavior, telling me what I should do to correct or improve my "temper." What did help was when people learned what I needed to help me through a meltdown, such as them staying calm, not judging, giving me space, and then giving me comfort and reassurance when I was ready for it. That, for me, was support. But someone saying, "You shouldn't behave that way," though well-meant, was them trying to correct/cure me.

One thing you can do in your research is look for material that is aimed toward caregivers and loved ones of people living with a mental illness, and specifically loved ones living with Bipolar, OCD, and anxiety. This should provide specific pointers on what support looks like. You can also look for interviews with and blogs written by people living with a mental illness, as they may talk about their support systems and ways in which people support them versus ways people try to correct/cure them.

And finally, once you've written your portrayal, I strongly urge you to hire a sensitivity reader (or a few) with lived experience relevant to your portrayal, as they can help vet what you've written to make sure you've avoided falling into that "love cures you" trap.

I hope that helps!

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[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

Knowing that there's such thing as gallifreyan autism, is there also such thing as gallifreyan ADHD?

Do Gallifreyans get ADHD?

Absolutely. It's pretty much a given that the Doctor has it in various incarnations.

🚀 ADHD in Gallifreyans vs. Humans

1.🧠 Enhanced Cognitive Abilities

Gallifreyans already possess significantly advanced cognitive functions compared to humans. Their brains are more efficient at processing information and multitasking.

Human ADHD: Often characterised by difficulty focusing, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness.

Gallifreyan ADHD: While similar traits exist, Gallifreyans might process these differently due to their enhanced brain structures. They might struggle to focus on mundane tasks but do really well in high-pressure, complex situations.

2. ⚡ Supercharged Hyperfocus

Both Gallifreyans and humans with ADHD can be hyperfocused - an intense form of concentration on tasks of interest.

Human ADHD: Hyperfocus can lead to losing track of time and neglecting other responsibilities.

Gallifreyan ADHD: Given their higher cognitive baseline, Gallifreyan hyperfocus might result in breakthroughs or rapid problem-solving abilities, making them incredibly efficient when engaged.

3. ⏲️ Time Perception

Gallifreyans, with their innate time sensitivity, perceive time differently.

Human ADHD: Individuals can have a skewed sense of time, leading to poor time management.

Gallifreyan ADHD: Time sensitivity can both enhance and complicate their perception, making time management more nuanced.

4. 🔋 Energy Levels and Physical Hyperactivity

ADHD often involves high energy levels and physical restlessness.

Human ADHD: This manifests as fidgeting, restlessness, and an inability to stay still.

Gallifreyan ADHD: Their enhanced physiology allows them to channel this energy into constructive activities, such as saving the universe and the like.

5. ⚠️ Impulsivity and Risk-Taking

Impulsivity is a hallmark of ADHD, leading to spontaneous decisions and risk-taking.

Human ADHD: This can lead to challenges in maintaining routines and making long-term plans.

Gallifreyan ADHD: Potentially leading to unconventional solutions and daring plans. Their advanced problem-solving abilities and quick thinking turn this impulsivity into a strength, enabling them to navigate crises effectively.

6. 😭 Emotional Regulation

ADHD can impact emotional regulation, causing intense emotional responses.

Human ADHD: Emotional dysregulation can lead to mood swings and heightened reactions.

Gallifreyan ADHD: Emotional responses can be intense and sudden, but their advanced brains allows for rapid processing and recovery.

🩺 The Doctor with ADHD

The Doctor’s actions, energy, and thought processes align with ADHD traits:

Bored by mundane things and people.

Constantly seeking new experiences and challenges.

Taking bold, spontaneous actions to save others.

Becoming intensely focused on solving complex issues.

The need to keep moving, exploring, and learning.

Emotional outbursts/intense emotional connections in some incarnations.

🏫 So ..

Gallifreyan ADHD is not only possible but can also be a real benefit. Their unique neurobiology allows them to channel their symptoms into universe-saving actions, making ADHD potentially a kind of wild superpower in the realm of Time Lords, as long as their focus is in the right place.

Related:

Can Time Lords have bipolar disorder?: How bipolar disorder might manifest in Gallifreyans and coping mechanisms/treatments.

Factoid: What’s the ‘Dark Design’ in Time Lords?

Regenerative Dissonance vs Disassociative Identity Disorder - what's the difference?: How RD and DID compare.

Hope that helped! 😃

More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →😆Jokes |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[thevirgodoll]

Hi there! Because you have a psychology background, what are some riveting works you've read? I'm not a psych major myself but I'm interested in reading more into it so I can improve my mental health and learn about the world better. Any book recommendations? documentaries? Youtube channels? (so far I only know crashcourse). It can be on any facet of psych. habit formation, mental illnesses, relationships, friendships, etc...i'm open to learning more!!!! ^_^ <3

YouTube channels:

Both of these are from actual doctors with a psychology background so I recommend these two, especially Dr. Marks because not only is she a black doctor, she is also extremely articulate and has amazing videos on complex disorders.

Dr. Tracey Marks

Ana Psychology

A few of my fave videos:

Bots, Groupthink, & Weaponized Empathy: How the Internet is Manipulating Us

Coping Skills and Psychological Defenses - An Introduction

Complex Problems with Mental Illness in Fiction - a video essay

4 months quitting nicotine documented

Therapists React to Mean Girls

Ferb Fletcher & Stoicism

Whiplash vs. Black Swan: Anatomy of Obsessed Artist

Why 30 is not the new 20

Psychology of PTSD

Awareness of Complex Disorders:

Psychologist Describes ADHD Mindstate

ADHD in Women

How to Explain ADHD

Bipolar disorder (depression & mania) - causes, symptoms, treatment & pathology

Bipolar Mania on tape

What is Psychotic Depression?

Schizophrenia: Causes, symptoms, diagnosis

What is Schizophrenia? It's More Than Hallucinations.

My Experience with Schizophrenia

Narcissism vs Narcissistic

What is Trauma? The author of "the Body Keeps the score" explains

Depersonalization/Derealization

Books (current two favorites):

The Body Keeps the Score

Predictably Irrational

[mymanyfandomramblings]

This is going to be the first controversial, non-fandom post I've ever made, but as an autistic person, I think it's time to retire the term 'neurotypical'. Not only is it a hard-to-define term, but it doesn't have any application that I find to be helpful.

Firstly, the difficulty to define. Neurotypical is a term that has arisen as an opposition to the term 'neurodivergent' (which has also lost it's meaning somewhat, but that's a conversation for another time). Neurodivergent has a specific meaning--it refers to someone whose brain functions atypically, usually due to another condition--ADHD, autism, Down Syndrome, bipolar, and so on. Neurotypical on the other hand, can at face value, seem like the opposite of that--i.e someone who doesn't have a neurodivergent condition--but the problem is that it reads--and is used as a term--to mean essentially 'normal', and it implies that everyone who doesn't have a neurodivergent condition thinks and acts the same way, which is untrue. No two people's brains function the same way, and there isn't really 'typical' when it comes to brains.

"But mymanyfandomramblings, we need some way of talking about people who aren't neurodivergent?!" I hear you say, and I will respond that you can have a word for that when I trust that you'll use it well. The second reason I think we don't need the term 'neurotypical' anymore is because I don't think it's helpful. Like I said above, it implies that there's a uniformity amongst people who aren't neurodivergent, and the good people of Tumblr dot com love to use this implication to create an 'us vs. them' mentality. As though 'neurotypical' people are a whole mass of mysterious people who communicate only in small talk and make up nefarious social rules that make no sense and exist only to baffle us, and will never be able to understand us as well as another neurodivergent person. And while there is some credence to that--if you don't have a condition, you aren't as easily able to understand someone else--it also refuses to acknowledge that there are so many disorders that can come under the heading of 'neurodiversity' and that I am just as blind to the struggles of someone with NPD or Tourette's--if not more so--than a non-autistic friend might be to my struggles. So that's what you can use instead. You can say 'someone who doesn't have [condition]' if it's important, rather than inventing a phrase that implies that everyone not like you is the same.

That concludes my TED talk, please don't send hateful anons.

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share this ven diagram of ADHD and Bipolar. There’s more overlap than I thought and I find it interesting. The article going over this will be below of anyone wants to read it.

ADHD

Bipolar

[dndadspolls]

Not to backseat poll but in the current headcannon suggestions, there are a LOT of HCs regarding character sexualities/genders. Should there be a separate poll for these?

Like Most Trans, Sexuality, maybe even Mental Heath (which can include like ADHD, anxiety, bipolar, etc)

Just feels weird to be pitting “Trans Taylor” against something like “Scary can’t do good eyeliner” you know?

well tbf I originally was imagining this poll to be more of the sexuality/gender/disorders/disability headcanons vs just anything since we did have a favorite headcanon poll earlier chsnnx but I've also said that I'm totally ok with repeating polls over again if people want to , so it's fine on that account

plus , personally i don't find any issue in matching up sillier hcs with serious ones , so I'm going to leave it as is for now unless more people think we should switch it :]

[gracegrove]

not super on topic, but because of some of the things going on in posts lately and talking with a mutual it really got me thinking about how some users on here will cling onto psych degrees and use it to preemptively categorize and diagnose billy hargrove and then in turn come after those who like him.

and it made me realize

they are seeing mental health diagnoses like this:

as stand-alone categories with clearly distinguishable borders.

above are all diagnoses that i believe billy would meet criteria for on at least a superficial level.

when in reality diagnosing looks more like this:

in which there are no borders, symptoms can and will overlap across many diagnoses, and it takes time, skill, and listening to your client and understanding their history and needs to look at those blurry overlapping spaces particularly.

billy's anxiety symptoms could truly be just symptoms of anxiety. but they could be symptoms of hypervigilance and overall heightened arousal and reactivity due to living in an abusive environment, which would speak more to PTSD. they could also be representative of BPD symptoms in terms of relationship instability as well as the stress and upheaval he has just gone through moving to hawkins.

billy could experience periods of low mood this could be Major Depressive Disorder but could also be Dysthymia, Bipolar II, so on. billy's difficulties with emotion regulation and (possibly) implied swings in mood could be indicative of BPD, but are also symptom markers of Bipolar and Cyclothymic disorders, and are also noted as disruptive behaviors in ADHD.

I think there's a lot to be said about how nuanced diagnosis can be, it's definitely not as simple as cracking the DSM, thumbing to the right section, and just checking off a few boxes. Because sooooo many symptoms can cross into other disorders and not even stay within the same classification. they can easily jump from trauma disorders to psychotic disorders to mood disorders to personality disorders. why? because these symptoms are common and symptoms aren't the only thing that make a diagnosis.

you must consider all these: symptoms, onset (when did it start), duration (how long has it been happening), and severity (what level of impairment/are there a little vs a lot of symptoms)

if i eyeballed billy hargrove without a diagnostic interview i might've said Oppositional Defiant Disorder.... and guess who'd be wrong? Me. because you can't just blatantly categorize, eyeball, or sum up a person. it ain't that simple.

learn to consider that all lines are blurred and that those blurs are where all the information is.

[onetrackminded]

Unreality & PTSD

One of the scariest things about allowing myself to accept my subjective emotions is how lost in unreality I frequently find myself now. Amidst all my diagnoses (autism, ADHD, bipolar, PTSD), reality has always been a touchy thing, especially with that last one.

Trauma convinces me things are dangerous, the people around me are dangerous, and I begin to behave as if I'm back in the situation I was in when I was traumatized. Every time I'm triggered I fall into a spiral of believing I'm in danger again, plotting my "escape", and suppressing my emotions. The worst part is not having insight.

I've always had insight. I've always had that characteristically autistic self awareness that makes therapy redundant. But with this, I'm not. My actions are automatic -- I don't even think about it. I have to force myself to think about it. I want to avoid it. I want to just escape it.

The unreality sets in the most when I confront these feelings. When it comes time to communicate these things to loved ones, to resolve my bitterness, to correct my perceptions -- it's hard to find the truth.

It's really difficult to trust anything because my abuser played with my reality like a toy. When people say they mean well, often there's no difference between someone who is lying and someone who's not.

How do I know your intentions? How do I know what you really mean? How do I know when I can't read social cues? When I can't tell someone is being malicious?

The answer is somewhere between "I can't" and some other solution. My therapist asked me if going over facts vs. fiction would help, but I can't help but think it would only make it worse. I always try and think logically -- I always think in terms of black and white, right and wrong, fact or fiction. So far, that hasn't served me much.

In fact, it makes things worse. Obsessing over what could potentially be a "sign" of danger is exhausting and my perception is bent towards fear. I'm biased. And even when I'm not, even when I know "the truth" logically speaking, there's always a feeling in the back of my mind telling me I could still be wrong.

That feeling in your chest is often described as intuition, doubt, fear. Which is it? It's identical to those things. Do I listen if it's intuition? Do I ignore if it's doubt?

My only answer for these conundrums so far is a frightening one, and one given to me by someone I love: having faith in my safety.

Sometimes, I just have to believe I'm safe even when I don't feel like it. I have to believe it won't happen again even though every sense, every perception, every feeling is screaming at me telling me it is.

And it's terrifying.

[seeingteacupsindragons]

Am editing again today (as I will be doing every day until I'm done, dammit), and.

You know, when I wrote these, I was trying to give Tiadane ADHD. After this new diagnosis situation and looking up the difference in the overlapping symptoms of bipolar vs. ADHD, I.

I think I landed on manic.

Oops?

*heads in hands* I'm just. Gonna leave it. You know what, I'm just gonna leave it. I don't know if I'm going to actively lean into it. But I'm gonna leave it.