#i can diagnose people

[wilsons-three-legged-siamese]

Does anyone just get so interested in something and done so much research that they could genuinely be the job it's meant at for? Like I could pull being a doctor off because of how much research I've done on the medical industry

[plutonious]

waving eagerly!!! I saw @egglands-worst's post about @gouda-nough's ingo chandelure swap thing and I've been thinking about it on and off for a little while. thus, became these doodles. frolicks away

[prismatic-ink]

when the humor so good people think you have a mood disorder

[mercifullymad]

i feel passionately about the need to enfold people experiencing (or diagnosed) with "just" depression or anxiety into the mad pride project. the more people who view themselves as mad, the better. much as the rhetorical move from "neurotypical" to "neuroconforming" emphasizes the artifice & social construction of "neurotypicality," so too will expanding identification as "mad" expose the sane/mad dichotomy as a false one.

it's true that (some) people with "just" depression and/or anxiety have an easier time navigating the psych system than people who have more stigmatized diagnoses. but this is not to say that they necessarily have an easy time — the carceral psych system is hostile to everyone subsumed by it, even the most "privileged" patients. we should of course critique & examine how our experiences are shaped by various intersections of privilege, but we cannot forget or ignore how someone with "just" a depression/anxiety diagnosis can still experience the full force of the carceral psych system brought down upon them (including but not limited to involuntary institutionalization, police intervention, & forced medication or other forced treatment).

we must encourage, if not insist, that those with the least-stigmatized diagnoses view their difficult experiences navigating the psych system as bound up with the liberation of people who have more stigmatized diagnoses &, often, a more violent experience of the psych system. we need more people to drop the "i have anxiety/depression but i'm not crazy" line and say loudly, "i have anxiety/depression & i am crazy. my access to just treatment is linked to the conditions of all other crazy people, who are my allies, peers, & friends. we are united in our cause & we all deserve a more liberating system of care."

[wherevenusholdssomeofficespace]

Linda Flynn-Fletcher

I think Linda Flynn-Fletcher is potentially one of the most misunderstood characters in the show.

It think comes from a natural enough place. Her role in the show is of course, to act as the potential threat to their summers of fun. While they boys never see her as a threat, narratively she's the big bad. If she sees it, its game over.

Here's the thing though. She's a not a bad mom. Her children LOVE her. Similarly to how Phineas and Ferb absolutely adore Candace and would do nearly anything she asked, Phineas, Ferb and Candace all love and respect their mother and don't disobey her. Now a bit of this is clearly Linda being a more permissive parent, but any rules that Linda has Phineas and Ferb never do anything to disobey their mother. While I wouldn't be surprised if there were one or two instances where Candace disobeyed her mother willfully, the closest I can think off off hand is Candace not doing a bunch of chores that she was supposed to do. Really, the fact that all her kids love her, shows how much all her kids feel loved in their household. And I think that's super important. Candace wrote a song about how much she feels loved by her mom, even if her mom is dismissive of Candace. But she still goes with Candace to see what the boys are up to even if she doesn't believe it. She sets boundaries on how often Candace can bust the boys sure. But she hasn't forbidden Candace from doing it altogether. Nor does she punish Candace for presumably lying?

At MOST Linda will say something like: "let's get you out of the sun" after a failed bust. The worst of it I think is probably the time Linda made her promise not to try or suffer the Pharaohs curse. Which, was just some guy in a Pharaoh costume telling Candace curse you. Linda goes out of her way to read books to try and deal with her daughter. She and Candace still clearly hold a lot of affection for each other and do spend a decent amount of mother daughter time together. Linda gives books to her daughter, tries to direct her to other activities, and finds her sleep busting cute, and sometimes goes out of her way to do activities her daughter wants to do with her. All things considered Linda is REALLY patient about Candace's busting. Could she be doing more to get to the bottom of why Candace is presumably acting out? Sure. But Doofensmirtz could also be doing a better job of listening to his daughter and not insulting her (or do we not remember why Vanessa wears earbuds around the house) but we all call him a really good dad.

A LOT of shows have kids hiding a secret from a parent for one reason of another. But while the crux of the show rests on Linda not knowing what her sons are doing, its not because its a secret. The boys aren't hiding it from her. The boys genuinely believe she knows. Lawrence genuinely believes she knows. Candace is the only one in the family who really grasps the situation.

Linda's ignorance, her disbelief of the wild shenanigans that her children get into is easily mistakable for normality. For representing the oppressive day to day. The same thematic antagonist as school. A mom who wants whats best for her kids, and thinks that whats best for them is them being normal, without realizing what's really best for them. After all why else we saw what would happen if she found out in Quantum Boogaloo. But the fact of the matter is aside from that one future (which also featured an effectively evil leader in Doofensmirtz, and therefore implies more factors at play than just Doofensmirtz and Linda's characters), we don't really know how it would play out in the long term. Future Linda even just kinda moves on after discovering the truth.

Linda is exactly like her kids. She just does the same things on a less physics breaking scale. The woman has like 37 different hobbies. She takes a cooking class, donated an art sculpture, is part of a jazz group. She has a background in astrophysics. She was a pop star. She won a meatloaf contest. She takes french lessons. The fact that Linda has several hobbies is part of the reason the formula works at all. Linda is constantly trying new things which gets her out of the house, while her sons are trying their own new things. Her absence is what prompts Candace to have to go looking for her. Also, What Do It Do when the moment Linda gets put in Candace's position she acts the exact same way.

Also it's why she and Lawrence are so compatible. They have a lot of weird hobbies they spend together. She likes Lawrence's history references. They watch car racing together. They went spelunking together. They go bowling regularly enough to have equipment. She has played the bagpipes while Lawrence danced (which sidenote: do you think she taught Candace how to play the bagpipes?).

Not to mention her extended family. Think about it. Her mom was a competitive roller derby skater who once bit a skate and shook it like a dog with a chew toy and pulls elaborate pranks with her identical twin. Really she's a lot like Candace with her aggressive passion. Her dad apparently won a balloon race, but tells the story in the most straightforward way possible, sometimes very oblivious, but is overall a lot like Phineas. Her sister is an adrenaline junky. And back to Quantum Boogaloo for a minute: Her granddaughter is just like Candace, Grown up Candace is a lot like Linda. Do you not see the implications!!?!?!? LIKE???? DO YOU NOT REALIZE THAT LINDA WAS PROBABLY A LOT LIKE CANDACE AND PHINEAS WHEN SHE WAS YOUNGER?!!?! YOU THINK IT SKIPPED A GENERATION OR SOMETHING???

Do you think Linda used to complain about Tiana??? Do you think Linda thought her family was weird and was embarrassed by them??? Do you think Linda ever called herself the only mature/normal member of her family?? LIKE CANDACE DOES????

Anyway, Linda is just like her family. Sure, she is RELATIVELY more normal, but that's relative, and probably simply because the universe bends itself around to keep her from knowing. Linda literally cannot find out about the real nature of her universe. Linda is just a grown up version of her children, seeking to make the most of each day, but within the bounds the universe has set upon her, both as an adult woman and mother, but also in the laws of physics expected of her. But she still makes the most of her life. You don't have to build a roller coaster to make the most of each day and all that.

I think if Linda is representing anything its that even parents can have rich fulfilling lives. Where they make the most out of each day. Having fun with your life doesn't stop with adulthood. Even if you have more responsibilities doesn't mean you can't have fun? Sure childhood is something you can't get back but growing up isn't inherently bad either?

[shannonsketches]

Why is the anime so weird, it's not even the same series dude?? It's like,

Anime:

GOKU: I have a great idea to bring peace to the universe, and my leadership and compassion alone will unite us all. I have No Flaws and am A True Relatable Everyman :)

VEGETA: NO! I AM THE BEST AND I WILL CAUSE PROBLEMS UNTIL I AM RECOGNIZED AS SUCH!!!!

Manga:

GOKU: Vegeta what's cornmeal made of? I know it's what the corn eats, but what's it made of? VEGETA: Hey Kakarot let's play the quiet game until one of us dies.

[unashamedly-enthusiastic]

I am beginning to suspect that my success in communicating with the socially awkward, highly skilled, specialist technology team members is not just down to "having lots of experience talking to my dad"

[al-luviec]

juvie buddies

[victorckk]

Advice for my fellow folks that are considering getting an autism/ADHD diagnosis whenever possible / self diagnosers who want to track their potential symptoms for whenever needed :

MAKE A GOOGLE DOC !!!

Put down any and all symptoms that you’ve noticed, that other people have noticed, etc.

Put down any childhood memories that could potentially have been symptoms, but were overlooked for whatever reason.

Color code that shit in any way you want. I personally color code by How Bad Said Thing Fucked Me Up -> How Bad Said Thing Caused Me To Mask Even More and so on.

Also add notes to different categories that you think might need some explaining (this could just be me overthinking things 9999 times worse than what I already do but it’s worth a shot). Highlight those things so they stand out from the questions.

Copy and paste Autism / ADHD assessment questions with the checkbox format and check off each one that fits you.

Put down how many you got out of total for each category.

Separate the pasted questions by Autism, ADHD, etc.

This way, you have proof that you can show your doctor, therapist, etc.

It also helps you understand yourself better along the way, and can also help you realize that a lot of things that you thought were normal kid things actually weren’t.

A few examples from my own Google Doc below (that took HOURS to make look less atrocious and clunky)

Feel free to make yours however you want, though!!! It’s entirely up to you as it’s YOUR Google Doc which also counts as a space just for you.

I just have a tendency to organize things in a way that aren’t messy or over decorated because it’s too much on my brain and eyes

Created this post to distract myself from a massive migraine that’s been torturing me for the past few days,, ghggghdbfbfbsgdvfbfbfb

[uncanny-tranny]

Piggybacking off this post I made last night, but I think two things can be true at once:

Being diagnosed or undiagnosed can both be disadvantages. Neither a state of diagnosis nor undiagnosis can be more "beneficial" because both can be harmful dependent on the situation. We need to be open to the possibility that a diagnosis can be helpful, harmful, a mix, or neither, and not having a diagnosis can also be helpful, harmful, a mix, or neither.

Basically, disability is complex. We live in an ableist world that simultaneously demands disabled people adhere to strict standards but also just not exist in the first place. It's hard enough to navigate diagnosis, and making it harder is only going to harm us, not abled people. They don't care about the intricacies of disability, more often than not.

[rubber-glovs]

I'm starting to wonder if I'm actually neurotypical or neurodivergent

[bunnakit]

i shared this in the server but i'll share it here too-

i think one of my fav things about Last Twilight so far is Day's anger. because fuck, i was so angry for years when i got my diagnosis. the knowledge that my condition is never going to get better (in fact it's only going to get worse,) that i can't have kids because it could kill me, that i'm going to be in pain and struggling for the rest of my life, that there's no cure, etc. it makes you so fucking angry and frustrated bc you didn't ask for any of this. you have to grieve for yourself and no one around you understands bc their lives are mostly the same (it does change for the people close to you, which we see in Night and their mother, but there's no way they can understand) and you have to learn to ask for help and it takes a little bit of you away each time because FUCK I SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO THIS SIMPLE THING.

it makes me emotional in a good way, it makes me feel seen and it makes it feel real, because fuck sometimes we're just so so angry and so sad for the life we could have had and the dreams we had to say goodbye to.

[sysmedsaresexist]

Kind reminder

It's not your job to tell people how to identify.

Many, many mental health disorders are lifelong, they never go away, but symptom management is possible!

If someone reaches a point that they are choosing to no longer identify with their disorder, or feel that it no longer fits them, or simply choose not to transfer their medical records to a new doctor (hi) because they feel they no longer need access to resources at that time, or if they never had a diagnosis to begin with...

That's none of your business.

You can't force the label on them, or force them to keep it. Yelling about how they still have a disorder isn't helping anyone-- not yourself, not them, not the people still working on themselves watching this happen.

You can't force diagnosis, treatment, or ideals on people. There are many reasons that someone might choose to drop a label or diagnosis, and it's none of your business why or how.

Learn to respect personal autonomy and self-determination in mental health care.

You're not just telling them they have a disorder, you're also telling them that they're struggling, even if they're not.

And that's just not for you to decide.

[pancakeke]

throughout my life I've experienced a fairly consistent lack of empathy from people who don't have sleep problems whenever anything involves getting up early.

like, please understand the situation. for years I drank a lot and believed I was immune to hangovers because for as long as I could remember it had always been normal for me to wake up feeling dehydrated, exhausted, nauseous, headachy, ready to throw my life away just to go back to sleep, etc.

[sanasanakun]

Jimithon Mouthwashing is such a good representation of untreated, enabled NPD like it makes me want to squeeze the life out of him. I'm endlessly fascinated when watching him interact with his crew, surroundings, and himself because he's so fucking lost in his own sauce. It's insane. If I'm being real, it makes him my favorite character in the game.

It's a little scary to say, but watching Jimmy is like seeing a mirrored version of myself two years ago before I truly committed to treatment for my NPD. He's like a shadow. The opening line "I hope this hurts," which I believe comes from Jimmy right before the crash, is such a poignant statement. It's a simple line, but I can tell you from experience that the desire to hurt others when in a narcissistic rage is overwhelming. It's such a good line to sum up Jimmy's character in that moment. Luckily, in the real world, I had my friends and family there to catch me when I hit my lowest, even though I'd hurt them so many times. Jimmy probably could've used friends to force him into therapy (cough cough Curly cough cough)

[dykedvonte]

I beg people in the MW to think very carefully when they talk about mental illness and physical disability cause it’s not as straight forward and easy to diagnose/depict as you think…