#i'm not an expert or doctor don't take my word for law on anything but the more i've connected w/ other neurodivergent folks online

[copingintheghetto]

Google voice typing trial run

I haven't written anything for a while. I am trying to form good habits and be consistent in just about everything in my life because that's a big problem for me. And I don't think my therapist can help me with this as my psychiatrist NP suggested.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is this the name I have and coping in the ghetto is- I don't know what these words mean as of February 28th 2024.

I need to change the word ghetto because I do not live in the ghetto anymore. I know where that is in this medium sized city, which is the capital of the state.

It's a place that is depressing to me because it reminds me of where I was and I worry that things will go badly and I'll lose my little home that I love and be walking the streets looking for anything and everything. I worry about losing my sources of income because I'm not good enough at my job according to my coaches. Even so, I think I'm a good employee that works my ass off. My homework assignment is to ask a coach for a minute of their time and read from a piece of paper that I will have written ahead of time addressing all of the things that I need to communicate. Then we'll be on the same page and a weight will be lifted off my shoulders. I will try to do this today. I have already talked to HR and she was really nice. She said she would be a mediator between me and the coaches and the leads nothing has ever come of that. Sometimes I wonder if they are treating me differently because of what she told them. Because I'm not expected to do as much as the other people. I mean new people are doing what I don't do. I've told them that I can do things if they're written down and I can see. But they don't seem to have time to let me write things down. So the solution will be to find a lesson on their learning platform while I'm clocked in before I start working and take notes. Then go up to them and say, "hey I got this written down here and I can do it now if you want me to."

What angers me is that I have carpal tunnel syndrome now because of my hard work there and my knee is messed up now as well. I'll see you doctor next week.

Then there's the anxiety about having to pay social security back around $5,000 since I went over the SGA amount beginning in November. I thought things that were incorrect, and now I know that I should have called them and asked about working full-time before I did so. It was awful for my mental and physical health by the way. The good thing is I gave them my wage information and now I'm just waiting for a caseworker to call me back.

If I do owe all of my savings, then that is just what will happen. The next step would be to save money again. And that's all there is to that.

The other thing is my psychiatrist NP who is now telling me to taper off of pregabalin and just take gabapentin, which is what I'm taking for my nerve pain in my wrist. I told her Gabapentin does not work for anxiety- that I've tried it. She ignored me and continued with her expert thoughts. I think the pregabalin shows promise. I just haven't figured out the right dose. But I am scared of talking to her about that.

The hand surgeon told me that he doesn't put people on Gabapentin long term. That if the pain gets bad, then surgery is an option. By the way, he gave me a steroid injection and I think it's helped but I'm not sure. He said it could help for months .

Back to NP. ... then the solution- if she's not willing to respect my wishes (my bodily autonomy?)- will be to find a different psychiatrist.

Unfortunately, they're pretty much all the same though. Perhaps 1 in 30 might prove helpful. But there's no law that says you have to stay with your provider. You can always seek another one.

Besides being consistent with things and writing things down before I tap on someone's shoulder to communicate, I have to figure out how to stop this compulsive talking I do all day at home.

A lot of it is just because I'm lonely and have no one to talk to. I crave human connection. Not with just anyone, of course. My own company is better than Bad Company. I wonder what the band Bad Company were thinking when they came up with that name.

I am not making an effort in this department though, so I can change that when I'm ready.

But how do I stop the talking? It wastes hours of my day every day. I apologize to my cat for not playing with her. I feel horrible. So, in order to decrease the chances of my ending up in a scary place with scary people trying to take advantage of me and succeeding, I have got to use my powerful amazing brain to make use of my precious time when I'm not at work.

Okay this should be the end of this Google Voice typing test. I think it works rather well so I'll continue to use it. This would be the beginning of another one.

Taking action. Cognitive behavioral therapy for me and you. No, the following is not something I came up with. Do I have to mention the source? I'll throw caution to the wind. This is from stuff I bought way over 10 years ago. It was expensive for me by the way, lol.

Lesson 1.

Anxiety: Symptoms, Causes, and Common Fears.

1. Notice personality traits that encourage anxiety.

2. Begin to appreciate the positive side of your personality.

3. You can change the way you think.

4. Begin making behavior changes.

5. Begin journaling.

6. Slow down in all ways.

7. Begin an exercise routine and reduce caffeine.

8. Recovery is a gradual process.

9. Use relaxation audio session three times daily.

10. Listen to your inner dialogue. Respectful? Kind?

"Your history does not have to be your future."

To be continued.

[freckliedan]

idk if you can actually give me advice or if I’m simply void shouting but every time I see a post that’s like “here’s symptoms of adhd” I read through them and am just “hahaha...I do that...” but then I feel really gross because I can’t afford a doctor to find out, and I know it’s harder to diagnose in women anyways so I feel like it’d be futile, but at the same time I feel really frustrated because knowing would mean I could properly manage it :/ but also like what if I’m just making it all up?

hey b ❤ i'm super passionate about this, so the poeer of a hyperfocus has overridden the tiredness i'm dealing eith today! and thank you so much for trusting me with this ask ❤ you are so valid and i absolutely don't think you're making it up!

self diagnosis is something i support so heavily, especially for afab folks whose adhd was overlooked. every single one of my close friends is neurodivergent (adhd and autism are both forms of neurodivergence, + some other diagnoses i think?); some still have no diagnosis, some were diagnosed after starting therapy for other reasons, and some were diagnosed because they self diagnosed & specifically sought out a diagnosis. if it helps to hear at all, being diagnosed before self diagnosis is by far the least common experience-most frequently i meet neurodivergent folks who never would've been diagnosed if they didn't self diagnose first.

also, girls and women aren't inherently difficult to diagnose! it's hard for afab folks to get a diagnosis bc the institution of medical and mental health care systemically disbelieves and maltreats us by refusing to listen to us, take our needs seriously, or study us :).

so the probelm is more that there's more anectdotal material & the academically approved of information/studies that exist are newer (and there are less of them than those focused on cis white men/boys). bc of that, the info that does exist isn't very universally known. the sexism and gross misunderstanding of adhd present in most mental healthcare providers makes me sick; i see it so frequently in textbooks and classes that i'm taking. textbooks published as recently as 2013 are still teaching that adhd is less common in girls & women and that's literally untrue! gendered socialization just causes it to look different & be recieved differently!

using psychologytoday's therapist finder tool (link) can help you find someone who specializes in neurodevelopmental disorders, which means they should be suitably knowledgeable about adhd in afab folks. (including that in case anyone else reading this is in a similar boat). also, if you're in the united states and live near a college, you may be able to access therapy at extremely low costs (i pay $8 a session) if they have a graduate student run clinic?

something really impoetant to know, though, is that not everyone seeks diagnosis. some folks' lives would be made significantly harder by a diagnosis or mis-diagnosis that follows them on paper forever; it's ok to only seek a diagnosis if you think the resources you would gain access to would be helpful enough that you want a diagnosis! it's also ok to seek a diagnosis if you think having the validation of a professional would be meaningful! the important thing is that it's what you think would help you the most.

and if you're self diagnosing adhd or think you may have adhd but aren't comfortable claiming the label for yourself, & you feel guilty about it? you don't take anything away from anyone else with your self diagnosis. a lot of brain stuff has overlap in terms of experiences (for example, executive dysfunction affects ppl w/ adhd, depression & more) which means a lot of overlap in coping mechanisms/skills for best navigating your brain! there's so much support & so many resources out there, and you're absolutely welcome to accessing them ❤.

everyone's experience of adhd is extremely individual, but i have an entire adhd tag on my sideblog (link), & i reblog a fair amount of things here too (link) if you're looking for somewhere to start in terms of coping things past just symptom lists? & if you especially connect with any posts, you can probably check OP's blog for more!

[gh0sture]

Under the Sea

Trafalgar Law x gn!reader

Part 2, Meet the gang

You've never been particularly good at meeting new people or making good first impressions for that matter but this, by far, has to be your worst one yet. Your clothes are soaked still, your hair a sticky mess from the saltwater and your mouth is opening and closing lika a fish gasping for air as it flaps around on a bridge after being caught. It's not one of your best looks you'll admit but it is all you can offer at the moment given the circumstances.

You try to form coherent thoughts, you really do, but this is just way too much for you to take in. He reaches a hand out and you flinch before grabbing it to make an awkward shake.

This isn't just insane. This is completely knock-your-socks-off bonkers.

You feel as if you were looking at the golden gates of heaven themselves, not daring to look him in the eyes out of fear that you might go blind from the sheer radiance of his aura meanwhile the man in question just looked at you blankly. Possibly with a hint of disgust. Definitely a bit of disgust.

"The name's Trafalgar Law, captain of Polar tang" his handshake is firm and he looks at you expectantly while retrieving his hand and crossing his arms over his chest.

Neither of you say anything. He clears his throat but you give no reaction. Still staring at him like a five year old looking at a blackboard of university level algebra equations. He grimaces slightly at your behavior.

"Are you ok? I don't remember finding any trauma to your head, you should be fine" he grabs your chin and tilts your head around to inspect it disapprovingly in search of an injury. Although, he is an expert doctor so he would never miss any injuries, his pride wouldn't let him. This does nothing to soothe your symptoms though and doesn't exactly help with calming your heartbeat at all.

"I wouldn't have missed anything what's wrong with you" he mutters to himself when you finally managed to collect yourself enough to remove his hands.

"uhh no! no, i'm ok! thank you for ,uh, saving me by the way" this is the best and worst thing that have ever happened to you.

"it wasn't my choice" he deadpanned and turn back into the room to get a den-den mushi with a familiar penguin hat on it. Its so strange seeing on in real life. Although, you don't know if this is real life (is it just fantasy?). He proceeds to make a phone call (mushi-call? den-den call?) into it while you shift awkwardly on your feet in the hallway. Your feet ache from walking on the metal grid barefoot you had barely noticed until now. After exchanging a few words he walk over to the desk where he'd previously  been sitting and open a journal, presumably to continue doing whatever he did before.

"One of my crew members will be here shortly to get you settled for now and give you some necessities. We reach a port in nine days where you can leave." his voice was calm and composed, like pouring molten chocolate into your ears even though the words themselves were less than pleasant. When he spoke you could feel your knees get weak and you feel tempted to ask him a question for the sole purpose of hearing him speak more. God this man was hot. You nodded at his statement at first, not really paying attention to what he had actually said until you realized that nothing he said had been actually registered in your head.

"Wait, what?" you asked. He doesn't look up from his writing but you can hear the mild annoyance in his voice when he answers.

"Looking at you, you are rather ill equipped for staying here until we reach a populated island. Since you don't have any money or anything valuable, my crew will provide for you until we reach the port where you can find another ship to go back wherever you came from...Whatever weird country that's supposed to be...Now go down the hallway, He should be there already to help you so leave me alone" you get the feeling that you'll loose a limb if you stick around longer so you turn to head down the hallway and find "Him" who you hoped would be more polite.

"Not that way" you hear from the study and you turn around to head down the other way, somewhat (very) embarrassed.

You really wished that your first time meeting a celebrity would've gone better, but then again they do say that you should never meet your heroes. Was he always this rude in the series and book? Sure he came across as a bit of a tsundere but he seemed at least approachable in the series. You don't have the charisma or extroverted superpowers that Luffy have so that is probably an important thing to consider. As you head down the hallway you come across a man walking in your direction pretty soon. He seem far more ok with your existence and even appear to lit up a bit when he sees you and give you a friendly wave. This is already going a lot better than last time.

"Yo! You're the one we found floating around yesterday! Nice to meet you, people around here call me Penguin" He gives you a wide yet genuine smile as he grab your hand and shake it enthusiastically before you even have the chance to reach out.

"thought you were a goner when we found you haha!So it's good to see that you're up n' about, c'mon let me show you a round!" he turn around to walk from where he had just come from while you follow behind him silently.

Penguin makes it his personal responsibility to keep a conversation going even if it's pretty one-sided but it's nice. Comforting even, as he went on about how nice the other crewmembers are with the exception of the captain but you shouldn't take what he says too personal as he's a bit misunderstood. He  ask you different questions like your name, where you came from, complimenting you on your weird clothes, although it feels like that was mostly him being polite and you didn't have heart or energy to tell him that you're wearing PJ's. He doesn't mind your short answers and seems satisfied with the information he's able to divulge. To be fair you aren't sure how to answer since you don't know how you ended up here but also out of fear of ripping the space-time continuum open by telling him forbidden knowledge about his universe. It would be rather awkward explaining to him that you know a lot about them and what they've done/are about to do. You've technically stalked them through tv and books and if someone told you that they've been watching you, you would freak out. Rightfully so too. They might even think that you're a navy spy sent to gather information action for their arrest and they could kill you. Yeah, this is a mess and a half but you'll burn this bridge when you get to it. You did tell him your name though and he doesn't seem to suspect you working for some nefarious organization so all is well.

He showed you where the important places in the submarine was such as the kitchen, living quarters, rec area and bathrooms. You still have trouble telling up from down will undoubtedly get lost but he assures you that after a while you'll know this maze like the back of your hand. After leaving the living quarters he guides you to the top deck to find someone else he says will help you so that he can get back to work.

The yellow ship had surfaced at a deserted summer island and everyone was outside enjoying the sun after spending several days in the dark of the ocean. You hadn't been down in the submarine for that long , at least not while being conscious, and was already getting a bit unnerved over how cold and cramped it was. As soon as the warm rays of light hit you both the cold and your worries melt away.

"Hey Ikkaku! You have to help the drifter get some clothes!" He yelled at a woman laying in a sun-chair on the deck with her eyes closed. The familiar heart pirates uniform was open to reveal a green tank top and an orange and yellow striped hat was laying beside her.

"Haah!? Why do I have to do it?" She sat up to glare at Penguin and was about to protest when she spotted you behind him. One second you were hiding behind Penguin and the next you're face to face with a very pretty woman with very poofy hair. Her glorious lion name bounces a bit as she hold up both your hands in hers and lean over a bit to stare into your eyes. Everyone is so tall here why is everyone so ridiculously tall. Anime proportions are wild.

"Oh my god!! We were so worried about you, we thought you were dead when we found you!" You felt uncomfortable with her being so close to your face and politely thanked her for saving you while doing your best to avoid eye contact.

"Oi! Where's your manners! They've been through a lot being stranded in the ocean have some respect!" He bops her on the head and she lets you go to tell him off (and/or punch him back) but she remembers the shiny new toy in front of her and settles for staring daggers at him instead.

"Oh shut yer trap" She stares at you intensely as if to make sure you wouldn't run away or vanish into thin air. It's kind of nice being fawned over like this, and clearly the crew enjoy having a visitor.

"It's so nice having a fresh face around, It's been years since Captain let anyone new stay onboard  and being stuck with all the same jerks weeks on end gets a bit tiring you know. Now come on and let's go find you some proper clothes!" She grab your hand to drag you along back into the dark,dark depths of the submarine.

Oh joy. more cold, feet grating and claustrophobia.

"You're a bit smaller than everyone so we should probably ask Uni to sow it in for you if it's way too big" She says more to herself rather than you while handing you the classical white uniform with the heart pirates logo on the chest over your heart.

The woman who's name you had learned to be Ikkaku turn around and continued rummaging around the small closet in front of her in search of more clothes for you while you change into the white uniform when she isn't looking. It feels incredible to finally get out of those damp and sticky clothes and into something soft and warm instead. You are also the proud owner of a pair of fuzzy socks and black boots. Your poor abused feet are overjoyed that they no longer have to walk the metal grid of a thousand needles. Life is good.

"Once we get to the port of Pellar island you can probably trade your way to some more clothes but this should be fine for now"

In the little time you had spent with her you had learned quite the few things about the crew on the ship. For starters there were 21 members in the crew (including the captain), You were lucky number 22 according to Ikkaku, even though you aren't a part of the crew it's apparently better to have an even number of people aboard the ship. And hearing the stories of what they've been through it seems like you're their new rabbits foot. Since you're considered baggage or fancy cargo rather than someone useful she gives you some times on how to stay out the way, especially out if the captains way which you feel is probably a wise decision but you offer your help should she need it in the kitchen which she greatly appreciates. You hate feeling useless.

You can't help but wonder where you are in the Once Piece timeline as you rolled up the long sleeves of the uniform on your arms and legs for comfort. Had Luffy and Law already formed the alliance? Were you before the timeskip and the incident at Marine Ford? Maybe you were even ahead of the manga and anime itself in a future arc even. You were snapped out of your thoughts when Ikkaku pushed a bundle of toiletries into your arms involving a towel, a toothbrush, and a bar of soap.

"We haven't figured out where you'll sleep for the moment but it'll work out soon enough. Otherwise you can just sleep in a spare bed in the infirmary but come help me gather food from the island! We don't want to get scurvy while we're submerged!" She drag you away towards the deck after leaving your things in her room for safe keeping for now.

This woman is going to pull your arm off.

She seemed very sweet but all the touching and stereotypical anime arm-pulling is weird since you have literally just met. The way she smiles while asking you about your favourite foods and how she excitedly plan different recipes out loud make you almost forgive her though. Almost.

You move sluggishly towards Ikkaku's room to get the only material items you currently own in this world. Foraging for fruits and herb until nightfall was tiring but at least you didn't have to carry that much stuff, a guy with a black pompadour haircut had come along to help carry the crates of stuff you and Ikkaku gathered. He seemed very nice too, somewhat cocky though. You had asked Ikkaku for information on a certain Straw-hat pirate while making small talk and have come to the conclusion that he probably hasn't even started his adventure towards becoming the Pirate King yet. She didn't know who you were referring to and was even showed some seagull newspaper from their library but no info of the gummy monkey man could be found whatsoever. Since you recall him making news very early on in his "career" it's fair to assume that he hasn't gotten up to his mischief yet.

It feels a bit weird to be honest. To be in the prologue of the story like this and you have no idea what kind of things anyone other than the Strawhats and Luffy had been up to since the story followed them, maybe some vague details about Law's past and fragments from some characters backstories but this is all uncharted territory. Your thoughts are interrupted as you suddenly bump into someone and fell backwards. You reach your arms out like a bad imitation of a seagull in attempt to grab the wall but someone grabs you before you manage to take hold of anything. Your grab their shoulders to steady yourself and let go once you're back on your feet but they don't remove their hands from you. You look up to thank them for catching you when all the colour drains from your face and you realize who you're standing prom-slow-dance proximity to. It is but the one and only person you'd least want to embarrass yourself in front of. Again.

"Do you have a death wish or are you just plain stupid 22-ya" He looked down at you with what you assume to be the ghost of an amused smile or slight disgust. Probably disgust. Again. while you're distracted by his closeness and the humiliating event that is currently taking place. It could be much worse though, right? you can salvage this situation probably.

"Crap, sorry I was just zoned out.." You tried looking anywhere but his oh-so-handsome face to avoid you making this anymore awkward than it already was. You are not immune against handsome people after all. You tried moving away from him slightly but his hands stayed firm on your shoulders and could feel his gaze on you like needle pricks on your skin. you definitely do not dare looking him in the eye.

"You have to look where you're going or you might get seriously hurt next time" He mused. He may be attractive but he's definitely a jerk.

"It's impossible to see down here it's so dark..." you mutter under your breath and quickly move to side to walk past him, he let's go this time rejoice that your attempt to escape the harassing captain is successful, desperate to get away from this weird atmosphere you have created. Unfortunately for you, the universe have other plans  as he start walking behind you in the same direction you are and boy, is it awkward.

After a bit of walking you start to get a bit suspicious though. Was he following you around, waiting for you to get lost so that he could make a smartass comment about it? He is the kind of person who would find great amusement in petty bullshit like that for sure but then again you do have a tendency of assuming the worst in every situation. You decide to test this theory out by steeping to the side and make as much room as you could in the hallway and drop down to pretend fixing your shoelace. Instead of trying to walk past you he stops completely right behind you. You move as slow as you can without arising suspicion but he so kindly wait patiently behind you. When you're done "tying your shoelace" and stand up to continue your journey he follows close behind.

Oh hell no.

You can handle rudeness but this is some psychological warfare or foul play that you want no part of. No matter how handsome the guy is you will not stand for this kind of fuckery. You make a sudden halt and quickly turn around to kindly tell him to fuck off.

"Do you need something from me?" you ask with as much calm you can currently muster, irritation building up behind your customer service smile but he doesn't say anything and only look at you with the same dumb face as before. Almost like he's sizing you up before a fight. Possibly with even more disgust this time.

This Motherfucker.

When he still doesn't say anything for several seconds you just decide to be the bigger person and turn around to start walking again. Of course, with him still following you. It's better to just ignore him and he'll go away, you know where you're going. You finally reached Ikkaku's room and gather up the few items that belong to you when he finally speak up.

"You don't have a room assigned yet right?" You gave him a somewhat puzzled look. That's what he needed to know? That is why he followed you?? To ask you this???

"No? why?" You admit cautiously, almost preparing for him to start fighting you or using his power to "confiscate" one of your organs. For a brief second you could've sworn you saw a mischievous glint in his eyes you know that something bad is brewing. The cogs of evil are turning in his mind and you know that whatever comes out of his mouth next will undoubtedly mean bad news for you.

"I have an idea"

[ikol-cosplay]

I have severe anxiety that often keeps me from studying cause I feel overwhelmed and I failed ALL of my exams so far. My mother says that I'm just lazy and that I never study. I'm trying but I just can't handle it. She's always telling me that I'll never be enough and my anxiety gets worse when she says these things, because I believe her, maybe I'm not working hard enough, maybe I'm not enough. I'm sorry to bother you, I don't know what to do. I'm tired of this, it's been 8 years.

Don't be sorry! It sucks that your mom says that, because I know the feeling of being too overwhelmed to study all too well. What I always try to do is look at the bigger picture. And I mean BIG. When I start small I think about how I can't help my anxiety, or depression or whatever is causing my brain to malfunction at that moment. You're not doing it on purpose; if anyone wants you to study and pass it's you! But your body has limits. And the school system isn't made for people their specific needs. If you're failing your exams it doesn't mean you're lazy, or dumb, or not enough. It just means that /right now/ it isn't working out. And that's ok. You have to do things at your own speed. Maybe that means doing the same year again, which will also mean you get the same subjects twice, guess who's going to be an expert after the second time? Or you have to do the entire year again, same thing applies. And even if you're doing a study and you have to drop out it's still not the end of the world. I thought it was, when I was in high school and my grades kept dropping. But I graduated and nobody even talks about it anymore. I also thought it was when I studied medicine and I just couldn't seem to do things right. I felt like the worst failure ever and even considered ending it all because I felt so worthless. I could have done resits, but I figured if the study didn't come to me naturally.. then why would I even want to continue? There's plenty of things to do in life! Plenty of things that will cause me much less stress. Plenty of things that will actually interest me more. I started medicine because I was interested in the subject of course, hecking cool to be a doctor, but I felt the pressure to achieve something even more. And when my study wasn't making me happy, I figured I should just try to find my happiness somewhere else. Now I study law and I LOVE IT. I love the study and I'm much better at it. But even now life happens, I get overwhelmed sometimes and this last block I fell back into depression. Guess what, failed tests all over the place. I'll probably have to retake half of my year. Oops, shucks. Guess what? That's ok! There's no deadline for living your life. If it takes one or two years more who gives a shit? Life is not a race. I'm gonna get my bachelor anyway, even if I do have to study an extra year. And I'm sure you're gonna be just fine as well! I don't know if you're still in high school or if you're already doing something else. But I assure you that finding peace and happiness is much more important that how long it takes you to finish your education. You can overcome this. And as for your mom, I know it can be tough to talk about such things. I'm lucky my mom loves me and wants me to be happy more than anything, but even with her I feel the pressure to achieve things. In my case it helps just to sit down and talk about it, no matter how scary it may seem. Sometimes we misinterpret things, sometimes she just didn't understand me yet. I don't know your mom, so I can't say for sure that it will work, but it's always worth a try to just sit down with her and thoroughly explain all your feelings and struggles. Maybe ask her for help? My mom takes me on walks and cycle trips if I'm feeling overwhelmed. It helps get a bit of restless energy out and makes me feel less alone. (You could do that with a friend too) Maybe try to explain to her that you're really trying but that you can't seem to focus or take in any of the stuff you're trying to study. In most cases it really does pay off to ask a parent for help, because by doing so you're letting them you that you're actively trying to change things. You could also read the stuff aloud to them or explain it to them, I do that with long texts I have to read. I read them to my dad and then summarize it in my own words and ask him if he thinks that's the essence of it too. Ok I completely forgot my first point. Think BIG. Because right now I've only focussed on the education and maybe a bit on life itself but what helps me calm down as well is think about the world and universe as a whole. Do my actions have any impact on the world? Nah. Maybe on a few people, hopefully you, but overall? Not at all. And the universe? That will all continue to exist no matter what I do. It literally doesn't matter what I do. Nature will continue, animals will still live, humanity will still screw itself over. So who gives a fuck what I do if I'm not hurting others? So what if you fail your exams? It's not gonna make Saturn explode. It's not gonna fail your nation. Your city will still stand. Your loved ones will be alive. You just have to take a bit more time. You can do this. Don't be afraid to ask for help with ANYTHING. And most of all, don't be afraid to come off anon too, I often find it's easier to rant that way and I can send you stupid pics of my dog if you're feeling down. But only if you want. I hope any of this helps, I'm not an expert on life. But then again, who is?

[anamericangirl]

"why not open ur mind and ask trans ppl abt their experiences? And you do get killed and discriminated in the US, I've dealt with it first hand, my friends have too, and a lot of states are trying to repeal trans rights."

oh see now you're changing the argument. Earlier you claimed in all countries you get killed for being lgbt and when I challenged that you changed it to killed and discriminated against, which is dishonest. But you're still wrong. Unless you're talking about illegally. Legally, you cannot get be killed or discriminated against in the US for being lgbt. But if we're going to talk about what people sometimes do regardless of the law you can get killed or discriminated against for literally anything in any country of the world. So that's not unique to lgbt people.

And what are trans rights? What specific rights of trans people is any state in the country trying to repeal?

"and it isn't infiltrating schools either, ppl are just realizing tht they may be trans or they are tryna educate themselves on the topic. Trans ppl's existence can't be proven wrong."

Why are you trying to change this discussion and make it about trans people? This is not about trans people. This is about is a woman a real thing or not? In fact, the way you are arguing, you are basically saying not only is a woman not real, but neither are trans people. In my opinion, the existence of trans people only helps to show that a woman is a very specific thing. If anyone can just be a woman by saying they are a woman, why would anyone feel the need to "transition" from one to the other if a woman is not anything in particular? What exactly is a transwoman transitioning to? Why do they need to go through all that struggle, and take medications that permanently alter their physical bodies if all it takes to be a woman is saying "I'm a woman?"

"And Matt Walsh isn't a good person to be getting this stuff, or anything, from. He's a theocratic fascist which is completely incompatible with his religion, Christianity. And he catfished a bunch of teens to get them into his ideology. If ur gonna ask wht it means to be a woman and why trans ppl are the way they are, ask a transwoman and other types of trans ppl. For me, I'm this way bc of slight dysphoria (used to be a LOT worse in the past). I feel better as someone who isn't 100% a girl."

oh now you're trying to delegitimatize the source and say the Information isn't accurate because you don't like Matt Walsh. I'm very familiar with who Matt Walsh is and every single thing you said is incorrect. But I'm not getting this from Matt Walsh. It's coming from the people he asked. He asked trans people, he asked women, he asked men, he asked doctors, he asked professors. He asked "experts" and they couldn't tell him. A Supreme Court justice couldn't answer. I'm getting this stuff from people, like you, who can't define the word woman.

I don't personally care what you identify as. You can identify as whatever you want, I just want to know how you know you're not a girl? What is a girl?

"Also, if someone says tht they are a woman and they aren't 100% on the stereotypically fem side of the gender binary, well they're a woman. It's not up to you or anyone to decide who/how someone is or not. They have their own reasons for saying tht."

So you're taking back the weak definition you gave me for what a woman is. Meaning that's not what a woman is. So what's a woman?

Can someone be wrong about whether or not they are a woman? If a woman is a real thing, then that answer must be yes. If you answer no, you are saying a woman is not a real thing and is a product of imagination.

I watched Matt Walsh's film What Is A Woman? and if you believe there is nothing unique about a woman and anyone can just wake up one day, say they're a woman, and then be a woman, and there is no universal agreed upon defining characteristics of a woman and a woman is whatever anyone imagines them to be, then you are saying a woman is not a real thing. Women do not exist in reality. We are products of imagination.