#schizophrenia issues

[mehavethoughts]

CW; ableism. no offense but i want the same energy we have for rick riordan's treatment of adhd and dyslexia, if not more, for his treatment of PTSD, DID/OSDD and schizophrenia

Here's an excerpt from the Titan's Curse of Rioardan depicting "madness", found towards the end of chapter 15 (page 238 on my copy);

"One guard put his pistol between his teeth like it was a bone and ran around on all fours." (Talk about taking 'dehumanizing' literally). "Two others dropped their guns and started waltzing with each other. The fourth began doing what looked like an Irish clogging dance. It would have been funny if it hadn't been so terrifying." (I don't even know what to start with there; the idea that someone experiencing a mental health episode that's causing them to act irrationally is 'funny', or the fearmongering of people who just need proper, informed help).

Meanwhile, the entire Heroes of Olympus series doesn't seem to know the difference between DID/OSDD type disorders and schizophrenia. Pretty big fucking differences, and I have another post (one of my only posts, you can find it easily on my profile) going in depth about that issue and the many ways, from the perspective of a DID system, that's harmful to people with both disorders. But the gods having "multiple personalities" (NEVER refer to DID/OSDD this way) is pretty much either played for laughs or to make a conflict. DID/OSDD is not schizophrenia, and likewise, schizophrenia is not DID/OSDD. They are different disorders, and need to be treated as such. Neither is a shameful thing to have or a moral failing.

But every time a god's DID is brought up in the plot, it's either a scary thing (Minerva being totally out of touch and treating Annabeth terribly), or a funny thing (Nike being restrained and gagged by the heroes while in mental distress.).

In the Trials of Apollo, which does admittedly show significant improvement in showing us how Meg responds to abuse, this is never brought up. It is as if Apollo has been a singlet (the term for a person without DID/OSDD) all along, despite that not being true. Even if a DID or OSDD system manages a complete 'integration' of all parts, which is possible, the disorder is still present. The mind still retains the ability to split into more alters if it feels the need to do so.

The PTSD all these characters should have is just flat-out ignored. No long term issues, because "demigods don't get PTSD", I guess.

I never see this talked about in the fandom. The issues of people with more severe mental disorders and psychiatric disabilities are often ignored, because of shit like the excerpt above, where at best we're treated like we can't possibly understand reality/our own minds, and at worst, we're treated like monsters to be scared of.

[madpunks]

we are so ableist about memory. people with good memory take for granted the fact that they can recall as much as they can, and use that to taunt, guilt and threaten people with memory issues. many neurotypes and mental illnesses cause memory lapses. traumatic brain injuries can cause memory lapses. brain cancer can cause memory lapses.

even if your memory is good, it's not right to guilt someone because they can't remember something. trust me, people with memory problems are desperately trying to remember: it's just that we literally can't. it is a very literal "i can't remember".

[schizopositivity]

Here's a reminder to fight the internalized sanism/ableism in your head.

If you have executive dysfunction, don't compare your productivity to people who don't.

If you have anhedonia, don't compare your struggling to keep up with hobbies to someone who doesn't.

If you have paranoia, don't think of your fears as any less valid than the fears of someone who doesn't.

If your meds make you tired constantly, don't compare your energy levels to someone who doesn't take those meds.

If you have issues with concentration, then you won't be able to pay attention as well as someone who doesn't.

If you're in the deep end of a pool, then you can't compare how well you keep your head above water to someone who is standing in a kiddie pool.

Please try to think of these things when you feel "lazy" or "childish" or "a failure" compared to other people that don't struggle with the same symptoms as you. If you have a mental illness that will affect how you act in everyday situations, then it will in fact affect you in everyday situations. It's not an excuse, it's just a reality. We need to try to be kinder to ourselves.

[crippledpunks]

actually- my chronic & mental illness does define me- it's a very huge part of my life. it can't be ignored. it can't be placed on the back burner. it cannot be "powered through". it is there 24/7 whether or not i want it to be. i have to constantly explain to people why i do things is because of my schizophrenic and autistic neurotypes, or that im in severe pain from one of my various problems that cause pain

trying to mock certain disabled people who have to talk about and seek care for their disabilities on a daily basis is unnecessary and violent. it's oppressive. my disorders literally define me, my schizophrenia and autism dictate most of my behaviors. my body is constantly in pain, my guts are constantly affected by my IBS. i am constantly anxious from my PTSD and constantly dissociating from my DID.

if you personally feel as though your illnesses don't define you, that is great for you. i'm not saying chronically ill folks can't feel that way, but what i am saying is stop punching down on those of us who have a lot of their lived experience rooted in their disorders, diseases and neurotypes.

things go into remission or make progress with healing, but most chronic illnesses never fully go away and it's just bullshit to make chronically ill people feel like they can never complain about their issues. it's not an inconvenience to you, it's us expressing what we're going through. stop acting like us talking about our lived experience is an attack on your person. i'm sorry hearing that someone else is in pain sucks to hear but it sucks FAR more to BE IN PAIN

[yorickish]

I had some very harebrained handwavey ideas about the avolition central to negative symptoms of schizophrenia and other cluster A disorder (schizoid etc) being an acetylcholine thing. hence why schizophrenics smoke so much more than everyone else, why I find such a boost from my dickotine cum. and all those neuro papers that links locomotion to ACh release (though I think the relationship is not so clean) explaining why going on a walk is so nice. but that's all at the level of bullshitting and doesn't really explain anything

[yippie-madness]

the never ending gloom of capitalism, but yeah its prolly just brain chemical imbalances

[thelunarsystemwrites]

Hey MS, (hope you don't mind me calling you that) how do you feel with the constant voices? Schizophrenic I would assume. I mean, how do you know we actually exist? You could be imagining us due to your lack of interaction with the outside world for all you know.

Textbox: Hey, kiddo? NOT gonna unpack that right now.

He's getting a little tired of people messing with his mind lol

[pumpkinspice2016]

Am i dreaming?

Or are you?

[shouts-into-the-void]

No, actually, my pet peeve is when I am consistently very upfront and transparent about the fact that I'm not this super sweet angel of a person and I have Severe Mental Health Issues and instead of listening people decide that they somehow know better, only to turn around and get pissed off at me when I turn out not to be a super sweet angel of a person and show symptoms of severe mental health issues—

[shalom-iamcominghome]

So, I've been a bit open about my mental health on here since it affects how I experience and interact with judaism, but I'm wondering how you all balance it? I've found that antisemitism does not specifically cause the recent episode/s I have been having, but it makes them worse, and I find that it makes it even harder to engage with judaism, so I'm currently in a Sisyphean spiral. I guess for me, my brain has been so high-alert about this stuff that it completely shuts down, but not engaging with my jewish community is just as detrimental to my health as antisemitism is. Plus, I'm just angry at the thought that something like antisemitism would prevent me from being with my community.

[schizopositivity]

could you share any more under-talked about symptoms of schizophrenia, like executive dysfunction?

I've actually been meaning to make a post like this but keep forgetting (lol that's a symptom). As a disclaimer, not everyone with schizophrenia has every one of these symptoms, and people can have a lot of these symptoms and not have schizophrenia (if they don't have the psychotic symptoms). Not all of these symptoms are seen as diagnostic criteria, some have just been observed to be very common in people with schizophrenia. (I'm excluding hallucinations and delusions because they are more well known)

• Paranoia: a pattern of behavior where a person feels distrustful and suspicious of other people and acts accordingly. This can go hand in hand with hallucinations and delusions.

• Disorganized thoughts: this can mean a lot of things. It can be not having a linear train of thought, having incoherent thoughts, thought blocking, general disorganized thoughts. (It can be hard to define because it is often hard to describe for the person experiencing it).

• Disorganized speech: this is often a result of the disorganized thoughts. This can include loose associations like rapidly shifting between topics with no connections between the topics. Perseveration, which is repeating the same things over and over again. Made up words that only have meaning to the speaker. Use of rhyming words without meaning. Word salad, which is when cognitive disorganization is severe, it can be nearly impossible to understand what the person is saying, but the person speaking doesn't know they aren't making sense.

• Trouble concentrating: lack of concentration, switching from topic to topic, not being able to focus on one thing. (This is pretty self explanatory).

• Movement disorders: catatonia can be repetitive non goal directed movements. It can also be complete or partial immobility, mutism, vacant staring, and rigidity. Although not a symptom, tardive dyskinesia can occur in schizophrenia as a result of antipsychotics medication.

• Anhedonia: a loss of pleasure in activities that the person once enjoyed. Or the inability to feel pleasure at all.

• Atypical or non-existent emotional expression: Flat or blunted affect is an inability to show emotions characterized by a lack of facial expression, a monotone voice, and no hand gestures. On the other hand people can also have inappropriate affect, where the emotional expression doesn't align with typical reactions or even the person's own feelings.

• Alogia: when someone speaks less, says fewer words or only speaks in response to others. This can be a result of disorganized thoughts.

• Social withdrawal: avoiding people and activities that someone once enjoyed. Not actively being present during social situations. Can progress to total isolation.

• Avolition: a severe lack of initiative to accomplish purposeful tasks. This is a big reason some people with schizophrenia can't work/go to school, can't do chores, and can't keep up with their basic hygiene. Even if the person wants to do these tasks, it may be extremely difficult or impossible for them to get themselves to start or complete the task due to the lack of motivation.

• Executive dysfunction: a behavioral symptom that disrupts a person's ability to manage their own thoughts, emotions and actions. This can include focussing too much on one thing, being easily distracted, spacing out, struggling to switch between tasks, problems with impulse control and trouble starting difficult or boring tasks. Several schizophrenia symptoms fit into the umbrella of executive dysfunction, so when researching you will either see the specific ones listed out, or just simply described as executive dysfunction.

• Alexithymia: significant challenges in recognizing, expressing, and describing one's own emotions.

• Poor memory: this can include working memory deficits like trouble planning, organizing, and carrying out daily chores such as running errands, because it requires mentally formulating a “to do” list organized by time and location. Many people with schizophrenia also report trouble with their episodic memory, which means they have trouble recollecting things in the context of their place and time. (A lot of sources say "trouble with memory" is a symptom but they don't specify).

• Trouble with decision making: people with schizophrenia have been shown to have trouble with decision making due to a decline in the understanding and reasoning aspects of it.

• Sensory processing deficits: this has been widely reported in schizophrenia, and include impairments in visual processing, auditory processing, olfactory and sensorimotor systems. This can lead to having strong positive or negative reactions to sensory information.

• Sleep troubles: though disturbed sleep isn't included in the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, it is still a significant problem that up to 80% of people with the condition experience. People with schizophrenia may have various sleep problems, including insomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness, and trouble with consistent sleep routines.

• Anosognosia: also called "lack of insight," is a symptom that impairs a person's ability to understand and perceive their illness. This is a big reason people with schizophrenia may refuse to get, or stay with treatment.

[identitty-dickruption]

love it how, when I talk about the fact that autism is still stigmatised, people in the notes assume that autism is my only disorder. “if you think autism is stigmatised try being psychotic” bitch I am both. and one of those things being stigmatised does not mean the other one isn’t. trust me there is not a limit on the amount of stigma floating around

[musical-chick-13]

I haven't seen this take a WHOLE lot, but I have seen it enough to get. Frustrated. About it.

So for anyone who doesn't get it: no, symptoms of mental illness are not, in every case, majorly or solely the result of Dealing With Capitalism. Sometimes, they can be! Sometimes the symptoms are situational, and those situations are heavily related to how much capitalism sucks! But many times they are not. I am sorry, but mental illness and trauma and neurodivergence are still going to exist even if capitalism completely goes away. We still have a responsibility to treat the people affected by and experiencing these things with compassion and understanding. We still have to. You know. Acknowledge that their life experience is going to be a lot different than many other's is.

[iamf0rtis]

alright this one might get me in some online fights here on tumblr but i feel like *someones* gotta bring it up

aborting a fetus with a genetic or mental disorder because you cannot take care of them is not eugenics.

bringing a fetus into the world when you can not care for their disorders is cruel.

if you can not care for a kid, you shouldn't have it. yes, that includes kids with autism, kids with down syndrome, kids with cystic fibrosis, etc. its not eugenics, its wanting the best for yourself and any kid you bring into the world.

its not bad to abort a fetus you can not care for. its bad when you know you cant take care of that child but have it anyway.

genetic testing doesnt necessarily promote eugenics, it allows parents to make educated choices about their family and the children they are bringing into the world. frankly, i think it makes the lives of disabled people better.

if you could make sure your child doesnt suffer from a chronic disability, wouldnt you do it? i dont think thats a bad thing.

[azulablue-19]

Azula in the mental institution 🤡

[irondadfics]

Hi, I’m looking for a fic from awhile ago, Peter had schizophrenia and took medication but ran out because may died. He had a therapist from skip and Ben but they didn’t have enough money. He also has hallucinations and sees things and some are in the walls and one was a mean one and he had an episode and they had to sedate him. I can’t remember if it was on ao3 or anywhere else.

Thank you so much! I always come here when I want to read to fics or look at new things ❤️

here you go

There Are Things Crawling Under The Skin by Chopcody

Peter suffers from mental illness and struggles with med compliance. What will happen when tragedy befalls him? Who will make sure he doesn’t succumb to his disease? Who could it possibly be? Hint: it rhymes with ‘pony spark’. (Re-edited summary and updated tags)