#world bipolar disorder day

[mirriorball]

my boyfriend gets it :')

all jokes aside, important note on this: please recognize World Bipolar Day today. 4.4% of people suffer, and so many of them in silence. always check on the mental health of those you love, and ask for ways you can support them when they struggle.

[mental-mona]

[heymacy]

IAN GALLAGHER + his journey with bipolar disorder

╰┈➤ “At times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring a lot of stamina and even more courage, so if you’re living with this illness and functioning at all, it’s something to be proud of, not ashamed of." - Carrie Fisher

[keezybees]

Another page from Sunflowers that I like

[underthevveather]

Support those who are mentally ill.

Support those who have common disorders.

Support those who have uncommon disorders.

Support those who are diagnosed.

Support those who are undiagnosed.

Support those who have very stigmatized disorders.

Support those who struggle with their mental health.

Support those who are healing and recovering.

Support those who have a hard time healing and recovering.

Support those with trauma.

Support everyone who is struggling.

And above all else...

Be Kind Because You Never Know What Someone is Going Through.

[suffercerebral]

me having gone to bed at 6 am every day for the past week and generally spiraling mentally while rotting in bed waking up this morning: a 4 mile hike in the heat is a really good idea right now, and while we're at it let's start like 3 art projects

[willingtobe]

i read this beautiful quote for the world bipolar day that said

some days, i'm van gogh's starry night

other days i'm his suicide letter

and it touched me so deeply because as a person with bipolar desorder i can say that THAT'S just how it is.

embrace yourself today and keep breaking the stigma for those living with bipolar desorder.

[gray-gray-gray-gray]

Let's Talk About The Overlap Between Autism, ADHD, and Schizophrenia

I've been wanting to make a graph like this for awhile, about the overlap between these three disorders. Tagging @auschizm because it's highly related to that blog :D

Text transcribed below the cut because it's long!

Title: Can We Talk About The Overlap Between... AUTISM, ADHD, AND SCHIZOPHRENIA?

Description: You always hear people talking about AuDHD, but schizophrenia has the same if not more overlap with these disorders, and it's not talked about!

Let's start boosting schizophrenic people's voices. There's more to the disorder than just psychosis!

Graph based on my personal experience with schizophrenia, my experiences with autistic and ADHD communities, and the words of people with AuDHD themselves.

Made by @gray-gray-gray-gray on tumblr.

Schizophrenia Only

Typical age of onset between 15 and 54 years old

Before the onset/ first psychotic break, there is a "prodrome" where you have a drop in functioning

Reoccuring episodes of psychosis (Hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, etc)

Likely had less noticeable or covert symptoms pre-onset

Often daydreaming, 'in their own world', hyper-self-reflective, 'space cadet'

Autism Only

Need for familiarty & routine

Sudden disruptions to routine are highly distressing

ADHD Only

Craves new experiences & novelty

Autism & ADHD (AuDHD)

Interest-based nervous system (meaning attention & focus is activated based on personal interest, not how important something is)

Onset in very early childhood -- before age 12

Autism & Schizophrenia (Auschizm)

Self-soothing via repetitive behavior

Higher rates of catatonic symptoms

Social withdrawal or exclusion

Difficulties filtering speech

Flat affect

Alogia

Concrete and/or literal thinking

Higher rates of personality disorders, dissociative disorders, and trauma

Internally oriented behavior

Difficulties wording what they

want to say correctly & disorganized speech

Difficulties with insight into what is part of the disorder and what is neurotypial

ADHD & Schizophrenia (SchizoDHD)

Impulsivity & hard to sit still

Difficulties regulating attention & focus, also causing social cue difficulties

Difficulty keeping a daily routine

Jumping around or out of sequence speech

Forgetfulness

Failing to reach a clear end goal or point in speech

Less coherent progression from start to finish in stories

General difficulties with thinking clearly

Drawing blanks / losing train of thought often

Difficulties finding motivation to do things

Lots of energy some days, no energy other days

Troubles multitasking

Planning poorly or not at all

All Three

Stimming

Echolalia, echopraxia

Executive dysfunction

Sensory issues & overload

Emotional dysregulation

Interconnected/webbed thought

ND communication (infodumping, connecting ideas, shared interest bonding)

Increased risk of victimization

Hyperfixations

Higher rates of depression, anxiety, OCD, BFRBS, bipolar, suicidality, sleep issues, eating disorders, and substance abuse

Eye contact differences

Difficulties switching tasks

Masking

Hyperfocusing

Restlessness

Prone to boredom

Memory issues

Social situation difficulties

Time blindness

Difficulties with school, learning, and following tasks

Chronic disorder

RSD

Anhedonia

Alexithymia

Interoceptive difficulties

[reasonsforhope]

Life is hard for neurodivergent people in Peru. Now a grassroots uprising of people with bipolar disorder, ADHD and autism – organised through picnics in the park – is pushing for change at the heart of government.

On a bright summer afternoon in Lima, the capital of Peru, Carolina Díaz Pimentel takes some red and green tape out of her backpack. She’s in a park waiting for people to arrive at a picnic she and her friends are hosting. Guests know that they don’t have to be on time, don’t have to make eye contact, and can leave at any time if they feel overwhelmed. No one will question them.

“We want everyone to feel comfortable. At least this afternoon we want to take a break from the rules that are imposed on neurodivergent people every day to fit in,” says Díaz Pimentel, a journalist and a co-founder of the Peruvian Neurodivergent Coalition (CNP), who is herself autistic and has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Hence the coloured tapes. Each attendee will choose one to express their “social battery”. If they choose the green tape, it’s because they want to participate in the activities. Red signals they prefer not to be approached. Everyone wants company, that’s why they are here, but in different ways. And that’s OK. People start to arrive. Several choose red.

CNP is a social initiative that first kicked off in March 2023. It is the alliance of five neurodivergent women who were already making waves by posting openly about their conditions on social media, but who longed to make real-world change. “I used to see this kind of gathering in countries like Mexico and Argentina and was sad to be so far away, until I saw the announcement of a picnic in Peru. Before joining the coalition, I didn’t really relate to anyone. I had good friends, people that care about me, but I knew I wasn’t like them,” says Mayra Orellano, another of the directors, an interior designer with borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Today [in March 2024] is the coalition’s fifth gathering. A picnic may not sound like fertile ground for a burgeoning social movement, but behind the bags of cookies and crisps, that is what CNP is doing – campaigning for the rights of neurodivergent Peruvians to be understood and accepted, and to live free from stigma and abuse.

The birth of the neurodiversity movement

The concept of neurodiversity has been around for almost 30 years after first being coined in 1997 in an undergraduate thesis by Judy Singer. Singer, an Australian who is now an eminent sociologist, argued that conditions such as autism, dyslexia and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are all simply part of the myriad ways in which human brains are wired. It proposed a new way to think about human difference and provided a name for a burgeoning movement. In Peru, however, it remains a concept that few have heard of.

“Neurodiversity is not a medical diagnosis, it’s a political movement that brings us together to defend our rights,” says Díaz Pimentel. When she first started posting about her bipolar disorder on social media in 2017, it was taboo: very few talked about their diagnosis in public. Bipolar disorder remains a stigmatised condition in Peru...

Diaz Pimentel’s commitment is stronger than prejudice, she says. Two years ago, when she received her autism diagnosis, she posted a photo of herself holding a rainbow cake with the words ‘Congrats on the autism’ spelled out in white icing. She wanted to celebrate with her community because she considered it a rebirth: at the age of 29, some of the puzzles of her childhood finally made sense...

From picnics to influencing policy

Neurodivergence is a huge umbrella that describes people with very different conditions. In Peru, this causes confusion and a lack of accurate data. Even in the case of autism, the best recognised of the neurodivergent conditions, the National Registry of Citizens with Disabilities lists some 15,000 people on the spectrum. But according to international statistics on the worldwide prevalence of autism, there are likely more than 200,000 people with the condition in the country. 

María Coronel, the psychologist in charge of the ministry of health’s child and adolescent mental health department, says that clarifying this data is one of the institution’s priorities. She acknowledges that initiatives such as CNP’s can help educate people: “These organisations add to our efforts to detect people on the autistic spectrum and give them the help they need. They have a great ability to reach others because they are telling their own experiences.”

Although CNP has only existed for a year, the group is already influencing government policy. Two congressmen have asked for members’ feedback on bills to protect the rights of autistic people. The state agency in charge of integrating people with disabilities into society consulted them on the appropriate terms with which to refer to neurodevelopmental conditions. And the ombudsman’s office made a video with them to warn about gender bias in autism early detection. (In Peru, 81% of people receiving treatment are male.) ...

Creating a more sensitive society

The CNP community says its work has changed their own lives, but Díaz Pimentel recognises that it isn’t enough. Some experts agree – that the problems are as much structural as they are societal. “In Peru we have a gap in specialised human resources. We need more psychiatrists and neuro-paediatricians. We need more young people to choose these careers,” says Coronel...

[Natalie] Espinoza is also a CNP founder and the only founder who is a mother. She has a five-year-old autistic daughter. Finding a pre-school that would accept her was very difficult. Espinoza is familiar with that kind of rejection. At a former job, she was fired when they found out she has bipolar. She had always performed well, she says, but she was told that a person “on that kind of medication” could not work with them.

“When I found out that my daughter was autistic, there was no mourning or denial, just a desire to hug her tightly because I felt very afraid of what society might do to her. I would like her to grow up in a more sensitive place,” says Espinoza. Dedicating time to the coalition’s work is her way of contributing to that change. Currently its communications reach more than 12,000 people and it has 15 WhatsApp groups. Messages whizzing back and forth help their community in everything from getting diagnoses to finding places to sleep in the event of being evicted from their homes.

So what does the coalition want next? “We want it all,” says Lú Herrera, a lawyer with BPD and the fifth co-founder. They would love to create, for example, a “neurodivergent house”, a place where they can offer shelter to victims of violence, run educational workshops, organise neurodiverse entrepreneurship fairs and provide legal advice on inclusion rights.  “Everything we already do but in a place of our own. 

“You know what else we want to do in that house?” asks Herrera as if reminding herself. “We want to have mindfulness sessions, dance lessons, pottery classes. Activities that will ground us. We neurodivergents struggle so much every day that it would be nice to have a place to rest.”

For now, the picnics are opportunities to recharge, ready for the next conversation-shifting step.

-via Positive.News, March 13, 2024

[mental-mona]

[camp-counselor-life]

When I was in grad school and reading journals, I read an article about bipolar disorder where they held support groups and asked people with bipolar what recovery meant to them. And they said that it isn't the absence of symptoms, it's learning how to handle them.

When I read this at 22-23, I wasn't ready to hear that. I was waiting on a world in which I was neurotypical, despite the fact that it would never happen.

But recently, after over a decade of medication trials, I'm ready to handle it. I was at my event recently and I had the struggles that I always have, the anxieties surrounding working the people and in stressful situations. But I handled it. I didn't let the anxiety ruin my day, I moved on and then I just wasn't anxious.

It's not a matter of will, I couldn't have done that then. But now I can, because I have tools. Medication, therapy, self-compassion work, self talk, self soothing, self care, all of it. These are my tools.

So the point of this is, if you're not ready to hear that recovery is learning to live with symptoms instead of no symptoms (if this is the reality of your mental health condition), know this: tools take years to find, but they are out there. Don't give up.

[fangsforiris]

hello can you do this but with the sakamaki brothers please and thank you so much if you do 💙https://www.tumblr.com/fangsforiris/754832768603750400/mukami-jealousy-hcs?source=share

Sakamaki Brothers Jealousy HC’s

— — — — — — — — —

Shū:

• He wouldn’t be as outward with his jealousy, if anything it’d be subdued.

• But if he is jealous, you wouldn’t know it.

• If there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s feigning ignorance and placing a wall.

• Canonically in the HDB and MB Anthropology Manga, Shū gets jealous by stupid things, and is in a sense, comical with it.

• He wouldn’t get fussy like Kanato or Ayato.

• More so annoyed that he’s finding himself attached to someone at this level again.

• All of the boys have a certain level of possessiveness, so it’s not shocking if Shū displays his in lethargic and apathetic fashion.

• He values those close to him, so he wouldn’t want to give away what’s his so quickly. That’s where a lot of the motivation towards being jealous can come from.

Reiji:

• Definitely stern and set with it.

• He takes his jealousy seriously, and wouldn’t want to find himself jealous over anything ‘stupid’ or ‘over the top.’

• Reiji will 100% pull his S/O aside and confront them head on about what bothers him.

• Although, at times he can choose to let it linger, waiting for his S/O to figure out what’s bothering him themselves.

• Almost like a game if anything, all at his S/O’s expense.

• He has no problem with punishing his S/O and blaming them for any unwanted advances or attention being made at them.

• His jealousy is more so triggered by Shū and anything to do with him.

• It sends him into a bit of a frenzy, since it’s all linked to his underlying inferiority complex. Which results in his own diminution of his own talents, which can come off as borderline masochistic.

Ayato:

• You’d know right off the bat if this man was jealous.

• He makes no attempt at concealing his true feelings when it comes to his S/O.

• If he’s upset, don’t be shocked when he does take certain things into his own hands.

• That being, if his S/O is being flirted with in front of him, he has no problem with exhibiting violence to show he possesses someone.

• Ayato is all about possession, and is easily one of the most possessive characters.

• So if he thinks his placement is being threatened, he will react in earnest.

• His jealousy can border the lines of unhealthy and obsessive.

• He’d try his best to resist the urge of marking his prey to showcase his property, but at the end of the day, what good would it do if not even his prey can see the faults?

Kanato:

• Easily one of the most explosive individuals to come into contact with.

• You’re threatening his place in his S/O’s life? It’s like alarms and warning bells going off in his mind.

• Due to his extreme mental instability and heavily implied bipolar disorder, he will switch up instantly if Kanato feels attacked or under heavy scrutiny.

• He has no problem with playing pouty and creating a fuss to appeal towards the ‘lolita’ and ‘cutesy’ side he likes to portray to the outside world.

• But in private? He’s a blamer or victim blamer 100%

• He will pin it all on his S/O, even if the circumstances were unavoidable towards his S/O. Kanato does not care.

• He will get physical. As seen within his routes, he does have temperament issues.

• So even if he does subdue himself from having any physical reactions, his S/O is in no way getting out of the heavy verbal abuse coming their way.

Laito:

• Laito is known to put up a wall, almost like Shū, in terms of concealing his true feelings.

• If he’s jealous, it’ll be in the subtext that one would have to take out to fully understand him.

• Laito is someone who, when jealous, wouldn’t want to admit it.

• With his horrible track record with others, he has a slight fear towards true love and the feelings that come with it.

• So for him being jealous, it would subconsciously tear him apart more than his S/O, if anything. That is, if he was to pursue punishment.

• He’d be sure to make his usual perverse remarks, doing anything to not seek out of the ordinary.

• As seen within his routes, he can switch whenever, keeping the Player and Yui on their toes. Expect that for his S/O.

• He’d keep more of an eye on his S/O, lest he becomes left in the past of his own ghosts and worries. It’ll all come in a full circle with Laito, with whatever he does, he knows to expect it to come back at him. Almost like karma.

Subaru:

• Subaru is quite aggressive. Just as an individual and how he can come off at times with his reactions and over the top emotional moments.

• So he wouldn’t take to it kindly with being placed in a position where he’s to be the jealous one.

• There’s two ways it can go. Either he’s flustered and embarrassed about feeling this type of way for his S/O, or he’s viscerally upset at the notion.

• As an individual, it depends on the situation and if he were to get physical with the person/object that is creating this feeling of jealousy within him.

• He’d subconsciously resent himself for feeling these emotions.

• As if someone like him didn’t have the right to even love, much less feel the need to have ownership over someone who didn’t feel the same way back.

• If he’s questioned about it by his S/O, he’d either respond with anger directed towards them for allowing it, or simply shut off and ignore their complaints/queries.

• Subaru tries to be complicit, but with his internal inferiority complex and hatred towards himself, it acts as a conduit for his conflicting feelings.

[niningtori]

goodbye (?)

hi my sweet friends. i debated on whether or not i should post this because i'm unsure if this is just a phase i'll get over or if it's truly real but i did want to be honest with how i'm feeling because i'm a pretty open person by nature and i do love you all and want to be as transparent as possible.

i haven't been feeling very well lately, both physically and mentally. i struggle with bipolar disorder and ptsd (among other things) so my depression can get pretty severe but i'm starting to wonder if my entire account was the result of mental unease or if the desire to deactivate is the result of mental unease. it's difficult to determine which one is reality, honestly. on that topic, my mental illness(es) have also made me struggle with grasping what's real and what's not in the most literal sense in that in my daily life i find it's difficult to keep myself grounded. like, i cant even understand what's going on around me sometimes and it's a very scary feeling to not have that presence of mind while still being conscious.

i've tried to wait it out for a few days but i have this feeling of dread that tells me i need to erase my presence on here as soon as possible. maybe i've made a mistake by being so open and vulnerable. i don't know if that's my rational side finally kicking in or if i'm being irrational by wanting to completely erase myself off of here. i just feel like maybe this entire account was a coping mechanism for me or something and maybe it's time to let it go. maybe i'm paranoid and maybe how i'm feeling is actually nothing but that's just how it is. i just feel trapped and like everything is hopeless right now.

like i said, maybe these feelings are just temporary and i don't need to worry so much because i'll bounce back, but things just seem really bleak at the moment and i don't know how to cope. writing usually makes me feel better, but even that doesn't seem to be helping because i can barely focus anymore.

i'm not sure what i'll do with myself in the future, but i sincerely hope that if you all see me in other ways someday, you will treat me kindly. i've tried to be as kind to you all as possible so i pray you all do the same for me.

with that being said, i'm going to keep thinking about what to do with this account but please don't be shocked if everything on here is gone in the near future. similarly, don't be too surprised if i pop back up like nothing happened. my feelings are very unstable right now as i'm just trying to figure out what's best for me.

i know this probably didn't make the most sense in the world but it's my earnest wish that you all understand me and my intentions. please remember: i love you all very, very much.

love always,

nini

[zebulontheplanet]

I don’t talk about my mental health here much because well, this is mostly an autism page. But I think it’s good to bring awareness to all things. As some people know, I was recently sorta diagnosed with bipolar type Schizoaffective. It’s been a journey for sure. We’re still figuring out things and starting treatment. If it’s bipolar, it’s bipolar, if not, it’s another mood disorder similar to bipolar.

Hypomania has been something I have experienced multiple times but never realized was hypomania and thought it was simply ups from BPD, which I am formally diagnosed with. I never before realized that my days of being so high, weren’t BPD. However, hypomania has caused many things, and I’d like to talk about it.

Disclaimer: Hypomania is a Bipolar term. And is not something people with BPD or other mood disorders experience.

Hypomania has caused me to take on a religion I do not believe in and become obsessed with it. It’s a full on delusion. Hypomania has made it so I joined an online cult and put all my time into it. Hypomania has meant that I don’t sleep for days at a time (i sleep!! Just less than 3 hours at a time. More like naps.) I go high, do everything, do adventurous things and things I wouldn’t normally do, then I crash and sleep for a few hours, then I’m back at it again.

Hypomania is SCARY to me. It causes extreme paranoia, extreme mood swings, and extreme ups and downs in my moods.

It causes me to self harm, to hurt myself, to do things to my health that I wouldn’t in my right mind do. I won’t use my mobility aids, I’ll stop taking my medication, I’ll convince myself I’m unstoppable. I’ll walk miles even though my body can’t physically handle it. I’ll be in less chronic pain, if any, and therefore think I’m cured and on top of the world. I think I’m superior, I get shit done that I haven’t done in months and manically clean, organize, and yeah. My hypomanic episodes are not for the weak.

I get frustrated easily, I say rude things, I ruin, or almost ruin relationships with my carelessness and anger. I think of breaking up with my fiancé, even though I love them very much and would NEVER want to do that.

Hypomania is not a silly thing. I almost ruin my life EVERY SINGLE TIME. It’s hard to deal with hypomania. It’s hard to deal with me when I’m hypomanic. I’m hyper, I’m high. I’m all over the place. My heart races, and I feel like I just took a drug. I’m not myself. Me hypomanic is NOT me.

I wish more people realized that hypomania wasn’t just some silly thing, that it wasn’t something that is just silly goofy intrusive thoughts that you do. That it wasn’t just dying your hair and spending some money. (Although some people do that during hypomanic, it’s just so much more than that!!!) Hypomania is life changing. Realizing you’re hypomanic is life changing. Realizing that all your life those big highs and lows were something is life changing.

Don’t undermine hypomania. Don’t say that it’s not life ruining. Don’t say that it’s not “that bad”. It’s bad. Some people experience more calm hypomanic episodes, and I have DEFINITELY experienced more calm ones. But my hypomania is extreme most of the time. Let’s stop undermining hypomania. It’s a lot, and I wish more people realized that.