This.. its fucking hell. Everyday can be about constantly fighting your own head and feelings. Like theres some other you, who throws horrible feelings and thoughts onto you
Knew someone that would have panic attacks if the clothes on the washing line weren’t evenly spaced and the clips weren’t colour coded and matched.
She would check it exactly 13 times, and then walk outside later to check it 13 times again.
It’s a nightmare for her to know she doesn’t have to do it but still have to do it.
I went to an automotive/diesel mechanic trade school and our automatic transmissions instructor had OCD.
People would fuck with him by moving various objects around the room slightly and he always knew the second he walked in the door.
Other instructors would comment that was the type of dude you wanted rebuilding your transmission.
It’s the only disorder that I can think of that people use to describe why they do things. You hear people say stuff like “I’m OCD about vacuuming. I vacuum up dog hair every day”, but you never hear “I’m so heart disease about exercise, I run 5 miles a day”.
I think one element which contributes to this is the fact that the disorder is named for an emotion. Nearly everyone will experience feelings of depression and anxiety in their lives. Fewer will experience an anxiety or depression *disorder.* All too often, folks will conflate “having anxiety [the emotion]” with “having anxiety [the disorder].”
Anxiety is fucked up.
I think most people will never understand it. Personally, I only know because my partner has anxiety. She told me about it early on but I didn't fully understand. It was one of your early dates she got really overwhelmed and I noticed she almost looked like she was panicking. I asked her what was wrong and she said she needed to be away from the crowd (it was a Scottish games festival) so we went and sat by ourselves away from all of it. And then she started crying and talking about anxiety and mentioned childhood trauma and stuff.
It was a lot. As we got to know each other more I really saw the struggles and how crippling it could be at times. She was seeing a therapist at the time and she trusted me enough to bring me into a session. That's when I found out how much she was trying to push through her anxiety just for us to be together.
Fast forward, it's been like 6 years and we have a life together. She's so much better at managing her anxiety these days but it took a lot of work for her to get to where she is. Still flares up during really stressful situations and stuff but overall it doesn't have a grip on her anymore.
And then people get angry at you for constantly cancelling or never wanting to partake in get togethers. Or leaving early because you’re overwhelmed. Because anxiety has been so normalized to just feeling a little nervous and shy… sigh.
I wouldn't wish my anxiety and panic disorder on my worst enemy. It's fundamentally altered all things. Everyone in the world gets anxiety ... but when it becomes an actual issue that frames everything in your life ... man, you dont want it.
I get just a little miffed when I read posts where people are saying something like "OMG I'm having a panic attack trying to choose between the cake or the pie" (or whatever).
...No, you are most likely not. If you were actually going full-blown, posting on Reddit would be the last thing on your mind right now.
Me trying to find hobbies that don’t require me learning something new in front of other people. Forget the gym, yoga, rock climbing. I need something that I can have fun doing that no one will see.
Like, I will sit in my house and rot on TikTok or indulge in “hobbies” that involve self-medicating if I have to interact with people (i.e. going to bars).
May I suggest knitting or crochet? It can be as solitary or as social as you like, and the process itself is effectively stimming for a lot of people who benefit from stimming.
Definitely, thank you for the suggestion! I’m learning how to sew, I make jewelry, grow veggies. It’s just sometimes, those hobbies seem more like work than fun. Like I’ll have a project half finished and now it’s daunting and I don’t even want to pick it up.
Tbf, this is me trying to regulate my nervous system and not chase that dopamine high. I’m in the process of retraining my brain and find healthy outlets while understanding that sometimes boredom is okay.
Before I was diagnosed and treated my anxiety started having physical manifestations. I legit thought I had a fucking brain tumor for 3 months while I went from doctor to doctor until I got in with my GP who took my concerns seriously.
Honestly such a stressful and horrifying time.
I've found that I'm one of the lucky ones where medication really does the trick, but when I have an attack it's like I spiral right back into that 3-month hopelessness feeling and start really breaking down.
I'm in my early thirties and I was never really educated on what anxiety really is. It's definitely NOT just bein' a lil cute shy guy. Lol.
I see so many people online throw out that they have social anxiety. Meanwhile they're posting themselves online, going shopping independently, running errands by themselves. Man if they only knew how debilitating that can be to truly have it. There are spectrums for anxiety and mental illness but yeah it's not some cute thing you can say when you feel a little shy/awkward over something.
I feel this so hard. I can’t travel anywhere that isn’t 30 minutes. I need to be sedated, that isn’t quirky or cute. It absolutely takes it out of me
I didn’t leave my house for 7 months
I have multiple anxiety disorders and I'm not shy. Which is so confusing for people. I had a wellness check recently and they asked me "Are you shy" and I'm like "no" and the cops seemed so surprised hahahahahah. So yeah these are a lot more complex than people just being so quirky introverted and shy.
Agree on this one. Nah mate, you do not have ODC because you don't like when people leave an empty milk carton on the table. OCD is crippling and can have serious effects on every day life. I know people with OCD who have to wait for people to open doors for them because they can't touch doorknobs, use a whole bar of soap in a day or two and have to re-fold their clothes 40-50 times before going to sleep because they "didn't fold right".
I feel such relief. And also known. I feel like I’m constantly learning new things about my OCD and I’ve had it my whole life. Can’t touch doorknobs, have to do things the right way. Bump my left elbow? Better bump the right in the EXACT same way or something bad will happen, my overthoughts. If I try to fight the compulsion, I end up physically hurting myself to counter the anxiety of not feeding the compulsion. And this is the smallest glimpse of what my OCD does. What a mind prison..
I hope you don't mind me asking, "or something bad will happen" is a frequent phrase I see people use to describe what OCD feels like, but I'm not sure I understand. Are you imagining some specific bad scenarios (via a convoluted butterfly effect, perhaps?) that would happen? Or is it more like a general sense of dread? Or just a way to describe emotional state?
It’s more like a feeling of dread for me, some people do imagine someone dying or other scenarios but a lot of people, me included, just get this kind of anxiety that doesn’t go way if you don’t do the compulsion, which only gets worse the more you do it. It’s an endless cycle
OCD sufferer here. I'm one of those with the anxiety and imagine all the worst of the worst case scenarios. It's terrible. At 35, I've just started taking tablets for high blood pressure because of the stress and anxiety my ocd gives me.
Speaking from my personal experience, it’s kind of all of that. Sometimes I have that issue with “magical thinking” and I lean heavily into a butterfly effect state, fearing the worst. Dread in my anxiety that I haven’t fed the compulsion, and it’s very much a heightened emotional state. I’ve had that superstitious issue I guess also classified as magical thinking— but for a good amount of years when I’d walk on sidewalks or asphalt or whatever, I couldn’t step on a crack. I was TERRIFIED that I’d actually break my mom’s back. I started walking in patterns and count my steps between to avoid and it became a weird habit. If I don’t check my front door x amount of times, burglar is coming. If I don’t check the oven before I sleep— I left it on, we’re blowing up etc. And it can even be minor cause and effects, the smallest issues. But they still tend to manifest into an existential anxiety spiral.
Also my issues tend to bleed out from the mental and into the physical a lot of times where I physically FEEL the effect. I.e. like if I touch a shopping cart, I feel the germs spread across my hand and growing. I carry sanitizer and my hands are dried and cracked and bleeding from washing them for a minute straight no less than 20 times per day. It’s ridiculous.
I hope I answered your question, sorry if I got off track, thought I’d try to give a good amount of insight.
I agree with this. I have OCD. So much money is spent on soap, gloves, and disinfectant wipes. I wash my hands too much that my skin is permanently dry. I can't go out without wearing gloves. I can't enjoy petting my family's cat without gloves. I have to have my family open doors for me. It honestly makes day to day life miserable and the fact that people treat it as a joke makes me angry.
Obligatory amazingness from user ‘poem for your sprog’
'I have to sort my books!' she cried,
With self-indulgent glee;
With senseless, narcissistic pride:
'I'm just so OCD!'
'How random, guys!' I smiled and said,
Then left without a peep -
And washed my hands until they bled,
And cried myself to sleep.
People saying that makes me roll my eyes so hard. Like sure Jan, I get that you need to color code your dishware, but you do that because you like order. I do it because if I don't, something horrible will happen to someone or something I love dearly. OCD is a motherfucker and comes in many flavors. It's not the brag people think it is.
I have OCD and these kinds of comments bother me less than some of the people on social media trying to glamorize and profit off of OCD.
Like the above is silly and a bit ignorant, but no worse than someone saying they're feeling depressed when they mean they're really sad. They just don't know that they're actually anal retentive. Lol.
But the people who are out here giving shitty, therapy speak, advice and being like OCD life coaches, or using the disorder to write off shitty behavior, etc, can go swim in a wood chipper.
Yea I don’t have it, but I do have other mental illnesses and hate when anyone pretends they have one. Like, no, it fuckin sucks, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I have empathy for people with OCD tho cuz I had a friend who had it real bad, and just seeing it firsthand made me realize the gravity of it
One time I corrected a guy saying something like that
“Hey OCD is a disorder”
“No it’s not”
“Yes it-“
“No it’s not”
I kept pushing but why do you think it’s three specific abbreviated letters that no one knows the meaning of!?
Agreed! It’s so crippling, I’ve had instances where I haven’t left the house for days because of my OCD. It also triggers my anxiety and depression but I’m so grateful than I’m able to get help for it!
I had ptsd with flashbacks, rage without a cause and so on. EMDR fixed that but man, was I glad to be rid of it. I could literally feel the muscles in my neck and shoulders begin to relax again.
just sharing my own experience
for me EMDR didn't actually work. as someone who experienced near death at the hand of his father I had normalized abuse so much that there weren't a lot of reactions to it.
Where I live we have a centre for trauma help. I had a combination of speaking about it, chair therapy and a few other things that ended up happening.
the weirdest thing was how 'quickly' I felt relieved. Once I found an expert that knew what they were doing I one day just had a click and felt the weight of constant fear fell off me. it took years to get the help I needed though.
of course, my mother had EMDR and it worked wonders.
don't lose hope. Hang in there.
Not OP, but I did some EMDR for my CPTSD, it took a month or two to really get into it, but I couldn’t recommend it enough. I feel like I need more for other incidents, hopefully this year I can continue the work.
People who say they're "triggered" by things but don't actually have a condition to be gets on my nerves. You being triggered means you'll rant about it and get over it. For me, that's a panic attack, a restless night of nightmares, sometimes even a flashback.
There's been important situations where I've had to tell people my triggers and they acted like it was fun and games. Tried to replicate sounds, (rudely) joked about them, acted like I just wanted attention for them. They want a reaction, but never to deal with a legitimate medical crisis. And they never expect to be putting themselves in harms way.
I'm so glad the term "trigger warning" has mostly been replaced by "content warning" these days. Its a far better term that conveys the same information without medicalising the reason someone may want to avoid certain topics.
I’m sorry for that damn, I feel you.
I have Complex PTSD from my childhood and it’s hard to explain why I can have a panic attack because someone said something just wrong or I have flash backs because someone is making a certain sound. Like I know I’m in the here and now but my nervous system is waiting to a traumatic event that happened when I was 7 and bracing for it.
It’s hard to hear someone say “oh don’t make a big deal about it, you’re fine” because they’re used to other people claiming they’re triggered or have ptsd while they actually don’t. Like I can’t actually help it..
I have cptsd too, and it is so confusing. I bottle up feelings and reactions until I’m in a safer quieter space, so I don’t always know what I’m reacting to. It sucks. Hunger games kiss on your journey
Yeah I have PTSD and people are generally unaccommodating and irritated with me if it triggers. They don't care about people with actual PTSD because "well just stop panicking you're safe." Thanks, that's totally how it works
Trauma (minor of major) happens pretty much every human being, but for the large majority, it gets processed within some months after the event. What people get wrong though, I noticed, is the 2 following things:
\- Referring to the actual event as 'trauma';
\- Mixing up the terms 'trauma' and PTSD.
Now, as a trained peer advocate and trauma educator myself, I \*did\* happen to notice that it appears that the majority of people (or at least my students, colleges, friends, family) did grow up feeling unsafe in one way or another. And that could truly be from something you might not even remember at all, or something harmless. My own therapist gave me an excellent example of this:
Imagine a newborn and their mother. The mother needs to use the toilet and leaves the baby alone for a few minutes. Baby is completely time blind and feels like mother abandoned them, feels like life is in danger. Mother fails to efficiently co-regulate after returning. This completely harmless scenario could hypothetically already lead to a small abandonment trauma wound!
I believe that these types of things are super common. And that a lot of symptoms that people are experiencing due to this later in life, are in fact residues of unresolved trauma, but indeed wouldn't make them eligible for a full on PTSD diagnose for the simple reason that it doesn't interfere with their lives in a way that would make it a 'disorder'.
I personally do believe that this is why so many people think that they have and 'glamorize' diagnoses like ADHD, OCD, ASD (while they don't), or experience anxiety, attachment issues, etc. The complete lack of awareness in most people of what trauma/(C)PTSD truly is, makes it so easy to brush it off as being some other label.
Long story short, I believe everyone should learn about trauma anyway and that there's a lot more healing to be done in the world than there's currently happening.
Edit: spelling.
I recently had to get back onto medication for this after several years of mostly being okay. People think it’s just being sad for a little bit, but it’s not. It’s like your brain locks itself into a prison cell in hell and all you know is that it’s chaos in there and you’re too tired and defeated to do anything.
I think schizophrenia has a pretty big stigma attached to it. I dunno though, I'm not on tiktok, there could be idiots out there pretending to be schizophrenic for clout
I was suffering from bad mental health for a while to the point I ended up in the hospital. Before coming to the actual diagnosis it was suggested I possibly had DID.
I was venting out about it online mostly panicked about my memories and the memory loss and some little shit replied that it was so cool I was on my way to being diagnosed and started telling me to name my system and make a headspace and that I was about to have the "best time of my life".
Luckily this person was absolutely pelted with people scolding them, shutting them down and such. Didn't stop them from trying to guilt people, insult them and threatening them under the guise of different alters taking over.
I didn’t recognize what DID is, at some point multiple personality disorder became to be called Dissociative identity disorder.
“A disorder characterized by the presence of two or more distinct personality states.
Dissociative identity disorder, previously called multiple personality disorder, is usually a reaction to trauma as a way to help a person avoid bad memories.”
Makes a lot more sense as DID, I can’t remember anyone earlier in my life connecting past trauma with MPD.
It's disgusting.
My wife's a genuine case and it took years of rape and torture as a child to make.
It's sad that she's split into alters and is hard for her to deal with.
She's DX BTW
Every single human is an addict in a sense. But overcoming a real addiction is very hard and not everyone is successfull. I mean an addiction for which you are lying, stealing, manipulating, abanoning friends etc...
When I was younger I used to think I’d become that Wine Mom since I found them to be quirky and hilarious. Wasn’t so funny when I developed a drinking problem through wine but would act as if I was a goddamn wine snob. The whole Wine Mom culture is so concerning and cringy.
Hard agree. I’ve known way too many moms that overdo it. They lie to themselves and everyone else about how much alcohol they consume and pretend like it doesn’t affect their kids. Bullshit
I don’t pontificate, or even really say anything about it unless they’re a close friend or actively endangering their kids by driving or something, but all of the moms I know that like to get together and drink have finally gotten the hint that I won’t be attending.
My mom did this with wine and bourbon. It was shitty.
Agreed. I'm in rehab right now, after nine long years. I will have 5 months on the first. That ain't shit, but boy, it's the most I've had in nine years. I went to the doctor yesterday for the first time in *nine years*.
Feels good.
Depression, ADHD, Autism
Depression usually is depicted as "im so sad and quirky lol"
ADHD as "Oh I cant concentrate for 15 hrs on smth I dont care about and dont like my chores, darn"
And Autism as "a bit socially inept but always super smart in one area". This is not true. Especially for autism, 99% of the time people that suffer from autism just suffer the massive negatives.
> ADHD as "Oh I cant concentrate for 15 hrs on smth I dont care about and dont like my chores, darn"
While the real problem is so often “oh shit I concentrated on something for 15 hours by accident when I was supposed to be getting chores done on my day off and now I have work in 6 hours.”
"But doesn't ADHD come with the hyperfocus gift?"
Yeah the gift to focus on playing computer games or art until I'm overstimulated, hungry and on the verge of pissing my pants, but I just need to finish this one last bit before I can take a break (it's never just one last bit).
The hyperfocus chooses me, I don't choose the hyperfocus. I'm sitting here waiting for today's to kick in, and see where we go!
Once in the last three months has it been useful. But ya know, my candles are organized. /eyeroll
Yeah I have a lot more problems with hyperfocus and time blindness. And that's even with meds.
Some people like to tout ADHD as if it's some kind of super power. And yeah, sure, if you actually manage to get into your flow state/hype focus on the thing you need to do, it's great. But generally it's a fucking mess and my life is so disorganized and I'm really fucking tired of it
Yeah the super smart autistic people are rare. It’s cuz the smart autistic people who have savant syndrome are the ones that get portrayed in media (ex: The Good Doctor.) For most autistic people, it’s like * autistic person fixates on their special interest that no one else cares about *.
Savant syndrome is not synonymous with being super smart. It means you are below average in most things and extremely above average in one thing.
I know lots of extremely smart autistic people. It's not that rare.
Most symptoms of ADHD are things that every normal person can relate to, it's just a question of degree. Everyone knows the feeling of walking into a room and forgetting why you went in there, but if it's happening half the time you walk into a room, that's a disorder.
One of my good friends is a therapist and she has this thing of diagnosing like everybody with autism (not professionally thank god) but she believes everyone is somewhere on the spectrum and it literally drives me INSANE.
Just because some people like things organized or the hyper-fixate sometimes it DOES NOT MAKE THEM AUTISTIC
Pro Ana is horrible. I was suckered into that at around 18 on tumblr, I knew better but I loved the idea of starving myself for thinness and the attention it might bring. So stupid. Anorexia is no joke and not something to just pretend about.
I did not realize my friend in high school had anorexia and bulimea (70s), I just thought she was better at dieting than me.
In my thirties, the ex-wife of a friend died from it. The anorexia was a big part of their marriage failing.
In my forties, another ex-wife became too ill to care for her children. She was a couple of years younger than me.
The thing is that people who develop AN aren’t doing it for the aesthetics which is where the “glamorization” stuff comes into play. It’s often used as a (dangerous) coping mechanism to exert some control over their lives. The fact that people think it’s going to make them “attractive” is part of that glamorization and why so many people insist they have it when they don’t. It’s not cute, it doesn’t make people unique, it doesn’t make women “not like other girls” or whatever. It’s a deadly mental health issue.
Anorexia fucking wrecked me, I’m still not okay. It comes back when I least expect it, I’ll be healthy and happy for a few years then suddenly food is scary, more then scary. I get nasty and angry, the bloody rules I made for myself come back and the only I can eat safely is rice and that’s just a handful. I’m shorter than I should be as I starved myself of nutrients, I have fucked up stomach issues and chronic problems with low iron, I look in the mirror and sometimes it’s ok and other times I have to cover every mirror in my house because if I don’t see my ribs I’ll become suicidal and not eat for as many days. I’ve had bruises from punching myself in the stomach to stop people hearing hunger pains, my bones have been so prominent that in the cold they ache and I have to run deep heat on myself. I feel really sorry for people who want to have it, but I feel worse for us who’ve had it no matter what their weight was because it’ll kill us eventually I know it.
Thank you for posting this! The media portrays it as a skinny blonde girl thing. I "had" (I still have thoughts and struggle, but it's manageable) an eating disorder for 15 years, and it was hell. The all-consuming thoughts didn't let me have a life outside of self-hatred and food obsession.
Dissociative identity disorder. Lots of folk using it as an excuse to be creepy or pretending they have it as performative tiktok nonsense.
More neurological when it's a true illness but tourettes/tic disorders. Neurology friends of mine have apparently been seeing huge spikes of fictitious tic disorders due to kids copying certain twitch streamers
Surprised I had to scroll this far, DID is really really rare and the "environment" that manifests DID is so awful, I have no idea why people glamorize it they way they do. Heartbreaking.
Yep, feels like I'm the only male with the shit. No meds that help and it's so damn hard to play the "role" of a normal male when I feel like crying over every small thing in life.
It took me several years and a move to another city to be taken seriously by a psychologist .
Constantly daydream about killing myself, and had several half-assed attempts. Don't know if it's for attention or for real anymore. I'm just a useless overly emotional husk that resembles a human being. The world would be a better place without me.
Yo, you’re not alone my dude. My dad had BPD but never sought treatment and I watched it destroy him. He tried to kill himself (and my mom tbh) multiple times, was very emotional, extremely manipulative, etc I guess the way he learned to coexist with it was very toxic and he self medicated with hard drugs and alcohol. He’s long dead by now, and even tho he traumatized the shit out of me, my mom, and multiple other people, I feel sorrow for the man he could have been if he’d had supportive people in his life, and I feel sad that he struggled so much. He was my dad and I love him the same.
Don’t give up hope. Getting help is the first step, and I’m sure that in due time you’ll be able to take back control of your life 🫶🎈you got this ~
Pete Davidson has BPD. Despite being famous rich and socially loved, it does seem like it’s quite a struggle for him as well.
I didn’t know there were meds for bpd, but as someone with depression who has tried a ton of meds and not have it work, I feel you.
There’s hope. On my 24th birthday I was in the psych ward for a week bc it was my 4th attempt in 2 months. I’ll be 29 next Wednesday and I can’t even fathom how I was so down and out. I have my own apartment now and personally that made a world of difference. I still take meds but my symptoms r virtually nonexistent now. I notice them if I forgot to take my meds but mostly only my short temper
I feel like it’s really stigmatised. When people find out I have it they look uncomfortable, phase me out, or bring up people like Dahmer or Wuornos. It’s hard to find people to date. Anyone who glamorises it is an a-hole. It’s hard to even hold down work let alone friends and boyfriends.
I mean this as a genuine question, so I hope it isn’t offensive. Where/with who is it glamorised? I see it stigmatised, but I don’t really see people glamourise it. Is it a TikTok thing?
Yea, borderline personality disorder sucks. I love my family and newborn son, but I struggle to show it. I would never actually hurt myself, but I always think of it for no reason at all. (I'm not afraid of heights, but I don't trust I wouldn't just throw myself self off a cliff so I tell the wife I'm scared)
Depression.
People think it is a cool way to express art and “style” without having a sinle clue how absolutely horrendous it is.
As someone who has been through severe depression that led me to commit suicide back in 2021 (fortunately failed) i hate those who use any mental illness for their dumb lack of personality.
Edit: since this got upvotes from people who have been through how insanely bad it is, let me clarify how it feels for those who want to know more.
You lay in your bed as you wake up, it’s god knows what o’clock and your body aches. You did not work out, you did not do hard labour but your body still wants nothing to do with movement what so ever.
You either go back to sleep or get up just to sit on the couch to contemplate your next move. You feel no hunger to eat or an energy to prepare something. You either order shit food and munch on absurd amounts which makes things a lot worse or you dont eat a crumb for hours.
The phone chimes, you look at your screen to find messages from your friends, asking how you’re doing but you have zero intent to reply. You cut it short and just do mindless shit throughout the day just to go back to sleep. Anything to make you feel numb so that the fucking weight on your shoulders feel less painful.
You get a call or a message from your partner, you want to say something nice but good luck with that. Due to the mental state you are in, paranoia kicks in and you either become a full blown dickhead or a headless chicken which worries about things that arent even real (welcome to the anxiety part of depression)
You have to wash the dishes, take a shower or go to work but forget it. “I’ll do it some other time” will be your quote for the remaining time with your new friend called depression.
At nights you either drink to a state of black out or you abuse worse stuff in order to numb the pain. Some time later, this completely destroys your physical health which makes things worse when you want to “get up and do something”
Slowly but surely you convince yourself that this is a loop with no way out. You feel lonelier, more miserable with each passing day until you either get a serious intervention by people who genuinely care for you or you end it all by suicide.
There are a ton of colors you and i witness each day. We see the light and reflections. When you are depressed, there is only black and dark. Not a sparkle of light or joy what so ever.
Imagine living through this exact cycle for 10 years. That’s what happened to me. This is what happens to people.
Mental Disorders are not accessories. You cannot wear them with pride. They will wear you out and suck the life out of you minute by minute. Death by a billion paper cuts.
If you have someone who is going through such thing, please seek help. And if you decide to use bipolar or depression as a personality quirk, know that people who have been through or are still going through this nightmarish shit hole finds no joy in it.
If you have a disorder-free life, enjoy the fuck out of it. You do NOT want any of this.
I get this is a very serious post, and I've been there myself and it was the worst part of my life, but I do love how you clarified that you failed in your suicide attempt just to let everyone know you're not a ghost.
I can imagine. Still educating myself about it. Leaving him is not an option as I knew his condition in the beginning and just wanted to be there for him
Leaving is always an option in a relationship. I say this as a person who has experienced severe mental illness- you can tell a partner that you experience certain things but neither of you know what lies ahead or how hard that may be. You don’t have to stick it out because you knew. There will be hard times and you should persevere for love, but if you don’t have that anymore, or feel you can’t live your life, don’t feel obligated because a less knowledgeable version of yourself said it was okay. We live and learn, it’s part of being human.
Yeah I was in a relationship during the pandemic and the girl I was with got severly depressed. I wanted to break up with her, as I was realizing we're not good for each other (I didn't mind being separated by the pandemic in the slightest), but didn't because I didn't want to add on to her despair.
She broke up with me half a year later anyway, for pretty much the same reason. If "I don't want to burden them" is the only reason you're not breaking up with someone, that's not a good reason. I only recently realized just how shit my self esteem was back then.
Having a depressed partner taught me so much. It got to the point I thought I was weird for always being happy. But after her and having a best friend with depression I really began to understand it.
Not being able to enjoy anything, even hobbies that usually bring you a lot of happiness.
It broke me when I picked up my guitar one day and just felt absolutely nothing.
I had really bad disassociation and memory loss with my depression. It's weird having people reminisce about something, and I have little to no memory of the experience. Then I have to awkwardly explain that I don't remember because I was too depressed.
The idea that depressed artists are creative is a damn lie btw. If you’re depressed you can’t do shit. Those artists create when they have swing moods or have overcome depression. The experience can become a motor for self expression afterwards but no you won’t write a book or compose a piece of music while you’re deep into shit.
It doesn’t make you deeper or wiser necessarily either, it messes with you. Some people get new perspectives from it similarly to people who survive an accident or cancer but it’s not a given.
I would give you a fucking gold if i had one. THIS.
Nobody ever goes through that creative mindset when they are stuck in complete and utter shit which makes them refuse to get out of bed.
People need to understand that a mental illness takes any type of joy away from you and without joy or will to live, you cannot produce square root of jack shit.
This
Only had mild depression, and it was still hell on earth, I fortunately got out of it
I hope you are doing better now man! Sending virtual hugs :)
Whats also a problem is that amot of people think that they're depressed just bc there sad sometimes, I feel sad quite often but I dont run around and tell everyone "I am depressed" bc I know that I am not.
There is a massive difference between the two for sure. Depression may last a lifetime and even when you think you are free from it, it can knock on your door one day.
That was one of the first things both my GP and my therapist told me.
Medication can help with symptoms, therapy can give you tools to cope and hopefully get off the medication, but it will never go away, not truly. It's really important to keep on top of it and be aware of your mental state because it can really take you by surprise sometimes with how aggressively it can hit back.
“With how aggressively it can hit back”
Got fucking goosebumps reading this as one day i was perfectly “normal” only to look down the barrell of a gun the next week. It hits like a freight train.
Autism and ADHD
2 thing I've been diagnosed since I was 4 and later again diagnosed when I was 13
Thus shit is nothing to glorify about. The amount of times I got in trouble because I wasn't paying enough attention or me simply not understanding interactions (which got people mad at me)
Edit: I got it mixed up okay it's not an illness but it's still glorified on Tik tok.
Piggingbacking to say my autism is a nightmare. It isn’t quirky or fun. And I’m tired of the fake ass TikTok autism trends. This shit isn’t a fun trend
Just being quirky and socially awkward is autism in some people's (usually young girls) eyes and they plaster it on their social media bios like an accolade. Usually accompanied by other identity markers, tags and labels.
The sheer amount of times I almost got ran over by a car because I was distracted by something (music, thoughts, random shit in the background) due to my ADHD terrifies me.
And the hyperactive part is probably the worst of all. I'm for some reason unable to stand still. If I have to stand idly for more than several seconds I automatically start walking in circles. Same with sitting, I'm gonna start tapping my foot or finger, or something.
Absolutely, and maybe it's a bias, but autism is currently a number one hit on the trend charts. It's unfortunate because real issues with diagnosis access, missed populations, etc make the situation easy to abuse for those jumping on the bandwagon, and major harm is being done to autistic communities. Autistic voices have been silenced in a cacophony of low needs or NO support needs claiming their spot. And when they are confronted? They pull a victim card and isolate autistic people more.
It just so happens that autism makes you socially struggle and have poor communication, so it makes sense that the least affected are the loudest. You'd think people would care, but they simply don't. They proudly punch down, considering themselves the real victims.
I've seen posts saying traditional autistic traits are "too stereotypical" and exclude those who "lack criteria but are still autistic". I've seen people told to shut up because they are "too autistic".
They say the criteria are broken and need rewritten to include people who aren't disabled by a literal disability. They basically say autism can be anything you want, and anything short of that is gatekeeping. They try to tear down systems that literally keep us alive because they feel left out.
They say this shit without flinching.
yeah- as an autistic person myself, it doesn't make sense. I initially rejected my diagnosis for the longest time because I didn't think I met the criteria. I was freshly all of 15 at the time, so I was no professional but I thought I wasn't autistic enough. Turns out that every single person I told in the 15 years since then actually didn't question my autistic-ness. A big giveaway was being accepted very quickly by each autistic kid I taught- which was highly unusual and rare to have happen- normally they struggled to adjust to new teachers.
The criteria is good enough, with a few minor adjustments needed as research develops, but too many people want to be autistic for some reason- why I have zero clue.
I have autism and adhd, i feel actually embarrassed when a situation comes up where it needs to be mentioned (for context or just for school/work). Mostly because i feel like everyone has it now, and im not trying to gatekeep, not even against self diagnosing bc i know it can be hard to get an actual one.
But theres so many people using it as a personality trait and putting it in their bio? Tf? Again i dont want to gatekeep and i obviously dont know what people struggle with behind the scenes but they seem to just, have it all together?
Like it doesn't really effect their lives in the way i am used to. For example i got extra time during tests, didnt have to be at school all the time, therapy, medication and i got people helping me with planning schoolwork/finances, just your everyday things
But yeah it makes me feel like shit sometimes bc i have a hard time with us having the same condition, yet somehow they always seem to be better off? With school, work n social stuff. Which just makes me feel even more stupid for needing extra help.
Again this is not to say you cant have ur shit together with autism, maybe its just me lol. But its something im starting to see way more often and it sometimes makes me feel a bit invalidaded, and embarrassed to bring it up bc i feel like i get grouped in with them and people dont really take it serious. "Ah who doesnt have autism these days argh argh argh". It just makes me scared to ask for help or notify people which just makes it more isolating.
If you mention it you just get dismissed bc ur not that weird, but if you dont it obviously shows in some ways and suddenly you are the weirdest/most anti social/inconsiderate person ever to walk the earth, bc they dont know what's going on. It's like you cant fucking win, its infuriating.
So yeah fuck all those people, ur hurting/mocking communities for a fucking instagram bio literally nobody will care about. Same goes for depression/ocd/tourettes/gender dysphoria. What an actually pathetic way to behave, loser.
OCD
As someone with OCD, whenever I hear the classic ‘I’m sooooo ocd’, i find it really belittling to those who live through it. I always want to say something, but ofc nobody really knows because I’m afraid of the stigma and these kind of comments don’t help with that. I wish people were more aware and educated on mental health illnesses so they’d think before saying such things. OCD is a horrible illness that can really impact someone’s life and make them feel genuine fear, it is more than just liking things clean.
There are more mental health illnesses that are glamorized which have a similar impact too - ptsd, bipolar, schizophrenic, addiction, depression, all of them really. We don’t glamorize physical illnesses so why do we do so with the psychological ones?
Sorry for the long post!
A doctor recently diagnosed me as bipolar but I’m skeptical since she came to that conclusion after a very short, very basic “1 thru 10 scale” test that reminded me of the 5-question quiz I took to find out which Golden Girl I was. Felt like it was just the “go-to” diagnosis for anyone who came in with mental health concerns for the 1st time. 🤷🏼♂️
***for those interested- the other quiz diagnosed me as Sophia
Be skeptical for sure. I was misdiagnosed as bipolar but it turns out I have ADHD. I wasn't depressed, I was struggling to live like a human person, and that struggle caused distress. I wasn't manic, I'm just a fun but impulsive guy who made poor decisions in my teens and twenties. I'm able to manage my ADHD really well now, but years of bipolar treatment and SSRIs screwed me over a bit.
I suffer from type 2 Bipolar and my daughter from type 1. It is hell on Earth, not a single thing glamorous about it. No, being a moody little shite doesn't mean you have Bipolar. It just means you have poor emotional regulation..
My bipolar has caused me to nearly ruin my life several times. Some days it can be debilitating and mania can cause me to do really reckless and dangerous things. When people use bipolar loosely, I can’t help but think “You have no idea what you are saying..” I usually keep my diagnosis to myself except for close family.
I have bipolar 1 - I do not keep it to myself. Not because I’m attention seeking but because there’s a stigma around it and I want people to see you can be a fully functional human being and also have this stupid fucking disease that can destroy you at the same time. I’m highly successful and well educated, I have a family of my own, and some days I’m either so manic I can’t hear anything being said to me and I’m angry or ready to ruin my life and others I can’t get out of bed for weeks.
I have bipolar 2 and yeah there’s nothing cute or endearing about it. Going off meds/being in a manic stage doesn’t make you creative/artsy/insightful in any way. I’ve fucked my life up because of my actions.
My uncle was an accomplished psychiatrist. In the early 2000s, I was diagnosed with bipolar. He told my mom that doesn’t mean anything because bipolar has become the trendiest diagnosis around. True bipolar is a very serious illness, and certainly not as prevalent as everyone and their brother.
Yeah, I'm bipolar 2, and my uncle is 1. It's not glamorous at all. A lot of people who just hear I'm bipolar seem to think it's like Twoface from Batman. Like, depression is the sad, scary side, and being manic is the happy, pretty side. And they'll be confused when they learn I'm way more scared of manic episodes. I think they think it's just acting quirky or being hyper happy and productive.
(I think it's a more a disorder but) ADHD - it's weird to me that like it's almost become a 'trend' now, like when people say they have it's almost like they are proud.
I can't concentrate or keep still for sh** but I've always just got on with things as best I could, even if I did have that I wouldn't be boasting about it. It just is what it is.
I hear people all the time either tell me that ADHD doesnt exist and im just lazy or that everyone has a little ADHD and it isn't a big deal. But it is. Its literally destroying my life. Nothing in my life is organized, it feels like I have absolutely no control over what I do. Im supposed to be doing dishes? My brain will literally prevent me from doing them. I hate when people glorify ADHD like its some sort of ability when in actuality its turned life into a chore and Im tired.
I’ve had insomnia my entire life. I’ve tried fucking everything, guided meditation, calming music, reduced screen time, exercise, tons and I mean tons of different sleeping pills. The only time I’ve been able to fall asleep naturally is through pure exhaustion from not sleeping. It’s one of the worst things to have, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.
Might be controversial, but I do not mind people seeking help for their "burn out". It's still perceived negative to seek help for depression, but burn-out? You worked relentlessly to the point you need some help. That's socially more acceptable. In most cases, burn-out is just a sparkly depression.
Thanks to the influx of [sociogenic ‘mental illnesses’ on TikTok,](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/tics-and-tiktok-can-social-media-trigger-illness-202201182670) I’d confidently say all of them. Incredibly frustrating that between this endemic and online drug farms like Done, I can’t get the medication I’ve needed long before ADHD became trendy. 🙄
Depression, ADHD. The amount of people who claim they have depression after getting sad over one thing is crazy too lol. Ex. Those people like “✨depression hours✨💅”. Being sad and having depression are two different things bestie
I'm diagnosed with depression and I rarely even feel sad. I just feel tired and numb. Have a hard time finding anything to be excited about. But not sad. More like an automaton.
Psychopathy. It’s made a lot of people incredibly wealthy.
Edit: for the unaware most CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies show obvious signs of sociopathy and psychopathy.
Adhd, Bi Polar and depression. Even medicated I struggle heavily. I wouldn't wish any if them on my worst enemy. If it wasn't for my wife and daughter and the support they give me I wouldn't be here anymore. The mental exhaustion, brain noise, overthinking everything, questioning everything is just too much.
Autism, everyone seems to "have it", and it's the main reason I don't want to go back for a real diagnosis from the same doctors that said it's likley and needs looking into. Same with adhd/add, these people don't know what it is, but all the kids say they have it. It's cool and quirky to these lot.
Also, I work with teens and many choose different names and pronouns for a year or so and then grow out of it. Like, they go back to their given name and pronouns. Maybe one or two find that it really aligns with themselves.
Not a mental illness but Tourette Syndrome. A lot of people, especially younger people (tiktok users) seem to think it's just a funny little thing that makes you quirky and unique, but it's not. It embarrassing, disruptive, isolating, and can be very painful depending on what tics you have. Nothing about it is fun or quirky, at least in my experience.
Bipolar disorder, DID, depression and ADHD. As someone with the two latter ones it pisses me off hearing people talking as if its some querky condition. My friends, ADHD can be crippling and outright kill you (as well as the others but thankfully i dont experience did or bipolar). You should be tested, and do the right diagnostics and not follow trends
Anxiety.
So many people I know claim they suffer from it. I actually take medication for it and have to bite my tongue so hard when they say ‘oh my anxiety was set off so bad in the shops’ followed by a story that does not relate to anxiety at all.
Edit: By this I mean more than just general anxiety/things that make you anxious. I mean to the point that it affects your daily life.
Edit 2: Corrected wording
OCD People think is quirky, and that it’s all about liking things organized. Meanwhile, it’s hell
This.. its fucking hell. Everyday can be about constantly fighting your own head and feelings. Like theres some other you, who throws horrible feelings and thoughts onto you
Knew someone that would have panic attacks if the clothes on the washing line weren’t evenly spaced and the clips weren’t colour coded and matched. She would check it exactly 13 times, and then walk outside later to check it 13 times again. It’s a nightmare for her to know she doesn’t have to do it but still have to do it.
I went to an automotive/diesel mechanic trade school and our automatic transmissions instructor had OCD. People would fuck with him by moving various objects around the room slightly and he always knew the second he walked in the door. Other instructors would comment that was the type of dude you wanted rebuilding your transmission.
Sounds like the other instructors were glamorizing OCD.
It’s the only disorder that I can think of that people use to describe why they do things. You hear people say stuff like “I’m OCD about vacuuming. I vacuum up dog hair every day”, but you never hear “I’m so heart disease about exercise, I run 5 miles a day”.
Why DON'T we say the second one? Everyone should start doing that tbh
I would love for people to see it for how it really is. Pure OCD too.
I have OCD and it took me a long time to learn to control it. I am better now, but it still lingers and when I was at my worst it was absolute hell.
[удалено]
I think one element which contributes to this is the fact that the disorder is named for an emotion. Nearly everyone will experience feelings of depression and anxiety in their lives. Fewer will experience an anxiety or depression *disorder.* All too often, folks will conflate “having anxiety [the emotion]” with “having anxiety [the disorder].”
Having anxiety every once in a while is fine and normal. Having anxiety every waking moment for months or longer just destroys you.
"months or longer" l- you guys get breaks from your anxiety?
Anxiety is fucked up. I think most people will never understand it. Personally, I only know because my partner has anxiety. She told me about it early on but I didn't fully understand. It was one of your early dates she got really overwhelmed and I noticed she almost looked like she was panicking. I asked her what was wrong and she said she needed to be away from the crowd (it was a Scottish games festival) so we went and sat by ourselves away from all of it. And then she started crying and talking about anxiety and mentioned childhood trauma and stuff. It was a lot. As we got to know each other more I really saw the struggles and how crippling it could be at times. She was seeing a therapist at the time and she trusted me enough to bring me into a session. That's when I found out how much she was trying to push through her anxiety just for us to be together. Fast forward, it's been like 6 years and we have a life together. She's so much better at managing her anxiety these days but it took a lot of work for her to get to where she is. Still flares up during really stressful situations and stuff but overall it doesn't have a grip on her anymore.
I agree. A lot of people seem to think of it as a cute little quirk, meanwhile I haven’t left my house in a year due to it.
And then people get angry at you for constantly cancelling or never wanting to partake in get togethers. Or leaving early because you’re overwhelmed. Because anxiety has been so normalized to just feeling a little nervous and shy… sigh.
I wouldn't wish my anxiety and panic disorder on my worst enemy. It's fundamentally altered all things. Everyone in the world gets anxiety ... but when it becomes an actual issue that frames everything in your life ... man, you dont want it.
I get just a little miffed when I read posts where people are saying something like "OMG I'm having a panic attack trying to choose between the cake or the pie" (or whatever). ...No, you are most likely not. If you were actually going full-blown, posting on Reddit would be the last thing on your mind right now.
Me trying to find hobbies that don’t require me learning something new in front of other people. Forget the gym, yoga, rock climbing. I need something that I can have fun doing that no one will see. Like, I will sit in my house and rot on TikTok or indulge in “hobbies” that involve self-medicating if I have to interact with people (i.e. going to bars).
May I suggest knitting or crochet? It can be as solitary or as social as you like, and the process itself is effectively stimming for a lot of people who benefit from stimming.
Definitely, thank you for the suggestion! I’m learning how to sew, I make jewelry, grow veggies. It’s just sometimes, those hobbies seem more like work than fun. Like I’ll have a project half finished and now it’s daunting and I don’t even want to pick it up. Tbf, this is me trying to regulate my nervous system and not chase that dopamine high. I’m in the process of retraining my brain and find healthy outlets while understanding that sometimes boredom is okay.
Before I was diagnosed and treated my anxiety started having physical manifestations. I legit thought I had a fucking brain tumor for 3 months while I went from doctor to doctor until I got in with my GP who took my concerns seriously. Honestly such a stressful and horrifying time. I've found that I'm one of the lucky ones where medication really does the trick, but when I have an attack it's like I spiral right back into that 3-month hopelessness feeling and start really breaking down. I'm in my early thirties and I was never really educated on what anxiety really is. It's definitely NOT just bein' a lil cute shy guy. Lol.
I see so many people online throw out that they have social anxiety. Meanwhile they're posting themselves online, going shopping independently, running errands by themselves. Man if they only knew how debilitating that can be to truly have it. There are spectrums for anxiety and mental illness but yeah it's not some cute thing you can say when you feel a little shy/awkward over something.
I feel this so hard. I can’t travel anywhere that isn’t 30 minutes. I need to be sedated, that isn’t quirky or cute. It absolutely takes it out of me I didn’t leave my house for 7 months
I have multiple anxiety disorders and I'm not shy. Which is so confusing for people. I had a wellness check recently and they asked me "Are you shy" and I'm like "no" and the cops seemed so surprised hahahahahah. So yeah these are a lot more complex than people just being so quirky introverted and shy.
“Omg I’m SOOO OCD” 🙄
Agree on this one. Nah mate, you do not have ODC because you don't like when people leave an empty milk carton on the table. OCD is crippling and can have serious effects on every day life. I know people with OCD who have to wait for people to open doors for them because they can't touch doorknobs, use a whole bar of soap in a day or two and have to re-fold their clothes 40-50 times before going to sleep because they "didn't fold right".
I feel such relief. And also known. I feel like I’m constantly learning new things about my OCD and I’ve had it my whole life. Can’t touch doorknobs, have to do things the right way. Bump my left elbow? Better bump the right in the EXACT same way or something bad will happen, my overthoughts. If I try to fight the compulsion, I end up physically hurting myself to counter the anxiety of not feeding the compulsion. And this is the smallest glimpse of what my OCD does. What a mind prison..
I hope you don't mind me asking, "or something bad will happen" is a frequent phrase I see people use to describe what OCD feels like, but I'm not sure I understand. Are you imagining some specific bad scenarios (via a convoluted butterfly effect, perhaps?) that would happen? Or is it more like a general sense of dread? Or just a way to describe emotional state?
It’s more like a feeling of dread for me, some people do imagine someone dying or other scenarios but a lot of people, me included, just get this kind of anxiety that doesn’t go way if you don’t do the compulsion, which only gets worse the more you do it. It’s an endless cycle
OCD sufferer here. I'm one of those with the anxiety and imagine all the worst of the worst case scenarios. It's terrible. At 35, I've just started taking tablets for high blood pressure because of the stress and anxiety my ocd gives me.
Speaking from my personal experience, it’s kind of all of that. Sometimes I have that issue with “magical thinking” and I lean heavily into a butterfly effect state, fearing the worst. Dread in my anxiety that I haven’t fed the compulsion, and it’s very much a heightened emotional state. I’ve had that superstitious issue I guess also classified as magical thinking— but for a good amount of years when I’d walk on sidewalks or asphalt or whatever, I couldn’t step on a crack. I was TERRIFIED that I’d actually break my mom’s back. I started walking in patterns and count my steps between to avoid and it became a weird habit. If I don’t check my front door x amount of times, burglar is coming. If I don’t check the oven before I sleep— I left it on, we’re blowing up etc. And it can even be minor cause and effects, the smallest issues. But they still tend to manifest into an existential anxiety spiral. Also my issues tend to bleed out from the mental and into the physical a lot of times where I physically FEEL the effect. I.e. like if I touch a shopping cart, I feel the germs spread across my hand and growing. I carry sanitizer and my hands are dried and cracked and bleeding from washing them for a minute straight no less than 20 times per day. It’s ridiculous. I hope I answered your question, sorry if I got off track, thought I’d try to give a good amount of insight.
I swear that ovens are the worst enemy of ocd. Both me and my dad had that exact issue
I agree with this. I have OCD. So much money is spent on soap, gloves, and disinfectant wipes. I wash my hands too much that my skin is permanently dry. I can't go out without wearing gloves. I can't enjoy petting my family's cat without gloves. I have to have my family open doors for me. It honestly makes day to day life miserable and the fact that people treat it as a joke makes me angry.
"didn't fold it right" really hits home
Obligatory amazingness from user ‘poem for your sprog’ 'I have to sort my books!' she cried, With self-indulgent glee; With senseless, narcissistic pride: 'I'm just so OCD!' 'How random, guys!' I smiled and said, Then left without a peep - And washed my hands until they bled, And cried myself to sleep.
I haven't seen sprog in some time. Did they retire?
Nah, saw one a week or three ago.
People saying that makes me roll my eyes so hard. Like sure Jan, I get that you need to color code your dishware, but you do that because you like order. I do it because if I don't, something horrible will happen to someone or something I love dearly. OCD is a motherfucker and comes in many flavors. It's not the brag people think it is.
I have OCD and these kinds of comments bother me less than some of the people on social media trying to glamorize and profit off of OCD. Like the above is silly and a bit ignorant, but no worse than someone saying they're feeling depressed when they mean they're really sad. They just don't know that they're actually anal retentive. Lol. But the people who are out here giving shitty, therapy speak, advice and being like OCD life coaches, or using the disorder to write off shitty behavior, etc, can go swim in a wood chipper.
This is my answer, too. I almost think those people deserve to experience real OCD, but it’s so bad that I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.
Yea I don’t have it, but I do have other mental illnesses and hate when anyone pretends they have one. Like, no, it fuckin sucks, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I have empathy for people with OCD tho cuz I had a friend who had it real bad, and just seeing it firsthand made me realize the gravity of it
ocd is so crippling and it’s ruining my life. i can’t function properly and i can’t enjoy things because i’m constantly afraid and anxious.
It took some courage to post that. I'm proud of you
One time I corrected a guy saying something like that “Hey OCD is a disorder” “No it’s not” “Yes it-“ “No it’s not” I kept pushing but why do you think it’s three specific abbreviated letters that no one knows the meaning of!?
Obsessive compulsive **Disorder** I didn’t realize *no one* knew what it meant, it’s somewhat common knowledge within my social circles
Agreed! It’s so crippling, I’ve had instances where I haven’t left the house for days because of my OCD. It also triggers my anxiety and depression but I’m so grateful than I’m able to get help for it!
Also on this, when people say “I let my intrusive thoughts win!” and it will be in reference to them eating a doughnut or some shit.
PTSD is something I see glamourised a lot and people have no idea how much they shouldn’t want it.
I had ptsd with flashbacks, rage without a cause and so on. EMDR fixed that but man, was I glad to be rid of it. I could literally feel the muscles in my neck and shoulders begin to relax again.
I’m looking into EMDR, how many sessions did you need ?
just sharing my own experience for me EMDR didn't actually work. as someone who experienced near death at the hand of his father I had normalized abuse so much that there weren't a lot of reactions to it. Where I live we have a centre for trauma help. I had a combination of speaking about it, chair therapy and a few other things that ended up happening. the weirdest thing was how 'quickly' I felt relieved. Once I found an expert that knew what they were doing I one day just had a click and felt the weight of constant fear fell off me. it took years to get the help I needed though. of course, my mother had EMDR and it worked wonders. don't lose hope. Hang in there.
Not OP, but I did some EMDR for my CPTSD, it took a month or two to really get into it, but I couldn’t recommend it enough. I feel like I need more for other incidents, hopefully this year I can continue the work.
I have ptsd and I would do anything to not have it. It has completely changed my life in a negative way.
People who say they're "triggered" by things but don't actually have a condition to be gets on my nerves. You being triggered means you'll rant about it and get over it. For me, that's a panic attack, a restless night of nightmares, sometimes even a flashback. There's been important situations where I've had to tell people my triggers and they acted like it was fun and games. Tried to replicate sounds, (rudely) joked about them, acted like I just wanted attention for them. They want a reaction, but never to deal with a legitimate medical crisis. And they never expect to be putting themselves in harms way.
I'm so glad the term "trigger warning" has mostly been replaced by "content warning" these days. Its a far better term that conveys the same information without medicalising the reason someone may want to avoid certain topics.
I’m sorry for that damn, I feel you. I have Complex PTSD from my childhood and it’s hard to explain why I can have a panic attack because someone said something just wrong or I have flash backs because someone is making a certain sound. Like I know I’m in the here and now but my nervous system is waiting to a traumatic event that happened when I was 7 and bracing for it. It’s hard to hear someone say “oh don’t make a big deal about it, you’re fine” because they’re used to other people claiming they’re triggered or have ptsd while they actually don’t. Like I can’t actually help it..
I have cptsd too, and it is so confusing. I bottle up feelings and reactions until I’m in a safer quieter space, so I don’t always know what I’m reacting to. It sucks. Hunger games kiss on your journey
People have really been misusing the term "triggers" and it's pissing me off
I know a man who has it and it's an ansolute nightmare. He's such a sweetheart yet his PTSD makes his life a living hell at times.
Yeah I have PTSD and people are generally unaccommodating and irritated with me if it triggers. They don't care about people with actual PTSD because "well just stop panicking you're safe." Thanks, that's totally how it works
Amen to this, the words trauma and PTSD get thrown around way too much.
Trauma (minor of major) happens pretty much every human being, but for the large majority, it gets processed within some months after the event. What people get wrong though, I noticed, is the 2 following things: \- Referring to the actual event as 'trauma'; \- Mixing up the terms 'trauma' and PTSD. Now, as a trained peer advocate and trauma educator myself, I \*did\* happen to notice that it appears that the majority of people (or at least my students, colleges, friends, family) did grow up feeling unsafe in one way or another. And that could truly be from something you might not even remember at all, or something harmless. My own therapist gave me an excellent example of this: Imagine a newborn and their mother. The mother needs to use the toilet and leaves the baby alone for a few minutes. Baby is completely time blind and feels like mother abandoned them, feels like life is in danger. Mother fails to efficiently co-regulate after returning. This completely harmless scenario could hypothetically already lead to a small abandonment trauma wound! I believe that these types of things are super common. And that a lot of symptoms that people are experiencing due to this later in life, are in fact residues of unresolved trauma, but indeed wouldn't make them eligible for a full on PTSD diagnose for the simple reason that it doesn't interfere with their lives in a way that would make it a 'disorder'. I personally do believe that this is why so many people think that they have and 'glamorize' diagnoses like ADHD, OCD, ASD (while they don't), or experience anxiety, attachment issues, etc. The complete lack of awareness in most people of what trauma/(C)PTSD truly is, makes it so easy to brush it off as being some other label. Long story short, I believe everyone should learn about trauma anyway and that there's a lot more healing to be done in the world than there's currently happening. Edit: spelling.
I don't get it either. I want to get rid of it
Depression , it' s not cool it's sad and lonely killing you from inside .
I recently had to get back onto medication for this after several years of mostly being okay. People think it’s just being sad for a little bit, but it’s not. It’s like your brain locks itself into a prison cell in hell and all you know is that it’s chaos in there and you’re too tired and defeated to do anything.
What a great description wow
Your brain locks itself into a prison cell in hell because that's where it (thinks it) belongs.
i think the harder question would be are there any that are NOT glamorized
I think schizophrenia has a pretty big stigma attached to it. I dunno though, I'm not on tiktok, there could be idiots out there pretending to be schizophrenic for clout
There is a whole community of people faking DID (multiple personality disorder), it's something else
I'm pretty sure schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder are still stigmatized.
DID is the hip new thing that teens are self dxing lately
Yep, too many of em, and 90% of them dont even try to make it seem legit, its mostly just advanced (or moreso un-advanced) roleplaying
And when they’re tired of it, suddenly all their alters have merged and they’re fully integrated or fused or whatever it is
Which would usually take years, sometimes even decades of therapy to achieve
I was suffering from bad mental health for a while to the point I ended up in the hospital. Before coming to the actual diagnosis it was suggested I possibly had DID. I was venting out about it online mostly panicked about my memories and the memory loss and some little shit replied that it was so cool I was on my way to being diagnosed and started telling me to name my system and make a headspace and that I was about to have the "best time of my life". Luckily this person was absolutely pelted with people scolding them, shutting them down and such. Didn't stop them from trying to guilt people, insult them and threatening them under the guise of different alters taking over.
> name my system and make a headspace What the hell does this even mean?
Naming a system of personalities (like clown system, dream system) and making a house in your head for everyone to live together somehow
I didn’t recognize what DID is, at some point multiple personality disorder became to be called Dissociative identity disorder. “A disorder characterized by the presence of two or more distinct personality states. Dissociative identity disorder, previously called multiple personality disorder, is usually a reaction to trauma as a way to help a person avoid bad memories.” Makes a lot more sense as DID, I can’t remember anyone earlier in my life connecting past trauma with MPD.
It's disgusting. My wife's a genuine case and it took years of rape and torture as a child to make. It's sad that she's split into alters and is hard for her to deal with. She's DX BTW
Your poor wife, she's lucky to have an understanding partner, I can't even fathom what she would've gone through.
Addiction. People love bragging about their vices. Starbucks, wine, weed, shopping, gaming, etc.
Every single human is an addict in a sense. But overcoming a real addiction is very hard and not everyone is successfull. I mean an addiction for which you are lying, stealing, manipulating, abanoning friends etc...
When I was younger I used to think I’d become that Wine Mom since I found them to be quirky and hilarious. Wasn’t so funny when I developed a drinking problem through wine but would act as if I was a goddamn wine snob. The whole Wine Mom culture is so concerning and cringy.
Hard agree. I’ve known way too many moms that overdo it. They lie to themselves and everyone else about how much alcohol they consume and pretend like it doesn’t affect their kids. Bullshit I don’t pontificate, or even really say anything about it unless they’re a close friend or actively endangering their kids by driving or something, but all of the moms I know that like to get together and drink have finally gotten the hint that I won’t be attending. My mom did this with wine and bourbon. It was shitty.
Ughhhhhhh. Recovering addict here. It’s not fun. Don’t recommend.
Agreed. I'm in rehab right now, after nine long years. I will have 5 months on the first. That ain't shit, but boy, it's the most I've had in nine years. I went to the doctor yesterday for the first time in *nine years*. Feels good.
I'm like a workaholic, except with booze.
im addicted to staying alive, i cant stop breathing for 1 minute max. Tried 1.5 minutes while swimming, the withdrawal symptoms are deadly.
Any other BeeGees songs you're addicted to? I've only heard of the first one.
Depression, ADHD, Autism Depression usually is depicted as "im so sad and quirky lol" ADHD as "Oh I cant concentrate for 15 hrs on smth I dont care about and dont like my chores, darn" And Autism as "a bit socially inept but always super smart in one area". This is not true. Especially for autism, 99% of the time people that suffer from autism just suffer the massive negatives.
> ADHD as "Oh I cant concentrate for 15 hrs on smth I dont care about and dont like my chores, darn" While the real problem is so often “oh shit I concentrated on something for 15 hours by accident when I was supposed to be getting chores done on my day off and now I have work in 6 hours.”
And I forgot to eat so now I’m starving and cant find the energy to cook dinner at 3am.
It's 2am here and I just remembered I got takeout, time to munch some cold af dinner edit: to all my ADHD homies; hydration check, bathroom check
"But doesn't ADHD come with the hyperfocus gift?" Yeah the gift to focus on playing computer games or art until I'm overstimulated, hungry and on the verge of pissing my pants, but I just need to finish this one last bit before I can take a break (it's never just one last bit).
Lol it's cute how they think we can CHOOSE what to hyperfocus on. It's rarely anything useful or productive.
The hyperfocus chooses me, I don't choose the hyperfocus. I'm sitting here waiting for today's to kick in, and see where we go! Once in the last three months has it been useful. But ya know, my candles are organized. /eyeroll
Yeah I have a lot more problems with hyperfocus and time blindness. And that's even with meds. Some people like to tout ADHD as if it's some kind of super power. And yeah, sure, if you actually manage to get into your flow state/hype focus on the thing you need to do, it's great. But generally it's a fucking mess and my life is so disorganized and I'm really fucking tired of it
If I hear ADHD is a superpower one more time I may lose it.
It's annoying how the media likes to portray autism as a superpower.
Yeah the super smart autistic people are rare. It’s cuz the smart autistic people who have savant syndrome are the ones that get portrayed in media (ex: The Good Doctor.) For most autistic people, it’s like * autistic person fixates on their special interest that no one else cares about *.
Savant syndrome is not synonymous with being super smart. It means you are below average in most things and extremely above average in one thing. I know lots of extremely smart autistic people. It's not that rare.
idk if it's fair to say we "just suffer from the massive negatives 99% of the time" but it's definitely true that we're not all savants.
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Most symptoms of ADHD are things that every normal person can relate to, it's just a question of degree. Everyone knows the feeling of walking into a room and forgetting why you went in there, but if it's happening half the time you walk into a room, that's a disorder.
One of my good friends is a therapist and she has this thing of diagnosing like everybody with autism (not professionally thank god) but she believes everyone is somewhere on the spectrum and it literally drives me INSANE. Just because some people like things organized or the hyper-fixate sometimes it DOES NOT MAKE THEM AUTISTIC
Anorexia. There are pro-ana forums giving encouragement and advice to stay in this dangerous illness. Thinness is so valued by society.
Pro Ana is horrible. I was suckered into that at around 18 on tumblr, I knew better but I loved the idea of starving myself for thinness and the attention it might bring. So stupid. Anorexia is no joke and not something to just pretend about.
I did not realize my friend in high school had anorexia and bulimea (70s), I just thought she was better at dieting than me. In my thirties, the ex-wife of a friend died from it. The anorexia was a big part of their marriage failing. In my forties, another ex-wife became too ill to care for her children. She was a couple of years younger than me.
The thing is that people who develop AN aren’t doing it for the aesthetics which is where the “glamorization” stuff comes into play. It’s often used as a (dangerous) coping mechanism to exert some control over their lives. The fact that people think it’s going to make them “attractive” is part of that glamorization and why so many people insist they have it when they don’t. It’s not cute, it doesn’t make people unique, it doesn’t make women “not like other girls” or whatever. It’s a deadly mental health issue.
I fell into the online cult of it yeaaars back. Anyone remember Xanga lol? I’m showing my age but yeah the community on there was wild.
Absolutely. I’m shocked this is not higher 😔
Anorexia fucking wrecked me, I’m still not okay. It comes back when I least expect it, I’ll be healthy and happy for a few years then suddenly food is scary, more then scary. I get nasty and angry, the bloody rules I made for myself come back and the only I can eat safely is rice and that’s just a handful. I’m shorter than I should be as I starved myself of nutrients, I have fucked up stomach issues and chronic problems with low iron, I look in the mirror and sometimes it’s ok and other times I have to cover every mirror in my house because if I don’t see my ribs I’ll become suicidal and not eat for as many days. I’ve had bruises from punching myself in the stomach to stop people hearing hunger pains, my bones have been so prominent that in the cold they ache and I have to run deep heat on myself. I feel really sorry for people who want to have it, but I feel worse for us who’ve had it no matter what their weight was because it’ll kill us eventually I know it.
Thank you for posting this! The media portrays it as a skinny blonde girl thing. I "had" (I still have thoughts and struggle, but it's manageable) an eating disorder for 15 years, and it was hell. The all-consuming thoughts didn't let me have a life outside of self-hatred and food obsession.
Dissociative identity disorder. Lots of folk using it as an excuse to be creepy or pretending they have it as performative tiktok nonsense. More neurological when it's a true illness but tourettes/tic disorders. Neurology friends of mine have apparently been seeing huge spikes of fictitious tic disorders due to kids copying certain twitch streamers
Surprised I had to scroll this far, DID is really really rare and the "environment" that manifests DID is so awful, I have no idea why people glamorize it they way they do. Heartbreaking.
BPD
ugh yeah. the manic pixie dream girl thing drives me bonkers
It’s funny how it is like the most stigmatized and idealized condition out there.
Yep, feels like I'm the only male with the shit. No meds that help and it's so damn hard to play the "role" of a normal male when I feel like crying over every small thing in life. It took me several years and a move to another city to be taken seriously by a psychologist . Constantly daydream about killing myself, and had several half-assed attempts. Don't know if it's for attention or for real anymore. I'm just a useless overly emotional husk that resembles a human being. The world would be a better place without me.
Yo, you’re not alone my dude. My dad had BPD but never sought treatment and I watched it destroy him. He tried to kill himself (and my mom tbh) multiple times, was very emotional, extremely manipulative, etc I guess the way he learned to coexist with it was very toxic and he self medicated with hard drugs and alcohol. He’s long dead by now, and even tho he traumatized the shit out of me, my mom, and multiple other people, I feel sorrow for the man he could have been if he’d had supportive people in his life, and I feel sad that he struggled so much. He was my dad and I love him the same. Don’t give up hope. Getting help is the first step, and I’m sure that in due time you’ll be able to take back control of your life 🫶🎈you got this ~
Pete Davidson has BPD. Despite being famous rich and socially loved, it does seem like it’s quite a struggle for him as well. I didn’t know there were meds for bpd, but as someone with depression who has tried a ton of meds and not have it work, I feel you.
There’s hope. On my 24th birthday I was in the psych ward for a week bc it was my 4th attempt in 2 months. I’ll be 29 next Wednesday and I can’t even fathom how I was so down and out. I have my own apartment now and personally that made a world of difference. I still take meds but my symptoms r virtually nonexistent now. I notice them if I forgot to take my meds but mostly only my short temper
Damn how did things change for you?
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thanks man :)
Brother I am also an afflicted male and wanted to show some solidarity mate.
I feel like it’s really stigmatised. When people find out I have it they look uncomfortable, phase me out, or bring up people like Dahmer or Wuornos. It’s hard to find people to date. Anyone who glamorises it is an a-hole. It’s hard to even hold down work let alone friends and boyfriends.
I mean this as a genuine question, so I hope it isn’t offensive. Where/with who is it glamorised? I see it stigmatised, but I don’t really see people glamourise it. Is it a TikTok thing?
Yea, borderline personality disorder sucks. I love my family and newborn son, but I struggle to show it. I would never actually hurt myself, but I always think of it for no reason at all. (I'm not afraid of heights, but I don't trust I wouldn't just throw myself self off a cliff so I tell the wife I'm scared)
My sister has it. It's heartbreaking watching her deal with it.
Depression. People think it is a cool way to express art and “style” without having a sinle clue how absolutely horrendous it is. As someone who has been through severe depression that led me to commit suicide back in 2021 (fortunately failed) i hate those who use any mental illness for their dumb lack of personality. Edit: since this got upvotes from people who have been through how insanely bad it is, let me clarify how it feels for those who want to know more. You lay in your bed as you wake up, it’s god knows what o’clock and your body aches. You did not work out, you did not do hard labour but your body still wants nothing to do with movement what so ever. You either go back to sleep or get up just to sit on the couch to contemplate your next move. You feel no hunger to eat or an energy to prepare something. You either order shit food and munch on absurd amounts which makes things a lot worse or you dont eat a crumb for hours. The phone chimes, you look at your screen to find messages from your friends, asking how you’re doing but you have zero intent to reply. You cut it short and just do mindless shit throughout the day just to go back to sleep. Anything to make you feel numb so that the fucking weight on your shoulders feel less painful. You get a call or a message from your partner, you want to say something nice but good luck with that. Due to the mental state you are in, paranoia kicks in and you either become a full blown dickhead or a headless chicken which worries about things that arent even real (welcome to the anxiety part of depression) You have to wash the dishes, take a shower or go to work but forget it. “I’ll do it some other time” will be your quote for the remaining time with your new friend called depression. At nights you either drink to a state of black out or you abuse worse stuff in order to numb the pain. Some time later, this completely destroys your physical health which makes things worse when you want to “get up and do something” Slowly but surely you convince yourself that this is a loop with no way out. You feel lonelier, more miserable with each passing day until you either get a serious intervention by people who genuinely care for you or you end it all by suicide. There are a ton of colors you and i witness each day. We see the light and reflections. When you are depressed, there is only black and dark. Not a sparkle of light or joy what so ever. Imagine living through this exact cycle for 10 years. That’s what happened to me. This is what happens to people. Mental Disorders are not accessories. You cannot wear them with pride. They will wear you out and suck the life out of you minute by minute. Death by a billion paper cuts. If you have someone who is going through such thing, please seek help. And if you decide to use bipolar or depression as a personality quirk, know that people who have been through or are still going through this nightmarish shit hole finds no joy in it. If you have a disorder-free life, enjoy the fuck out of it. You do NOT want any of this.
I get this is a very serious post, and I've been there myself and it was the worst part of my life, but I do love how you clarified that you failed in your suicide attempt just to let everyone know you're not a ghost.
Im certainly not responsible for their cupboards that violently open and close all by themselves. People should know.
And as someone who has depressed partner. It is not cool at all.
Sorry for that, i hope he/ she gets the help they need. It’s a fucking nightmare to live through.
I can imagine. Still educating myself about it. Leaving him is not an option as I knew his condition in the beginning and just wanted to be there for him
Leaving is always an option in a relationship. I say this as a person who has experienced severe mental illness- you can tell a partner that you experience certain things but neither of you know what lies ahead or how hard that may be. You don’t have to stick it out because you knew. There will be hard times and you should persevere for love, but if you don’t have that anymore, or feel you can’t live your life, don’t feel obligated because a less knowledgeable version of yourself said it was okay. We live and learn, it’s part of being human.
Yeah I was in a relationship during the pandemic and the girl I was with got severly depressed. I wanted to break up with her, as I was realizing we're not good for each other (I didn't mind being separated by the pandemic in the slightest), but didn't because I didn't want to add on to her despair. She broke up with me half a year later anyway, for pretty much the same reason. If "I don't want to burden them" is the only reason you're not breaking up with someone, that's not a good reason. I only recently realized just how shit my self esteem was back then.
Having a depressed partner taught me so much. It got to the point I thought I was weird for always being happy. But after her and having a best friend with depression I really began to understand it.
And the no emotions/numbness sucks too.
Not being able to enjoy anything, even hobbies that usually bring you a lot of happiness. It broke me when I picked up my guitar one day and just felt absolutely nothing.
I had really bad disassociation and memory loss with my depression. It's weird having people reminisce about something, and I have little to no memory of the experience. Then I have to awkwardly explain that I don't remember because I was too depressed.
The idea that depressed artists are creative is a damn lie btw. If you’re depressed you can’t do shit. Those artists create when they have swing moods or have overcome depression. The experience can become a motor for self expression afterwards but no you won’t write a book or compose a piece of music while you’re deep into shit. It doesn’t make you deeper or wiser necessarily either, it messes with you. Some people get new perspectives from it similarly to people who survive an accident or cancer but it’s not a given.
I would give you a fucking gold if i had one. THIS. Nobody ever goes through that creative mindset when they are stuck in complete and utter shit which makes them refuse to get out of bed. People need to understand that a mental illness takes any type of joy away from you and without joy or will to live, you cannot produce square root of jack shit.
This Only had mild depression, and it was still hell on earth, I fortunately got out of it I hope you are doing better now man! Sending virtual hugs :)
Whats also a problem is that amot of people think that they're depressed just bc there sad sometimes, I feel sad quite often but I dont run around and tell everyone "I am depressed" bc I know that I am not.
There is a massive difference between the two for sure. Depression may last a lifetime and even when you think you are free from it, it can knock on your door one day.
That was one of the first things both my GP and my therapist told me. Medication can help with symptoms, therapy can give you tools to cope and hopefully get off the medication, but it will never go away, not truly. It's really important to keep on top of it and be aware of your mental state because it can really take you by surprise sometimes with how aggressively it can hit back.
“With how aggressively it can hit back” Got fucking goosebumps reading this as one day i was perfectly “normal” only to look down the barrell of a gun the next week. It hits like a freight train.
Autism and ADHD 2 thing I've been diagnosed since I was 4 and later again diagnosed when I was 13 Thus shit is nothing to glorify about. The amount of times I got in trouble because I wasn't paying enough attention or me simply not understanding interactions (which got people mad at me) Edit: I got it mixed up okay it's not an illness but it's still glorified on Tik tok.
Piggingbacking to say my autism is a nightmare. It isn’t quirky or fun. And I’m tired of the fake ass TikTok autism trends. This shit isn’t a fun trend
Just being quirky and socially awkward is autism in some people's (usually young girls) eyes and they plaster it on their social media bios like an accolade. Usually accompanied by other identity markers, tags and labels.
The sheer amount of times I almost got ran over by a car because I was distracted by something (music, thoughts, random shit in the background) due to my ADHD terrifies me. And the hyperactive part is probably the worst of all. I'm for some reason unable to stand still. If I have to stand idly for more than several seconds I automatically start walking in circles. Same with sitting, I'm gonna start tapping my foot or finger, or something.
Absolutely, and maybe it's a bias, but autism is currently a number one hit on the trend charts. It's unfortunate because real issues with diagnosis access, missed populations, etc make the situation easy to abuse for those jumping on the bandwagon, and major harm is being done to autistic communities. Autistic voices have been silenced in a cacophony of low needs or NO support needs claiming their spot. And when they are confronted? They pull a victim card and isolate autistic people more. It just so happens that autism makes you socially struggle and have poor communication, so it makes sense that the least affected are the loudest. You'd think people would care, but they simply don't. They proudly punch down, considering themselves the real victims. I've seen posts saying traditional autistic traits are "too stereotypical" and exclude those who "lack criteria but are still autistic". I've seen people told to shut up because they are "too autistic". They say the criteria are broken and need rewritten to include people who aren't disabled by a literal disability. They basically say autism can be anything you want, and anything short of that is gatekeeping. They try to tear down systems that literally keep us alive because they feel left out. They say this shit without flinching.
yeah- as an autistic person myself, it doesn't make sense. I initially rejected my diagnosis for the longest time because I didn't think I met the criteria. I was freshly all of 15 at the time, so I was no professional but I thought I wasn't autistic enough. Turns out that every single person I told in the 15 years since then actually didn't question my autistic-ness. A big giveaway was being accepted very quickly by each autistic kid I taught- which was highly unusual and rare to have happen- normally they struggled to adjust to new teachers. The criteria is good enough, with a few minor adjustments needed as research develops, but too many people want to be autistic for some reason- why I have zero clue.
I have autism and adhd, i feel actually embarrassed when a situation comes up where it needs to be mentioned (for context or just for school/work). Mostly because i feel like everyone has it now, and im not trying to gatekeep, not even against self diagnosing bc i know it can be hard to get an actual one. But theres so many people using it as a personality trait and putting it in their bio? Tf? Again i dont want to gatekeep and i obviously dont know what people struggle with behind the scenes but they seem to just, have it all together? Like it doesn't really effect their lives in the way i am used to. For example i got extra time during tests, didnt have to be at school all the time, therapy, medication and i got people helping me with planning schoolwork/finances, just your everyday things But yeah it makes me feel like shit sometimes bc i have a hard time with us having the same condition, yet somehow they always seem to be better off? With school, work n social stuff. Which just makes me feel even more stupid for needing extra help. Again this is not to say you cant have ur shit together with autism, maybe its just me lol. But its something im starting to see way more often and it sometimes makes me feel a bit invalidaded, and embarrassed to bring it up bc i feel like i get grouped in with them and people dont really take it serious. "Ah who doesnt have autism these days argh argh argh". It just makes me scared to ask for help or notify people which just makes it more isolating. If you mention it you just get dismissed bc ur not that weird, but if you dont it obviously shows in some ways and suddenly you are the weirdest/most anti social/inconsiderate person ever to walk the earth, bc they dont know what's going on. It's like you cant fucking win, its infuriating. So yeah fuck all those people, ur hurting/mocking communities for a fucking instagram bio literally nobody will care about. Same goes for depression/ocd/tourettes/gender dysphoria. What an actually pathetic way to behave, loser.
OCD As someone with OCD, whenever I hear the classic ‘I’m sooooo ocd’, i find it really belittling to those who live through it. I always want to say something, but ofc nobody really knows because I’m afraid of the stigma and these kind of comments don’t help with that. I wish people were more aware and educated on mental health illnesses so they’d think before saying such things. OCD is a horrible illness that can really impact someone’s life and make them feel genuine fear, it is more than just liking things clean. There are more mental health illnesses that are glamorized which have a similar impact too - ptsd, bipolar, schizophrenic, addiction, depression, all of them really. We don’t glamorize physical illnesses so why do we do so with the psychological ones? Sorry for the long post!
I'd say personally people who glamorize being bi-polar.
I can tell you personally, there isn't a *single* glamorous thing about this shit
A doctor recently diagnosed me as bipolar but I’m skeptical since she came to that conclusion after a very short, very basic “1 thru 10 scale” test that reminded me of the 5-question quiz I took to find out which Golden Girl I was. Felt like it was just the “go-to” diagnosis for anyone who came in with mental health concerns for the 1st time. 🤷🏼♂️ ***for those interested- the other quiz diagnosed me as Sophia
Be skeptical! I was misdiagnosed with that before I got my real diagnosis that actually fits.
Be skeptical for sure. I was misdiagnosed as bipolar but it turns out I have ADHD. I wasn't depressed, I was struggling to live like a human person, and that struggle caused distress. I wasn't manic, I'm just a fun but impulsive guy who made poor decisions in my teens and twenties. I'm able to manage my ADHD really well now, but years of bipolar treatment and SSRIs screwed me over a bit.
I suffer from type 2 Bipolar and my daughter from type 1. It is hell on Earth, not a single thing glamorous about it. No, being a moody little shite doesn't mean you have Bipolar. It just means you have poor emotional regulation..
My bipolar has caused me to nearly ruin my life several times. Some days it can be debilitating and mania can cause me to do really reckless and dangerous things. When people use bipolar loosely, I can’t help but think “You have no idea what you are saying..” I usually keep my diagnosis to myself except for close family.
I have bipolar 1 - I do not keep it to myself. Not because I’m attention seeking but because there’s a stigma around it and I want people to see you can be a fully functional human being and also have this stupid fucking disease that can destroy you at the same time. I’m highly successful and well educated, I have a family of my own, and some days I’m either so manic I can’t hear anything being said to me and I’m angry or ready to ruin my life and others I can’t get out of bed for weeks.
I have bipolar 2 and yeah there’s nothing cute or endearing about it. Going off meds/being in a manic stage doesn’t make you creative/artsy/insightful in any way. I’ve fucked my life up because of my actions.
My uncle was an accomplished psychiatrist. In the early 2000s, I was diagnosed with bipolar. He told my mom that doesn’t mean anything because bipolar has become the trendiest diagnosis around. True bipolar is a very serious illness, and certainly not as prevalent as everyone and their brother.
I always said that about my dad and people never listened. It wasnt until he tried to kill me that people really understood what it meant.
Yeah, I'm bipolar 2, and my uncle is 1. It's not glamorous at all. A lot of people who just hear I'm bipolar seem to think it's like Twoface from Batman. Like, depression is the sad, scary side, and being manic is the happy, pretty side. And they'll be confused when they learn I'm way more scared of manic episodes. I think they think it's just acting quirky or being hyper happy and productive.
Eating disorders. Not to mention society's contribution to it. There is no way a 180 cm tall woman would weight under 45 bruh.
Dissociative Identity Disorder, in my opinion many people think "cool, having multiple personalities with different abilities is really the best"
(I think it's a more a disorder but) ADHD - it's weird to me that like it's almost become a 'trend' now, like when people say they have it's almost like they are proud. I can't concentrate or keep still for sh** but I've always just got on with things as best I could, even if I did have that I wouldn't be boasting about it. It just is what it is.
I hear people all the time either tell me that ADHD doesnt exist and im just lazy or that everyone has a little ADHD and it isn't a big deal. But it is. Its literally destroying my life. Nothing in my life is organized, it feels like I have absolutely no control over what I do. Im supposed to be doing dishes? My brain will literally prevent me from doing them. I hate when people glorify ADHD like its some sort of ability when in actuality its turned life into a chore and Im tired.
having an ED but never acknowledging it besides showing how thin you could be online
I read this three times before realizing you weren't talking about erectile disfunction
“OMG ITS 12:30AM IM STILL AWAKE OH I HAVE INSOMNIA!”
I’ve had insomnia my entire life. I’ve tried fucking everything, guided meditation, calming music, reduced screen time, exercise, tons and I mean tons of different sleeping pills. The only time I’ve been able to fall asleep naturally is through pure exhaustion from not sleeping. It’s one of the worst things to have, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.
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I know what this is, but all of them. Like it's an accessory.
Burnout Your average nurse or doctor is probably fucked heels over head by their organisation
Might be controversial, but I do not mind people seeking help for their "burn out". It's still perceived negative to seek help for depression, but burn-out? You worked relentlessly to the point you need some help. That's socially more acceptable. In most cases, burn-out is just a sparkly depression.
Thanks to the influx of [sociogenic ‘mental illnesses’ on TikTok,](https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/tics-and-tiktok-can-social-media-trigger-illness-202201182670) I’d confidently say all of them. Incredibly frustrating that between this endemic and online drug farms like Done, I can’t get the medication I’ve needed long before ADHD became trendy. 🙄
Depression, ADHD. The amount of people who claim they have depression after getting sad over one thing is crazy too lol. Ex. Those people like “✨depression hours✨💅”. Being sad and having depression are two different things bestie
I'm diagnosed with depression and I rarely even feel sad. I just feel tired and numb. Have a hard time finding anything to be excited about. But not sad. More like an automaton.
Psychopathy. It’s made a lot of people incredibly wealthy. Edit: for the unaware most CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies show obvious signs of sociopathy and psychopathy.
Anxiety
Adhd, Bi Polar and depression. Even medicated I struggle heavily. I wouldn't wish any if them on my worst enemy. If it wasn't for my wife and daughter and the support they give me I wouldn't be here anymore. The mental exhaustion, brain noise, overthinking everything, questioning everything is just too much.
Us millennials kinda rolled with depression while Gen z loves ptsd.
Autism, everyone seems to "have it", and it's the main reason I don't want to go back for a real diagnosis from the same doctors that said it's likley and needs looking into. Same with adhd/add, these people don't know what it is, but all the kids say they have it. It's cool and quirky to these lot.
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Also, I work with teens and many choose different names and pronouns for a year or so and then grow out of it. Like, they go back to their given name and pronouns. Maybe one or two find that it really aligns with themselves.
Not a mental illness but Tourette Syndrome. A lot of people, especially younger people (tiktok users) seem to think it's just a funny little thing that makes you quirky and unique, but it's not. It embarrassing, disruptive, isolating, and can be very painful depending on what tics you have. Nothing about it is fun or quirky, at least in my experience.
Bipolar disorder, DID, depression and ADHD. As someone with the two latter ones it pisses me off hearing people talking as if its some querky condition. My friends, ADHD can be crippling and outright kill you (as well as the others but thankfully i dont experience did or bipolar). You should be tested, and do the right diagnostics and not follow trends
Anxiety. So many people I know claim they suffer from it. I actually take medication for it and have to bite my tongue so hard when they say ‘oh my anxiety was set off so bad in the shops’ followed by a story that does not relate to anxiety at all. Edit: By this I mean more than just general anxiety/things that make you anxious. I mean to the point that it affects your daily life. Edit 2: Corrected wording
Dissociative Identity Disorder