i wanted to take the time to explain what living with schizophrenia is like for me, and how people misinterpret my condition. the media and even most doctors have a very skewed and otherwise inaccurate interpretation of what schizophrenia is. most people believe that schizophrenia entails someone being entrenched in the depths of psychotic episodes 24/7, constantly hallucinating, and constantly experiencing delusions.

this is simply not the case for most! schizophrenics. that behavior is more akin to schizotypal personality disorder, or schizotypy. many schizophrenics have what are called "negative symptoms" most days. negative symptoms meaning that they "take away" from your cognitive ability and cause you to withdraw from life activities.

these include avolition, which is emotional withdrawal, apathy, poor grooming/hygiene, and less involvement with work, and school. blunted affect, which is diminished facial and vocal expressions, poor eye contact, and minimal use of gestures and body language. alogia, which is short or single word/syllable answers to questions, avoiding communication altogether. this can sometimes be called "poverty of speech" and it feels like a very accurate descriptor. anhedonia is difficulty in anticipating and feeling pleasure, and participating in fewer leisure activities. asociality is the is having few friends, poor relationships with friends and family, lack of motivation to be in relationships, and reduced social interaction.

none of these things involve hallucinating. schizophrenics tend to live in episodic periods, where you are experiencing more negative symptoms than positive, then sometimes more positive and less or no negative, though they can be experienced at the same time. sometimes symptoms or episodic periods simply go into remission for a while. i tend to experience negative symptoms most of the time, and have short but intense episodes of positive symptoms. it can be easy to miss the episodes of positive symptoms, which is why so many schizophrenics get overlooked and dismissed and don't receive a diagnosis, or have their diagnosis doubted when they are experiencing negative symptoms.

please understand that there is so much more to our lives than hallucinating and having "strange" beliefs. we deserve to have our entire condition recognized, not just the shocking and "scary" parts.

Unmedicated people are sexy.

Going off your meds for any reason whatsoever is valid and cool.

People who feel traumatized by meds and have extreme boundaries when it comes to talking about them are great and valid.

People who completely refuse meds but don't have trauma to "justify" it are great and valid.

People who go off their meds despite having "scary" disorders are wonderful.

Unmedicated people don't deserve the hate we get. We deserve cuddles and hugs and headpats.

Reblog this post to give one of the most stigmatized parts of the community some much needed love.

I made jewellery out of my old medicine that I never disposed off. The earrings are made out of Duloxetine. The necklace contains Lamotrigene, Risperidone, Alprazolam, Oxazepam, Methylphenidathydrochlorid, and Quetiapine

These jewellery pieces are meant to symbolise my journey towards recovery and fighting the stigma that comes with having mental health disorders. I am taking life into my own hands and I am not gonna be ashamed of my neurodivergencies or what I survived

Posted @withregram • @lizwins_peersupport 988, the new “911 for mental health” launched yesterday, and it’s nothing to celebrate. 988 does not exist to offer coping tools, provide referrals to local mental health resources, or hold space for big existential discussions about the point of carrying on. Hotline staffers use a set of suicide screening questions to decide whether to initiate an "active rescue." The National Suicide Prevention Line calls the police on approximately 20% of callers; the police use geotracking technology to determine the caller’s location. 988 reduces the likelihood that a cadre of police with guns drawn will respond to a mental health crisis, but 988 will arrange for some police or a mobile crisis team to transport the person to an emergency room or psychiatric facility. I speak from personal experience: these places are terrifying. I could not believe the medieval medical environment where I was detained. Just because the asylums have closed does not mean the conditions for psychiatric patients have changed. Emergency rooms do not provide crisis intervention services; they are overcrowded, chaotic holding pens that decide whether to involuntarily hospitalize the person. Psychiatric wards take a fully biomedical and authoritarian approach to mental health, that the problem is with your brain, overmedication is the solution, and non-compliance is punishable by harming peoples’ bodies. Instead of calling 988, let’s ask people, “What would help look like to you?” If someone is feeling suicidal, it probably means that a series of things have gone wrong in their lives and the situation feels totally unmanageable. Instead of isolating that person in an environment where they are legally powerless, let’s help people solve their problems. What “help” looks like to each person would be different on a case-by-case basis, but 988 gives everyone the same treatment: taking their power away. Peer support resources: @projectlets @kiva_centers @translifeline @wildfloweralliance @peersupportspace #psychiatry #antipsychiatry #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #peersupport #peerled #madpride #988 #suicideprevention https://www.instagram.com/p/CgLhlBoOjU25fcf5stFAjYjpuX7-j4LsgSLi6s0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

intersectional_feminismmm 🤎🤎🤎

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#IntersectionalFeminism #IntersectionalFeminismmm #Intersectional #AbortionAccess #RoeVWade #feminist #feminism #intersectionality #intersectional #AbortionRights #SmashThePatriarchy #ProChoice #DisabledAndCute #DisabilityPride #ChronicallyIll #DisabilityRights #DisabledAndProud #Spoonie #MadPride #CripTheVote #WheelChairLife #LongCovid #DisabledRights #LongCovidRecovery #AutoimmuneDisease #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #LongCovidSymptoms #POTS #GirlsJustWannaHaveFundamentalRights #haes

intersectional_feminismmm 🧡🧡🧡

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intersectional_feminismmm

💛💛💛 CW: su*c*de, ableism • #IntersectionalFeminism #IntersectionalFeminismmm#Intersectional #AbortionAccess #RoeVWade #feminist#feminism #intersectionality #intersectional#AbortionRights #SmashThePatriarchy #ProChoice#DisabledAndCute #DisabilityPride #ChronicallyIll#DisabilityRights #DisabledAndProud #Spoonie #MadPride#CripTheVote #WheelChairLife #LongCovid#DisabledRights #LongCovidRecovery#AutoimmuneDisease #EhlersDanlosSyndrome#LongCovidSymptoms #POTS#GirlsJustWannaHaveFundamentalRights #haes

Madprideic ✧ ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

A gender related to pride in neurodivergence and mental illness, anti psych ideology, and bodily autonomy.

Like just so we're clear because that's my limite: if you think that people who don't want to be pathologised are fascist, just block me. Like block me right now. Those newly diagnosed autistic people who claim that, have visibly never interacted with non-audhd neurodivergent people and it's clear. You don't have to be high functioning to not identify with the pathology framework, just look at the madpride mouvement for god sake.

i have nothing but respect for mentally ill and neurodivergent people who choose to be unmedicated. if you don't like the way medications affect you, if you don't trust them, if you can't afford them or don't have access to care, if you don't want to put chemicals in your body, if you believe you are fine the way you are, or can cope without, i have nothing but respect for you. bless

Reblog if you think "off their meds" should be a compliment!

hello! im really into anti psych right now, as i am a black queer 18 year old whose struggles often get ignored, therefore i self diagnoise. what advice would you give to someone who wants to start a blog about advocating for madpride?

i'm not sure, but honestly all i really do here at the end of the day is speak from my heart! i've committed to unlearning ableism against all Mad people - including people with heavily stigmatized conditions, like paraphilic disorders, addiction, factitious disorder, and all personality disorders (namely cluster Bs). i share what i learn about my own relationship with Madness, and i do my best not to censor myself. i think the main thing about Mad Pride is that kind of thing - being our authentic selves, accepting the good, bad, and ugly. we aim towards change and growth and rights, for all of us, regardless of what we have or haven't done.

i think it's really great you want to get into antipsych and mad pride, btw. and i more than encourage you to make a blog about it, especially from your perspective as a young black queer. there is so much to say about the combination of ableism, sanism, antiblackness, racism, queerphobia, and ageism.. and of course, much to say about having pride in all the marginalized identities involved. i also find having Mad pride does wonder for our health and internalized bigotry, especially due to how ableism/sanism amplifies and (unfortunately) synergizes with other forms of bigotry. so yeah. that's my little ramble - less advice, more just insight and joy in seeing someone wanting to engage. much love and joy to you <3

👋🏽 hayyy we're a collective of about 20ish, most of em fictives or fickin

our sources are...

‌ ‌• hiveswap + homestuck

‌ ‌• danganronpa

‌ ‌• hunter x hunter

‌ ‌• milgram project

we're also...

‌ ‌• madpride

‌ ‌• poc

‌ ‌• alterhuman

‌ ‌• going by the rule "if it isn't nonconsensually harming anyone it's fine"

this blog is us trying the 'source call' thing out, as we'd been honestly too nervous to before. <- has dark sources

but, even if we're mostly from 'problematic' media or have dark memories, we realized making connections is worth the possible hate

if a post of ours interests, itd be cool if you reach out. we dont bite too hard

bye for now

intersectional_feminismmm 🖤🖤🖤

Apart from everything I could say about being immunocompromised. The week before covid hit my nephew was born, and I had been sick. I grabbed a mask at the doors of the hospital. Because I was about to see a newborn and I was just getting over an illness. Before covid, people who got sick a lot still used masks and ppe and quarantining. The only thing that has changed, is now the majority of the population is now sick a lot. And they’re unwilling to take the same precautions disabled people have taken for years.

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#IntersectionalFeminism #IntersectionalFeminismmm #Intersectional #AbortionAccess #RoeVWade #feminist #feminism #intersectionality #intersectional #AbortionRights #SmashThePatriarchy #ProChoice #DisabledAndCute #DisabilityPride #ChronicallyIll #DisabilityRights #DisabledAndProud #Spoonie #MadPride #CripTheVote #WheelChairLife #LongCovid #DisabledRights #LongCovidRecovery #AutoimmuneDisease #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #LongCovidSymptoms #POTS #GirlsJustWannaHaveFundamentalRights #haes

im making madpride stuff ... stay tuned

intersectional_feminismmm 🧡🧡🧡

There are plenty of acute illnesses that lead to chronic health conditions. This is not a shock to science or medicine. I have a lifelong autoimmune disease- because one time I got food poisoning. It was mild food poisoning. I wasn’t hospitalized and I didn’t even know that it was an issue until months later. I now have an autoimmune disease for the rest of my life. There are countless examples. Please try and understand that there are many initially “mild infections” that cause lifelong illness later on and covid is one of them. Protect yourself and others🧡. And sending love to the disabled people people out their having to endure such an uptick in ableism amidst the pandemic🧡

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