Actually Bipolar

If someone says something that you only partially understand:

DON’T ask for clarification with a generic “What?” or “I’m sorry?” (In my experience, people will repeat the phrase the exact same way without helping you to understand).

Example: Them: “Hey, do you like pahganabasa?” Autistic Person: “What?” Them: “Do you like pahganabasa?” Autistic Person: “I’m sorry, what?” Them (annoyed): “Do you like pahganabasa?”

Instead, DO repeat the part that you did understand, and substitute a “What?” for the unintelligable part.

i have never made a post like this before but i haven’t seen anyone here talk about it yet so i want to at least provide some links because this is extremely important for disabled people with or without benefits in the USA.

link to this tiktok

[Video Description: A tiktok video from the user immarollwithit. She is dancing in her wheelchair, and is wearing a top with the moon, sun, and stars. She is also wearing a pair of denim shorts and a head wrap with a similar design to her top. She is in a room with a couch and another wheelchair behind her, and the room opens into a hallway with a door in the back. She has brown skin, and is wearing makeup with red eyeshadow and black eyeliner. As she dances, there are captions above her that appear line by line throughout the video.]

Captions: “Want to help disabled people across America? SSI currently has many outdated restrictions. People can’t have more than 2k in their savings. Benefits payments can legally be sub-poverty!!!! Many people can’t get married bc they’ll lose necessary benefits. Call your representatives to get the new bill passed!”

[End Video ID]

she doesn’t name the bill in the video but in the comments it’s clarified that the act referred to is the SSI Restoration Act of 2021.

“The Supplementary Security Income (SSI) Restoration Act of 2021 has been introduced in both the House and the Senate. The bill would improve the lives of millions of SSI beneficiaries around the country, including over 2 million older adults who are living below the federal poverty level due to inadequate benefit levels, and often lose or are denied benefits due to outdated eligibility rules.” (link) - summary from Justice In Aging, an organization dedicated to fighting senior poverty

“This bill restores a program that plays a key role in the security of millions of Americans. Specifically, it modernizes and improves SSI by streamlining and simplifying the claiming process, expanding the resources and income limits, and eliminating punitive reductions in benefits.” (link) - summary from the SSI Restoration Act Section by Section, linked on Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva’s website, in the social security tab

below is taken from the issue brief on justiceinaging.org regarding what the bill entails

• The SSI benefit rate will be increased to at least 100% of the Federal Poverty Level, adjusted annually, so that no one receiving SSI will be left to live below the poverty line.

• Couples will receive their full SSI benefit, totaling twice the individual rate, rather than a reduced marriage penalty rate.

• Low-income seniors and people with disabilities who can’t work enough to meet all their basic needs will be able to save up to $10,000 and couples will be able to save up to $20,000 for emergencies such as car repairs, new roofs, and other unexpected expenses, without losing benefits.

• Individuals will be able to receive up to $128 monthly from other sources, such as Social Security benefits or pension payments, without a corresponding loss in benefits.

• Individuals who are able to work will be able to earn up to $416 a month without being penalized.

• Individuals who live in households with others, including family members, will no longer be penalized with lower benefits through the in-kind support and maintenance provision.

• Individuals who transfer assets (even small amounts of money to a family member) will no longer suffer harsh penalties.

• Eliminate installment payment requirements and extend the time to spend down resources so that SSI recipients who have been waiting for months or years to obtain their benefits can receive the full overdue amount.

• Exclude retirement accounts from countable resources to allow people with disabilities to build up their savings for retirement and use those resources to pay for expenses in later life.

• State and local earned income tax credits and child tax credits will be excluded from income calculations in the same manner as general tax payments.”

here is a link to the official bill [EDIT: pdf warning]

here is the issue brief from justiceinaging.org on the SSI Restoration Act of 2021 which explains what would change about SSI in more detail, and has the list provided above

here is the FAQ (also justiceinaging.org)

here is a carrd made by myelasticheart on tiktok, which also details the bill, AND includes a script for calling representatives, as well as links for finding said representatives

The thing you practise is the thing you get good at.

You may not intentionally be practicing “being grumpy” but if you don’t put effort into practicing “not being grumpy” then I’m afraid that’s what you’re doing. It’s hard! It’s really hard! Sometimes, for some things, it’s pretty much impossible and that sucks!

Intrusion Symptoms

Flashbacks aka reliving some or all of a traumatizing event as though it is happening now. Flash backs can involve images, smells, sounds, taste, emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations.

Nightmares

Hallucinations, delusions, or illusions that derive from traumatizing events

Severe recurring anxiety reactions or panic

Feeling paralyzed with fear or wanting to run away Avoidance Symptoms

Strong efforts to avoid any thoughts, feelings, or situations that might evoke traumatic memories, for example, by focusing too much on work, excessive cleaning, staying very busy, using drugs or alcohol.

Amnesia, that is, inability to recall some or all of significant aspects of traumatizing events.

Emotional numbness

Inability to enjoy life or feel love

Feeling as though you are on automatic pilot

Isolation

Unwillingness to talk about your experience Hyperarousal Symptoms

Persistent physical symptoms of tension: tenseness, agitation, restlessness, lack of patience, and feeling constantly on the alert

Jumpiness, easily startled, and hypersensitivity to what is going on around you

Irritability, episodes of rage or crying

Difficulty falling asleep or frequent waking

Concentration and attention problems Hypoarousal Symptoms

Physical numbness, inability to feel pain

Blank mind, unable to think or speak

Profound detachment

Inability to move or respond

The primary theory for the cause of ADHD is that our brain’s built-in self-drugging system is disfunctional and we don’t get the hit of feel-good juice for just living our life like most people do. Instead we’re constantly chasing a high that we can’t reach, so our attention flits from thing to thing desperate for another hit. Then, when we find something that DOES give us that hit, we cling to it with an obsessive “hyper-focus” that eventually crashes into total disinterest when the happy juice inevitably stops flowing.

Eat. Food was not made for you to turn it down. The human race didn’t perfect the invention of milkshakes for them to go ignored due to diet culture. We didn’t make hundreds and thousands of combinations of bread, vegetables, spices, and meat for all of that hard work to go to waste.

We made spaghetti. We made ice cream and chocolate and coffee and rice and pickles. We saw chickens making eggs and we discovered how to make them scrambled. We saw wheat and turned it into cakes and pies. Food was not created as an accident, it wasn’t perfected just to hurt you. We are living in a time where you can drink a strawberry milkshake with a silly straw shaped like a cat. Embrace it.

The future is infinite and made up of infinite moments from “now”. You can’t be happy in the future if you won’t allow yourself to be happy now. You might regret it later, or you might not. You don’t know that. All you’ll know is you’ll regret it now. Stop that.

Eat the goddamn meal. You have permission, you’re not a bad person for it, eating won’t make you a bad person. Eat. Drink. Enjoy yourself. Treat yourself. You have one body, stop neglecting it to fit your ED’s ideal. It wants you dead. It wants you hurting. It wants you to isolate yourself.

You won’t be “skinny enough” until you’re dead. The “ultimate ideal” of eating disorders will always result in being a cadaver six feet under. Saying “I’ll only skip this one meal” will end up turning into two, then three, then fasting. Your eating disorder wants you dead. Don’t let it succeed.

And I feel dumb and wasteful, because at my age, I should be able to go out, get groceries, meal plan, and make dinner. But I’ve tried so many times, and again and again all that happens is I lose motivation, and all of my groceries rot in my fridge. After which, I just go back to takeout.

Having everything pre-portioned means no wasted ingredients, no shopping trip I have to put effort into, no storing extra ingredients once I’m done, no significant cleanup afterwards. Which seems to be what my general laziness requires.

Pre-packaged food and meal prep services are not lazy, silly, immature, dumb, or any other kind of negative reflection or value judgement on anyone who uses them!!!!

and yes if it helped Hordak eat well then obviously omg he needs to be fed the precious dear!

…

But. I’m just. Like. Y'know. I still feel silly. Because like.

None of that really. Applies. To me. I’m not like… I mean… how to say… There’s nothing about me or my life that would make me truly benefit from such a service except for the fact that I’m generally very lazy and lack… I dunno… willpower? Probably? Like. I have the time, and the means, and nothing to really stop me. I’m just lazy; that’s really all it is.