ecdysis

Clothing company Patagonia is currently sueing drag queen Pattie Gonia for "irreparable” harm to their brand.

To be clear; Pattie named herself after the region in South America.

So Pattie is asking people to politely ask Patagonia to drop the lawsuit.

I'm extending the invitation to all of you, because sueing a drag queen for 'infringement' in the current political cultural landscape is vile. Especially a drag queen who has raised millions of dollars for non-profits, uses her platform to raise awareness for climate activism, and fully aligns with Patagonia's apparent climate-conscious mission statement.

They're claiming they're sueing for $1. They're actually asking her to stop using her name, and pay over $1 million in legal fees. They're straight up harassing her.

In contrast, drag queen Jan Sport has a Jansport bag line. It's that easy to just... work with a queen.

Anyway. Be respectful(ish), but feel free to be annoying on Patagnoia's socials, asking them to 'DROP THE LAWSUIT'

Apologising for the harm that you've caused.

Trying to change your behaviour.

Accepting that not everyone will forgive you and they don't have to.

Things Accountability ISN'T:

Wallowing in your guilt until you think of yourself as nothing but bad.

Accepting an overly distressing punishment for your actions.

Twisting yourself into knots to make sure everyone knows how disgusted you are by yourself.

[Image description: a blue and white info graphic titled "EATING DISORDER HARM REDUCTION" in all caps. Below the title it says "This list was developed with input from ED specialists including nutritionists, dieticians, and dentists. It does not constitute medical advice, and should be discussed with a provider whenever possible. It is not intended for anyone currently at risk for re-feeding or under-feeding syndrome. It is non-exhaustive, and will be continually updated. To suggest a tip, email [email protected] with the subject line "ED HARM REDUCTION""

The first section is titled "VOMITING", and reads:

"DURING

Use your hand not a foreign object. If scarring is a concern, alternate with your non-dominant hand.

Watch for blood in your vomit, especially if anything you ate might resemble or conceal blood keeping in mind that blood brought up this way might appear more brown than red. If you do see blood, stop - it might signify a tear in your esophagus or stomach lining.

AFTER

Mix a little baking soda with water and rinse then spit. Fluoride works, too.

Wait at least an hour to brush your teeth or to consume any sugary or acidic foods.

Drink Pedialyte, Gatorade or something similar. Sip slowly.

THROUGHOUT THE DAY

Drink fluids. Doesn't have to be water - just non-alcoholic and non-caffeinated.

Use high-fluoride and/or enamel-buliding toothpaste.

Use a soft toothbrush.

Chew sugar-free gum to help promote saliva production.

Ask if your provider advises potassium chloride tablets.

If you regularly take Advil or a similar medicine processed through the kidneys try switching to acetaminophen (Tylenol) or another medication that's processed through the liver, purging can strain your kidneys, so you want to ease their workload.

Get your electrolyte levels, vitals, heart function, and kidney function checked as regularly as your provider recommends."

The next section is titled "RESTRICTING", and reads:

"Take a multivitamin, plus calcium, and vitamin D supplements.

To the extent that your body can safely handle, engage in 10-minute sessions of resistance or weight-bearing exercise (stair-climbing, lifting weights) to help keep your bones strong. Avoid contact sports, motions that twist/bend your spine and any exercise that involves risk of falling.

If eating solid food is difficult, try different forms of liquid nutrition - meal replacement shakes, medical supplements, pudding.

If you have a dietician or similar provider you trust ask for help establishing some baseline in-take/nutrition goals, and discuss them in the context of specific foods you feel safe eating."

The next section is titled "LAXATIVE USE", and reads:

"Try to not use more than a few days in a row and not in larger quantities due to increasing tolerance If you use stimulant laxatives (Ex-Lax, Senakot), try switching osmotic/non-stimulant ones (milk of magnesia, MiraLAX) which are less harmful. Pay no mind to whether the label vibe is natural vs artificial, you care only about the ingredient list.

Drink Pedialyte, Gatorade or something similar after you purge.

If you regularly use Advil or a similar medication that's processed through the kidneys try switching to acetaminophen.

There is no conclusive evidence for tapering vs stopping cold. What matters is that however you proceed is what best fits your pattern of use and your main concerns over changing it. Give your body a few weeks before judging progress. More than two poops/week during this time, you're doing great."

The next section is titled "BINGEING", and reads:

Go slow bingeing is usually done in a dissociated state - take your time and try to notice the foods as you're eating them.

Take a short walk (5-10 minutes) afterward to help with digestion.

Try a hot water bottle on your stomach if you're in pain while digesting. Avoid curling into a ball or lying on your back.

At the onset of a binge, have a large meal and explore eating to fullness rather than extreme pain."

The next section is titled "OVER-EXERCISING", and reads:

"Take the time to thoroughly stretch and warm up first.

When possible, work out with someone supportive who's been in conversation with you and your doctor about helpful/hurtful exercise habits. Try to reduce exercising alone.

Try exercises that involve slower movements, like walking or swimming (somewhere with a lifeguard). When no one's available to join you try walking outside when/where safe to do so - see if you can make that the primary form of exercise you do alone. Stick to familiar terrain close to your home."

The final section is titled "ALL", and reads:

"Take all medications and supplements at the time of day furthest from any purging.

Try reducing a harmful behaviours frequency - from several times a day to once a day or from once a day to a few times a week.

"Drink enough water" means different things for different people, so although eight glasses of non-alcoholic non-caffeinated fluids a day can be a starting point, ask your provider's input here if you can.

Get your electrolyte levels, vitals, heart function, and kidney function checked as regularly as your provider recommends." /end id]

Happy May Day all. Solidarity and all that jazz.  For your brain, some history on May Day and how it came to be: 1. The Zinn Education Project:  May 4, 1886: Haymarket Tragedy

2. IWW Historical Archives:  The Brief Origins of May Day

disclaimer: this is from the perspective of an addict living in the US!

harm reduction is more than naloxone (Narcan, the opioid overdose antidote), clean needles, needle disposals, and medication assisted treatment (MAT). these are all marvelous life-saving developments, but they are quite frankly the bare minimum when it comes to keeping people who use drugs alive. and unfortunately, they're still under attack.

but for those who do support harm reduction but either don't know much about it, or don't know where to start learning about it - i want to share some other harm reduction practices & supplies, and my favorite related resources!

ways to use more safely, by yourself things that have to do with real, physical substances

Never Use Alone Hotline (US) - a peer-ran hotline where people who are using drugs alone or with untrusted/unsafe people can stay on the line, vent, chat, or ask questions. if the caller becomes unresponsive, the hotline calls EMS. Fentanyl & nitazene test strips - (nitazenes are an even more potent class of opioids. please get BOTH fent and zene tests) Reagent kits - (these are to identify substances! very helpful since what you're told you're getting is often not what you get at all) safes & child-proof containers - (prevents children & pets from getting into stashes and overdosing) Microgram scales - (can measure very small doses for potent substances such as fentanyl, nitazenes, and LSD) Pipettes, beakers, & test tubes - (can measure very small doses by volume, if the amount of the substance is already known) Dexcalc - (a website to calculate how much DXM you can take to achieve or avoid certain effects; helps pevent overdose) National Harm Reduction Coalitions' Safer Injecting resources

knowledge is power the more people who use drugs know, the better they can make informed decisions and protect themselves!

Psychonaut Wiki - (pretty much wikipedia for drugs) Psychonaut Journal - (an app for tracking one's substance intake) Tripsit - (a harm reduction organization that sells test kits, connects users with free Narcan sources, provides drug interaction checkers, has its own discord community, & more!) Erowid - (a digital library where you can find a wealth of information on substances, proper procedures, self-reported experiences of other users, legal issues, history, & more!) The Drug User's Bible - (a book containing the research and experiences of the author. He self-administered over 180 substances w/the objective "to provide, without fear or compromise, core and critical information to support the health, welfare and well-being of the 250 million people in the world who use drugs.") Narcan Trainings - (teaches anyone, drug user or not, how to identify an overdose, administer Narcan, and inform the person who overdosed about what happened. they often supply attendees with a Narcan kit) In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Dr. Gabor Mate - (explores the political, social, economic, and personal predispositions underlying substance abuse; a compassionate look at addiction) Wound care & infection warning signs - (I do not have the spoons to find the resource on this one, I apologize; but it is very important!!)

community & society based things that have been implemented, or are being advocated for, to improve addicted people's quality of life & fulfill their human rights

Supervised Injection Sites - (places where people who use drugs by IV, IM, or subcutaneous injection can do so under supervision of medical staff, in a sterile and safe environment. if anyone overdoses, staff are there to reverse the overdose: this has been so effective to the point that, the main clinic i learned about, successfully reversed over 100 overdoses. no one died!) Social safety nets - (free/low cost housing, financial aid, free/low cost healthcare, etc) - (allows people who use drugs to meet their basic needs, reducing their level of stress & isolation from the rest of society. this reduction in suffering can help people stop or reduce their use!) Recovery-based social centers - (organizations that provide educational and recreational activities for drug users and their families/friends: this is so they can connect with people like them & make informed decisions, all in a safe & drug-free environment) Decriminalization, legalization, & pardons - (systemically de-stigmatizes drug use and reduces the amount of trauma and dis-empowerment people who use drugs face; this overall allows them to lead more fulfilling lives, be part of their communities, and focus on improving their health instead of surviving institutions) Antipsychiatry & Prison abolition - (going to stay in my lane here: many people who use drugs find themselves in rehabs, hospitals, psych wards, group homes, or other institutions. these institutions, despite their claims or what good does come out of some, can be similar to prison & jail in that they disenfranchise, disconnect, and retraumatize drug users) Don't Call The Police - a collection of hotlines for when you need serious, urgent, or emergency help, but don't want the cops involved.

self-management of opioid use disorder or chronic pain this section will be under the cut as it refers to a legal substance people have used to taper off of street/prescribed opioids.

It is actually not all that uncommon to run into a someone with a checklist designed around defining autism, which happens to exclude everybody who has a neurological issue but is not autistic. You know, "schizophrenia is a mental illness, not a neurodivergence, because it onsets in your teens and twenties (usually), but a neurodivergence has to be present from birth," "what about foetal alcohol syndrome?" "well that's caused by observable environmental factors, while a neurodivergence is naturally occurring."

This sometimes is so bad that it's a definition of autism that excludes the autistic. To be clear, people we now call high support needs, who we used to call low functioning, were originally just called "autistic." Now a bunch of low support needs people, who we used to call high functioning, who were originally told they didn't have autism but "Asperger's Syndrome, a kind of autism, but not really 'autism,'" have built up this cultural re-definition of autism that tells those original autistic people that they actually have "comorbidities."

This would be an irrelevant difference, except the "comorbidities" concept is often used to alienate high support needs autistic people from these spaces and conversations because the tone around "comorbidity" is "well you're not really discussing autism, and thus not discussing neurodivergence, but rather intellectual disability, which is not a neurodivergence because" and here they pull out their fucking checklist, which just to reiterate, is a DSM criteria definition of autism.

It's like if Aspie Supremacists were given the keys to a very watered-down mad liberation movement. The post-communist purge Mattachine Society of disabled rights.

This seems ridiculous to most autistic/ADHD people because you guys don't run into it, I think, but this is such a common experience when you want to discuss any other condition in these spaces. It's why the neurodiversity movement hasn't fucking achieved anything but mad liberation and broader disabled activism has, because the neurodiversity movement has this really passionate, vocal minority within the minority who are committed to defining the whole thing as people who basically aren't disabled (except when they want to be).

If you go without it you feel unwell in a way that you never usually feel unwell. Sweating, tired, sleepy, headaches, irritable, depressed, etc. For example when I was in opium withdrawal I got incredibly depressed in a way that I’ve never been before or since. When you quit caffeine you might get super bad headaches even if you never usually get any headaches.

Thoughts of it regularly bother you and the thoughts go away once you’ve taken it but only temporarily. Unlike with a food craving which usually stays away once you’ve satisfied it or distracted yourself from it.

You find yourself rationalizing with yourself why you should break your own rules about how much you can take and how often. For example you might only let yourself drink alcohol every four days but start thinking that three days is actually close enough to four days, right? Especially if this happens regularly.

You’re using it so often that you feel the need to lie about how much you use because other people might think it’s concerning

If the substance or activity is nearby it’s genuinely difficult to not consume it or participate in it in a way that’s really frustrating.

You feel bad when you’re not on it and your brain tells you “if you just take the thing you wouldn’t feel this way”

You can only feel “whole” or “normal” when you’re on a substance even though it’s a recreational drug

if you see any of the signs listed above, you are likely still in the window of "i should reign this in", and it is very likely that if you decide to do so in this moment, you will succeed.

most people in active addiction don't figure it out until they are deep enough into it that the psychological aspect becomes too powerful, especially because they don't know how to recognize these signs. if education were more well-rounded, a lot less people would end up stuck in addiction because you genuinely can take control if you realize you've gone too far early enough.

my basic tenet is, if i start showing signs of addiction, i quit for six months. no matter what it is. six months is enough time to get through the detox, it's enough time to start putting my head into the right space and look at the situation less objectively, and it's enough time to build a new ruleset if i decide to go back to using. this has worked for me multiple times, with several different substances.

however, if you find yourself in a cycle of doing this regularly, you're likely past the point of being able to regain control. nicotine has its grip in me because i let myself slip and stopped stopping when i saw it get unhealthy.