"WOULD YOU ABHOR THE DARK, IF IT BROUGHT YOU UNENDING GLEE?"

They want buckskin and face paint, drumming, songs in languages they can’t understand recorded for them but with English subtitles, of course. They want educated, well spoken, but not too smart. Christian, well behaved, never question. They want to learn the history of the people, but not the ones that are here now, waving signs in their faces, asking them for clean drinking water, asking them why their women are going missing, asking them why their land is being ruined.

They want fantastical stories of Indians that used to roam this land. They want my culture behind glass in a museum.

And not one person thought to bring it up.

When I was talking about how horrifying puberty felt. When I was cutting myself. When I was in inpatient care. When I attempted suicide. When I talked for YEARS in therapy about how dissociated and trapped I felt in my body. When I felt like I never truly fixed something that was deeply wrong about me that started at puberty.

Not one person said it was a possibility. No one thought "hey, maybe this kid should go to someone trained to identify dysphoria". No one mentioned that trans people weren't some weird other group of people. It didn't have to be pressure. It didn't have to be "forcing" me. Just mentioning that trans people exist and it could be me. That it was possible and it was easy. No pushing, just laying the option out there.

HRT is treated like this last ditch option. This horrific, mutilating thing that I GUESS we can give to you if you have NO OTHER options. Because did you know it's permanent? Did you know you'll be on it for the rest of your life? Did you know the health risks? Did you know it'll make you infertile? Did you know that it's deviant? Did you know that it's an alternative lifestyle for other people?

No one said it was okay to WANT it to be permanent. Or noted that most people are reliant on the medical system in one way or the other anyways (and it's not even necessary for HRT). Or that the health risks are the normal parts of having that hormone, even in cis people of your gender. Or said it was okay to not want kids, or mention that you can just freeze gametes. Or acknowledged that the "deviant" people are just people, living their lives, that have been violently pushed out of "normal" society.

I grew up in an area that Republicans mock for being a kind of "woke central". And even then it's just. Not treated as an easy option. It was never on the table if you don't specifically already know you're going through gender stuff, and no one will help you get to that point. At which point, it's still treated like the last ditch option. Did you know you can be a feminine man? Did you know you can slap a "she/her" in your twitter bio and be done with it? Did you know that you're oh-so-valid without it? Did you know that you shouldn't take HRT? Maybe don't take HRT? Don't take HRT? Don't take HRT? Don't ta-

When you've been in it a while, HRT is the easiest, most casual thing in the world. Just pop a shot on a Saturday as part of your "everything shower" routine and you're done.

Sierra, your rage is so valid and important and I thank you for being someone to stand up and say, through your story, “hey kid, it’s not over. Hey kid, there’s a way out.”

Okay actually I've been meaning to like. Make a diagram of this situation to word it better. My only disclaimer is the third example could also literally not even be a delusion and just... Be Tenna getting tricked, but either way it still can count!

narcissistic does not mean Evil Bad Abusive Person. delusional does not mean Crazy Stupid Person With Bad Opinions. dealing with things such as narcissism or psychosis can and will absolutely ruin your life. and i mean, DECIMATE it. that's not to say other people won't be affected either, but the sufferer is the one who has it the worst. do not use words unless you actually know the meaning behind them, and who is impacted.

i should note that there are various different types of delusions, and the way to handle them depends on which specific type they are. persecutory delusions, characterized by believing someone is out to get the person in some way, may require you to be even gentler than normal in your approach due to that extreme paranoia (very common in BPD). but something such as somatic delusions characterized by thinking something is physically wrong with oneself can require a different approach.

generally speaking, the way to handle delusions is to validate the feelings caused by the delusion, without feeding into the delusion itself. this can show up as you saying "it sounds like this is really upsetting you, can you tell me about it?" this helps the person feel seen without having their delusions worsen. obviously this is not an end-all-be-all statement, but you should keep this general sentiment in mind when interacting with someone experiencing a delusion.

dealing with things such as narcissism, psychosis, psychopathy, and more is actual hell on earth which i would never wish upon my worst enemy. please be mindful of the language you use to describe people/characters because there ARE real people out there who are affected by these things. i am one of those people, as are many others.

Sorry that I'm adding another addition four months later- but this also has really been bothering me. I'd say it's incredibly annoying at best to see people referring to a canonically true thing as a "delusion". It's not! Spamton is meant to LOOK delusional to other people in game, but he isn't!

I think content where he has psychosis in some way is interesting, but it often hinges on the idea that something canonically true is what he's "psychotic" about. When it isn't. It can for sure trigger some other type of psychosis, don't get me wrong! Like him acting religious about it for sure could be something else, but it also could just be the fact that he's praying to an eldritch being. We don't know!