Question psychiatry

suppression and conformity is not recovery.  it implies that you are simply repressing the symptoms of your mental illness or disorder and causing yourself more pain.  suppression implies that you are ignoring your mental illness, not acknowledging your symptoms, and conformity implies that you are putting on a neurodivergent facade.  so many people assume that’s the end goal of therapy and medication (should people choose to do that) or general recovery. that people are trying to “cure” you.  it’s where i think a lot of the “i shouldn’t need to get better” rhetoric comes from.

but that’s not what recovery is.  recovery is coping.  it’s learning about yourself and how you tick.  it’s learning to recognize and acknowledge symptoms so you can better understand them and, ultimately, not let them control you.  it’s understanding that being “wired” differently isn’t a bad thing, but it can make things harder, and learning to recognize those distinctions and address them so you can make your life easier.  it’s recognizing that for some people, therapy and medication are the path to coping, and that the end goal of them is to make that learning and self-discovery process easier so that those people can do it independently in the long run.

When someone says they have/do certain symptoms/behaviours, do not argue that they don’t, just because you’ve never seen them do it. “You don’t stim,” “I’ve never seen you talking to yourself,” “You don’t get panic attacks; I would’ve noticed,” is ridiculous.

Sometimes we can’t do these things in front of others, because we’d be told to stop; because we’re being thoughtful of/making things easier for other [disabled] people around us; because it’s embarrassing… a lot of reasons. Do not think a neurodivergent person’s behaviour comes down to what they display in front of you, is what I’m trying to say.

#wearenotyourstrawman

Sources:

http://www.npr.org/2015/07/04/420019849/paper-finds-one-quarter-of-those-killed-by-police-are-mentally-ill

http://depts.washington.edu/mhreport/facts_violence.php

http://www.propublica.org/article/myth-vs-fact-violence-and-mental-health

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/04/05/1375335/-American-tragedy-A-staggering-percentage-of-police-shooting-victims-struggled-with-mental-illness

Potential questions for psychiatric assessment of schizotypal personality disorder:

Do you sometimes feel that things you see on the TV or read In the newspaper have a special meaning for you? 

Do some people drop hints about you or say things with a double meaning?

Do you often feel nervous when you are in a group of unfamiliar people?

Are you sometimes sure that other people can tell what you are thinking?

Have you often mistaken objects or shadows for people, or noises for voices?

Have you ever seen things invisible to other people?

Do you feel that you cannot get “close” to people?

Do you tend to wander off the topic when having a conversation?

Do you often feel that other people have it in for you?

Have you found that It is best not to let other people know too much about you? 

I’ve read that schizotypal, paranoid, schizoid, and avoidant people tend to rely more on semantic memory than on episodic memory. This means that they mostly only remember generalizations and have trouble remembering specific occasions or concrete examples of a generalization.

I know I am like this myself. I can say to a psychiatrist that I sometimes experience x, but I can remember few actual occasions of x happening, if any, so then it’s a barely valid statement to the psychiatrist, even if I know that x happens or has happened a lot, because I have made the generalization of x happening.

me:

Instead of telling us that there are no cameras, help us cover up the cameras with stickers so that the people watching can’t see us.

Instead of telling us that there aren’t zombies outside, help us lock all doors and windows so that the zombies can’t get in.

Instead of telling us that the water isn’t poisoned, give us water from an unopened bottle. 

Instead of telling us that that object isn’t evil, help us get rid of it/lock it in another room. 

Instead of telling us that no one are trying to take control of our body, help restraining us - with our consent - so that they can’t make us do what they’re trying to make us do.