varian

I can’t draw but I wanted to make a comic using vampires as a sort of metaphor for disorders induced by trauma so I made one!

there's a lot of people that have done things in the past that were bad, because they weren't taught any better, or they were in an overall toxic situation where EVERYONE was shitty (like a cult), or they were just at an especially low point and hurt others for it.

you don't have to forgive them. you don't have to ever speak to them again. you can be angry with them until you die if you want.

depression and anxiety can make you irritable and snappy. they can cause you to refuse to listen to people and to be distant and withdrawn. they can cause you to seem angry, bitchy, rude, uncaring, etc.

ptsd causes an array of difficulties in forming meaningful relationships. it pretty much shakes up your entire worldview and sense of self a lot of the time. ptsd can cause you to get angry often. it can cause you to yell and scream. it can cause you to withdraw from others, run away, or cut them out. it can cause general changes in demeanor and more cynical worldviews. it can make you seem grouchy, negative, explosive, impolite, difficult, needy, controlling, etc.

and yet when people with personality disorders have symptoms of that nature, suddenly we are irredeemable monsters. when it’s npd, bpd, hpd, or aspd instead of ptsd or depression and anxiety, people suddenly and magically lose the ability to be understanding.

mental illness is an explanation, not an excuse. i firmly believe that. hurting others is never justified simply because you have any disorder.

disorders that can cause dissociation include:

DID

OSDD

PTSD

depression

OCD

BPD

DPDR

anxiety

eating disorders

some people also experience dissociation due to chronic pain

being dissociated can feel like, but is not limited to:

feeling disconnected from the world

feeling "blurry", "buzzy", "foggy", or "out of it"

not feeling any emotions

not feeling any physical pain

not remembering whole periods of time

feeling like you're floating outside of your body

your brain constantly going in and out of focus

dissociation is generally broken down into two categories:

derealisation: the feeling that the world around you is unreal, foggy, or just out of reach

depersonalisation: the feeling of being outside of yourself, or of not feeling real

I think the disconnect people have there is thinking that when someone says "people can change for the better" or "even horrible people can be redeemed and can become better" that they mean "you have to Fix Bad People personally"

No. You don't.

You don't have to personally fix someone who is going down a bad path and acting like a jerk, you don't have to automatically forgive, you don't have to befriend them- you can cut someone out of your life wholly and still hope they get better, and feel relief if, somewhere down the line, they do. It is not shifting the onus of responsibility onto you personally when someone says "actually community and support can make people better even if they suck right now," nor is it victim-blaming; it's simply stating that hey, people can be really terrible and it's rarely because they're inherently awful people, but because they've been so warped by circumstances that may or may not be in their control, and it's both healthy and good to hope that things change for the better instead of thinking the only justice for people who wrong you or make any kind of mistake is death.