#whiskersasks

Awww thanks! Happy pride to you too Whiskers, and to all my LGBT+ followers. No matter how you identify, no matter if you're in the closet or out, and no matter what anybody tells you, you are valid, this month and every other. Be proud of who you are, because being different in a world that stigmatises individuality is really freaking hard, and if you have the courage to face that world and be yourself, and accept everyone else for who they are as well, then you're doing pretty darn great. Also, it's pride month so enjoy the ENDLESS RAINBOWS :D

Whiskers!!!! Hello again!

Firstly, yes this is a definitely okay ask, it's actually a very good question and relates to mental health so heck yea! Good ask! Honestly I'm okay with ppl asking pretty much anything, this is a blog for openness and honesty and talking about stuff we're not comfortable talking about irl, especially mental health stuff. (Plus I get super excited to receive asks so ask away y'all)

Anyway, to answer your actual question. "Gifted child burnout". Well, burnout is when you're super duper stressed and overworked and it leads to physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. And "gifted child burnout" is a special case of burnout that happens to Gifted Kids TM as a result of the extreme pressure they're under from others, or from themselves, to constantly achieve perfect grades.

As a former "Gifted Kid" who's currently a mentally unstable uni student, I've been through "gifted child burnout" once or twice in my time. This was generally as a result of the pressure I placed on myself to get perfect grades and to do everything I could to reach my potential. I spent an unhealthy amount of time studying, and would end up under so much stress that on several occasions, I broke down and cried and still carried on doing revision or homework. Whilst crying. My anxiety grew to an unmanageable level, and my mental health started freefalling. That's pretty much what burnout does to you, it eats away at your mental health until you inevitably collapse under the pressure.

The best way to deal with burnout is to take a break and look after yourself. Seriously, it won't get better until you take the time to recover, and your health is far far more important than whatever is pushing you towards a mental breakdown. Look after yourselves, be kind to yourselves, and take breaks as often as you need to.

Anyway, hope that answered your question, sorry for kinda rambling.

Heya Whiskers

I'm not too great at advice on how to do Human Interaction, but I'll try my best.

Tell them that you've enjoyed your little back and forth art chain. They might be just as worried as you about ruining your friendship, and a little reassurance goes a long way.

If you want to stay friends, let them know that. They're not psychic (probably), and they might be unsure as to where they stand with you. Letting them know you want to keep in touch would probably be very helpful.

Remember that neither of you expected this art chain to last forever, so one of you choosing to end it is pretty inevitable. You've done nothing wrong, and if telling the you want to stop ruins your friendship, then they wouldn't have been a good friend anyway.

So something like this:

"Heya. This art chain has been really fun, but I'm all out of inspiration 😂. Thanks for keeping it up for so long, and it would be awesome if you stayed in touch"

Heya Whiskers

Firstly, yea it's okay to send asks like this. I'm always happy to hear from you.

I know the election is a terrifying time, especially for POC and LGBT+ Americans (and every other group that Trump hates). But you gotta remember that y'all survived four years of Trump already, and yea it's been a shitty four years, but you still survived it. So if Trump somehow does make it back into office, you've just gotta do what you already did once more. After 2024, y'all are free of him forever. And yes, I know that four years is a very very long time to deal with Trump, but, like I said, you managed it once already. You've just gotta keep holding on, this storm is rough but it won't lost forever.

Also, there's a chance Trump might not get re-elected. So it could literally be 2 months before you get rid of Trump and everything suddenly gets better again. So this election can't make things worse, but it might make things better.

And, if worst comes to worst and you end up with another four years of Trump, you've got a whole community of people right here to support you. And that goes for all you Americans out there. Everything's gonna be okay eventually, either in 2 months or in 4 years, and until then we need to stick together and hold tight. You have to make it through this, but you don't have to do it alone.

Hello again, anon. Firstly, I’d strongly recommend talking to a professional about your mental health, especially if you suspect that you might have mild depression. Having random and all-over the-place symptoms is very frustrating, and as someone with multiple mental health issues, I completely understand your struggle. It took me years to get people to listen to me about my mental health, but they eventually did and I got the medication and therapy that I so desperately needed.

I know that having symptoms that don’t fit neatly into any mental health condition can be tough, especially if you have a lot of self-doubt, because it can make you feel alone and invalidated. But feeling bad most of the time isn’t normal, so you may well have some underlying issues. First and foremost, you need to keep yourself safe. It can be tough surviving day to day life whilst your mental health is free-falling without a parachute, but it will get better eventually, and you need to stay safe until you reach that point. Also, pay close attention to your symptoms and to what makes you feel better or worse, because the more you know about your symptoms, the easier it will get to manage them, and being able to manage your symptoms can make everyday life a lot easier.

Talking about your problems can really really help, and I’m here to listen if you want me to. Please feel free to talk to me about more specific issues, because I might be able to give reassurance and/or advice that’s a little less vague and potentially a little more helpful. Your ask was not too much, so don’t worry about that, and I hope that you find the courage to say whatever you need to say. My inbox is always open.

And to the rest of y’all reading this, I haven’t forgotten about you, drink water, look after yourselves, and feel free to talk to me about anything you want in my inbox or my DMs.

WHISKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so so so so so sorry it took me so long to answer this ask!! I was in a Mild Depressive Period when it came in and I wanted to wait til I had something positive to say, and then I kinda forgot. Sorry.

ANYWAY!!! The Positive Thing!!!!!

I have finally (finally) finished my book!!!! It's been copyedited and proofread and everything, and I've sent it off to literary agents to see if anyone's interested, and at this point in time, I have about a 1% chance of success, but I'm holding out hope. If you (or any of my other followers) are interested in my Book News, you can follow me on my Writing Tumblr at @corktheauthor (or just send asks there, because I'm more likely to read them because I actually remember to check that tumblr lol).

BUT that's not all!!!! I am now in communication with Actual Authors of Actual Books on Bluesky because my proofreader made a post about my book and now there are, like, 3 people who want to read my book and one of them is a Successful Author TM (who has sold tens of thousands of books, at least), and they said they wanna be friends, and I have no idea when this became my life, but apparently my life is just awesome now.

ALSO, my tutoring has really taken off! I have around 20 tutees from ages 10-18, and I absolutely adore teaching every single one of them, because teaching has been my dream job for literal years and now I get to live both my teaching dream and my writing dream at the same time! It's so cool!!! Life is amazing!!!!!!

Hope you're doing well, Whiskers, and I hope that all of the other people who follow this blog that I abandoned years ago are also doing well. If you see this, any of you, remember that I love you and I'm proud of you <3

Hi Whiskers!!!

Happy pride!!! The month of rainbows and self-discovery and corrupt organisations hiding their bigotry behind three boxes of glitter and love!! Damn I love June!

(PS stop apologising every time you rock up, you have nothing to be sorry for. It's always lovely to hear from you <3)