romanticizing mental illness is dangerous and misleading
Artsy depression: haunted eyes, good at art, emo hair and eyeliner on point
Actual Depression: bloodshot eyes, no longer trust themselves with pencils, has not showered in five days
Quirky OCD: organized books, clean room, color coordinated outfits
Actual OCD: Intrusive thoughts, flipping the light switch 8 times so you don’t stab your brother, picking holes in your skin
Cute eating disorders: Slim trim and beautiful, shyly refusing a second helping, dancer aesthetic
Actual eating disorders: Puffy cheeks and eroded teeth from excessive vomiting, hair growing over your freezing body and refusing to eat carrots because they’re too high in carbs
Adorable anxiety: just a smol bean, soft, must be protected from the world
Actual anxiety: crying so hard you throw up, shaking, losing sleep over a period after the “okay”
RPG PTSD: flashbacks, vietnam, u don’t know what i’ve been through kiddo
Actual PTSD: Buying your first pregnancy test at twelve, flinching at high fives, i can’t feel my hands where am I what year is it
Cartoon ADHD: look a squirrel, something shiny, fidgety loveable bufoon
Actual ADHD: rereading the same page over and over because it doesn’t make sense, hasn’t done the laundry in four months, hyperfocusing on a mushroom knowing you have work to do
stop making terrifying realities seem cute. it’s disrespectful for those of us who are actually struggling
Fucking preach.
Uwu smol baby autism: adorably awkward, huggable, acts cute when confused, has some sort of rainman talent and a perfect memory in general
Real autism: worrying about whether you’re interpreting people’s cues correctly/making your tone sound correct for the context, or whether they’re about to get wierded out and uncomfortable bc of something you said, sensory issues that drive you nuts, not being able to adapt to sudden changes in plans and freaking out, melting down or shutting down when stressed by stupid things
Reblogging for the autism part that is just too real
I would not have started using unhealthy coping mechanisms if people hadn’t romanticized them
I would not have started using unhealthy coping mechanisms if people hadn’t romanticized them
DON’T ROMANTICIZE MENTAL ILLNESS Y'ALL
IT’S NOT QUIRKY
IT’S NOT CUTE
AND THEY’RE HARD TO DEAL WITH.
Funny tourettes: swearing in class, haha called the teacher a wanker lol Actual tourettes: tics making you punch yourself, hating yourself calling your best friend an ugly fat bitch, not finishing tests because anxiety makes the tics worse, click pen click pen click pen, please don’t shout at me for whistling Cute insomnia: sweet sleepy, hot drinks, night owl Real insomnia: dreading going to bed, staring at the ceiling, 2am panic attacks, 3 days of no sleep and you’re so tired but nothing works, headaches, crying because you have an important thing tomorrow and you just need an hour! Please!
GOOD ADDITION
ngl i thought i didn’t romanticize them (given i have quite a few) until i met someone with tourettes whose tics make him hit himself (sometimes violently) or make sudden sounds/movements and that was when i realized i did. not quite on purpose, but bc that’s all i’d ever seen.
not only does it harm those of us with mental illness, it harms the ability to recognize another illness and be understanding and helpful, even.
