Potato Peel Fragments

Depression, dissociation, neurological disorder, and anxiety. Peeling potatoes for now.

[disabilityhealth]

When everything is going great but then I run out of spoons

[Gif of a lego ball that is about six feet in diameter rolling down a track for a while before breaking apart all at once.]

[earlgraytay]

I would like to propose a new term

disability parkour- compound noun, /dɪsəˈbɪlɪti/ /pɑɹˈkʊɹ/  1. The method by which physically disabled people who don’t have their mobility aid navigate their environment, including leaning on things, sitting down on things, asking pedestrians for help, and so on. 2. General- the ways in which all disabled people navigate an environment that is unfriendly for them. 

If you do a particularly skilful feat of disability parkour, post it in the #disability parkour tag so I can cheer you on. :) 

[potatopeelfragments-blog]

My best disability parkour is crawling from bed to the bathroom on a no-sensation-in-my-legs day and hoisting myself onto the toilet using only my upper body. Boss. 

[spoonie-sone-deactivated2016101]

Reblog if you are a spoonie!

I realise someone out there had definitely already done this, but as I am new to the term and this community I want to find more spoonies like me!

[potatopeelfragments-blog]

I will not take painkiller to be better at my job

I will not take pain killers before my shift. I will not take pain killers during my shift. I will not take them to sleep better the night before my shift. 

I have a history of using pain medication in ways that are detrimental to my health. I will not put my job above my health. I will not take pain killers to temporarily improve my performance. I love myself too much to do that. 

[disableism]

Spoonie Problems: The sudden onset of overwhelming exhaustion. Like one minute you’re fine and the next you can’t even keep your eyes open. It literally takes too much effort to keep your eyes open.

[potatopeelfragments-blog]

Go to sleep triggered. Wake up triggered. I want this feeling to GTFO. 

[tigerator]

before you ever even consider having a child you should be ready to handle a disabled child, you should be ready to handle twins, you should be ready to handle a gay child or a trans child

because if you’re not ready for your child to be anything other than one straight, cis, able bodied and able minded child, you’re going to end up neglecting and abusing somebody for years to come

and even if your child is all that, you might have a feminine boy or a masculine girl on your hands. so be fucking ready for your child to be a human being and not YOUR PRODUCT or PROPERTY or CREATION

fucking sort your shit out, i am so tired of shitty parental sob stories about how “hard” it is to “raise” (read: beat the divergency out of) an autistic child or whatever. do you know what’s harder? being the divergent child of parents who you’ve already let down by virtue of existing in a way they didn’t ask for. putting up with years of neglect and abuse because you’re just not good enough for them, you weren’t what they were planning for or expecting.

[nonsense-hustler]

I found this parenting book for people whose kids have adhd that my mom bought when I was a kid and the whole first chapter was about “coping with the fact you didn’t get your dream child” and I felt devastated

Like it really messed me up

[potatopeelfragments-blog]

My father being like:

“I’m trying to figure out where we went wrong with you. You can’t help it as a parent. Maybe if we’d done something you wouldn’t be so--wouldn’t be like this.” 

Have you ever...considered...that maybe...my abuse...isn’t about YOU?

[potatopeelfragments-blog]

Trying to minimize my trauma

Me: “It [the abuse] was only really bad for about a year and a half and then it decreased.”

My therapist: 

[GIF of Lorna from Orange is the New Black leaning across the table saying “Do ya hear yourself sometimes? Like, when you speak?”]

[potatopeelfragments-blog]

Overshot the sedative. Repeat, seriously over shot the sedative.

36 hours, 33 of them asleep. Whoa.

[lifeofaspoonienamedkarin]

Reblog if your a spoonie so I can follow you.

I should add I think when I follow you it comes up as my other blog @thathippiechickyouknow

[thatdiabolicalfeminist]

Stop yourself the moment you justify an abuser’s behaviour with, “but at least they don’t hit me,” or “but they’ve done it less lately,” or “it could be so much worse.”

The moment you think that, they’re in your head. They’ve gotten you to accept that abuse is the baseline for how life should be.

Reject that urge to justify your own abuse. This is not how life should be. You deserve respect.

[winter-waves-watery-winds-deact]

I needed this reminder.

[potatopeelfragments-blog]

I’m soooo guilty of “but she didn’t hit me.” 

[howshouldwetreatme]

WHEN THE MEDS KICK IN

[spooniefemme]

[Image is a gif of Legolas from the Two Towers movie. He is rubbing his fingers together with a surprised and puzzled expression on his face. He turns as if to speak to someone and says “I think it’s affecting me.”]

[potatopeelfragments-blog]

It’s funny because it’s truuuuue. 

[gonegonegirl]

does anyone else get that dpdr thing where people ask you questions about yourself like “how old are you” and then you stare at your answer for the longest time because you don’t feel like that age & time doesn’t really exist / apply to you? kinda similar to seeing yourself in the mirror & not recognising it, i guess, except a lack of conceptual recognition than physical.

[thingsfeelstrange]

this happens to me a lot, too. the concept of time in relation to myself is something that gets to me a lot.

[potatopeelfragments-blog]

@deeedeeedeeedeee THIS EXPLAINS THE AGE THING

[starbugspoonie]

Advice For Living Alone?

I was wondering if any fellow spoonies had advice about living alone?

I’m currently trying to move out from my parents place. Long story short, I’m 32, but due to illness and cognitive disabilities I’ve never been able to live alone. My dad died in March and it made me realise that I need to learn to live alone because my mum and step dad won’t be here forever.

ANY advice is welcome. I know nothing about living alone, and a lot of the things I see about living alone I often can’t use because I either don’t understand it, or it’s a lot of energy that I don’t have. I know nothing is going to be spoon free, but I was just wondering if any of you have tips to make things easier?

Thank you so much in advance. Feel free to reblog, hopefully the advice will help other people too.

[spoonie-living]

Let’s get some advice up in here!

[spooniefemme]

Keep disposable dishes on hand! There will be times when you do not have the spoons to wash dishes or even load the dishwasher. Having disposable dishes on hand will help with that.

Get yourself a slow cooker and a rice cooker. Those will do like half of the work for you when it comes to cooking. On days where you have a lot of spoons to burn cook a bunch of stuff and then freeze it in individual portions that you can defrost to eat. You’re going to have a hard time cooking for one anyway so cook for four and either eat the same thing all week or freeze the other portions. I am literally all about freezer meals.

Keep things on hand that you can eat with little to no prep. Like it goes in the microwave might be too much work kinds of days. Hummus and crackers, things like that. 

Also! This one is IMPORTANT! Try and get a pet if you can. Spoonies spend a lot of time stuck in their house and being a spoonie living alone is incredibly isolating, even if you have people in your life who will come visit you frequently. They can’t be there all the time. You’ll be alone a lot. Get a pet if you can so that you won’t be the only living thing in your apartment. This is the thing that has made the most difference for me. 

[potatopeelfragments-blog]

These are some great suggestions. I live alone so, off the top of my head...

-keep some sealed, non-perishable food and spare water in your nightstand for days when getting up for a meal isn’t possible. 

-invite friends over to do nothing/watch netflix/drink tea/make you both food/ect to reduce social isolation. It’s okay if you cancel them a lot, but keep trying. 

-try to leave the house at least once a day, even if it’s just to sit in the backyard. This is really important for me because I live in a basement with no natural light. 

- set up as many of your bills as you can to pay automatically via cheque or credit card, so you don’t worry about them. Just that one payment at the end of the month. 

-have the phone numbers of a plumber/HVAC/landlord/ect on hand before you need them. 

-recruit friends, or hire help if you struggle with big chores. 

-precooked meals and easy snacks are a must. If you have trouble grocery shopping regularly look into delivery services.  

-enjoy the fact that when living alone you get to be as dressed or undressed as you like at any given time. Just mind the windows. ;-) 

[imestizaa]

Maintaining a conversation I don’t want to be having

[edrecoveryprobs]

When I like my new therapist but don’t quite trust them yet

(x)

[potatopeelfragments-blog]

Ahahahaaha, yes. 

[groovybih]

Me: *showers*

Me: I am literally excelling in life. Mental illness where??

[potatopeelfragments-blog]

me.