Hey, this question is asked in good faith and I am not intending to start drama. I’m curious if you’ve thought about the impact of using the language of “normal” and “disordered.” For me, as a fellow mentally ill person, the word normal really brings a lot of baggage and stigma with it. Seeing you categorize symptoms that are at this point, natural and “normal” for how I experience and move through the world as the opposite of normal is definitely a bit challenging for me. I appreciate the awareness and education that you are trying to spread and definitely think you share some important stuff, and was just wondering if you’d be open to a conversation about language use and reflection of that sort.
this is something I thought about when I made the first of these posts. the first in the series spent a couple hours in drafts while I tried to figure out what words would be right. the conclusions I came to were:
“normal” does have a whole heap of baggage, but in the context of those posts, I mean it as in… the average experience — someone who does not experience the symptoms I’m discussing. I don’t know what other word to use for that
“disordered” also has baggage, but I have zero problem with the acknowledgment that my brain and body are messy. I’m actively reclaiming the word “disordered”, and again… there’s no better word as far as I’m concerned
my aim is never to tell people that there’s something “wrong with them”. it’s simply that there kind of is a “normal” or a “standard experience” (for lack of a better word). it’s also reflecting my experience of having a series of moments of “omg I thought that was normal”
finding the right language is difficult, and I don’t think the perfect word is out there. so while I definitely understand the concern, I think this is a decision I stand by