#schizophrenia spectrum

[ghostlyschizophrenic]

schizophrenia spectrum people who have violent urges are still deserving of care and compassion without judgement

schizophrenia spectrum people who are homeless or experience food insecurity are still deserving of care and compassion without judgement

schizophrenia spectrum people who talk out loud to hallucinations and act erratic in public are still deserving of care and compassion without judgement

schizophrenia spectrum people who cannot work or go to school because of their symptoms are still deserving of care and compassion without judgement

schizophrenia spectrum people who struggle with personal hygiene are still deserving of care and compassion without judgement

schizophrenia spectrum people who don’t want to take medication or cannot adhere to a medication regiment are still deserving of care and compassion without judgement

schizophrenia spectrum people who live with their parents as an adult or needs a carer are still deserving of care and compassion without judgement

just because someone on the schizophrenia spectrum is stereotypical or societally ostracized doesn’t take away their right to being treated with kindness, compassion, and respect and given autonomy

[hazedxg0]

It's really something seeing people who aren't cluster A or schizospec discuss anhedonia. Because they always talk about how horrible it is, and how it makes life borderline not worth living, but there's always this emphasis that it's temporary.

"Anhedonia is the worst thing I've ever experienced, but don't worry! You can just get your meds changed and it'll go away! You'll be enjoying everything again in no time!"

"I felt like this before I got help for my depression. Don't worry guys, therapy can totally fix this!"

"This is how everyone feels before starting HRT lol. If you think you have this you should start questioning your gender."

I don't understand how you can talk at length about how serious a particular symptom is, but then turn around and treat it like it's this easily fixable symptom that no-one will have to deal with forever.

Chronic anhedonia is a thing. Some of us will spend most of, if not the rest of our lives like this. For some of us, it's not a side-effect of medication, or treatable depression, or being closeted. It's engrained into how our brain works. That reality deserves to be acknowledged too.

[cytochrome-sea]

i dont rly need to make this post bc like. its tumblr. the number of people who are cool with physical therians is exponentially higher than on instagram or clock app. however, i will anyway. sniles at you so sneetly.

footnotes that i left on my post on instagram:

i recommend reading about dignity of risk in detail as i didn't have the space to really get into it here. its a really interesting topic and if you're disabled, can help you give you the language to advocate for yourself

i use therian and alterhuman community interchangeably here

I.D. in alt text! i love u mwah!!

[entity56]

i think what people struggle fundamentally to understand is that schizophrenic and schizophrenic-adjacent people often hold so tightly to their delusions not just because that's the nature of delusions in and of themselves, but also because it's often the ONLY thing they can trust. (at very least in my experience if not a general thing. please correct me if i'm wrong.)

i implore you to imagine this for a second: you can't trust ANYTHING. you don't know what's real or fake. there are a bunch of different people and things shouting different ideas and opinions at you at all times all day every day and you dont know what to believe. it's like having a blindfold put on while people spin you rapidly in a chair and then let you go to stumble towards a moving goalpost.

it's not just opinions, either. it's people, and yourself. but let's focus on the former for a second. you don't know who to trust anymore. this black and white way of thinking makes you suspicious of everybody, because in your mind, you HAVE to be. otherwise you trust the wrong person and get hurt. it's like BPD in that way.

and you can't trust yourself, either.

so eventually, something comes along that, to you, feels like Undeniable Truth. in the case of delusions, it's not actually True, but you can't (fully) convince your mind of that, regardless of who or what tells you it isn't real. your mind has clutched to that truth like a vice because it's the first truth you could actually rely on in a while. it's security in a world that doesn't otherwise have it, regardless of how unpleasant the delusion is. a little part of you, conscious or subconscious, takes comfort in it.

that's why delusions are such a struggle. it's not just 'ooh i got abducted by aliens hehe i'm crazy'. delusions are both a symptom and a coping mechanism for other symptoms. at very least for me.

[chrome-barkz-aac]

i think that when people see a person with a severe mental illness being "noncompliant" (e.g., not taking meds, triggering themself, falling back on unhealthy coping mechanisms, self harm, self injurious behaviors, eloping, "refusing" to speak, what have you) they see the reason behind the behavior as being difficult on purpose and automatically jump to, well this patient obviously doesn't want to get better so i should treat them accordingly.

as someone who struggles with a severe mental illness AND is "noncompliant" i promise that is not the case. evidence?

reason i have not taken my meds/gone off them:

side effects were impeding my every day life

they weren't working and i would rather not put something in my body that doesn't help

the illness i was being treated for convinced my brain that my meds were poisonous and if i took them i would become sick or die.

demand avoidance (read: the notion that i was expected to take my meds caused so much distress in my body that i would do anything NOT to take them, so i don't

reasons i have done "difficult" behaviors

i wasn't able to communicate how i was feeling other than physically expressing it with self injury

i was being abused and the stress that the abuse caused put too much pressure on my brain to react in a "healthy" way

i could not distinguish reality from unreality and the stress that that caused put too much pressure on my brain to react in a "healthy" way

the topic of group therapy put so much stress on my brain that i could not stay in group and left

the environment of group therapy was overstimulating and that put so much stress on my brain that i left

i think the reason that medical professionals see and label these behaviors as "being difficult" or "noncompliant" is because they either fail to see or refuse to consider the environment in which these things occur.

maybe they are desensitized to the pain that we experience because they see it every day, but that does not make it less real for us.

my struggles do not exist in a vacuum. and i wish people would see that.

to my brothers, sisters, and siblings with severe mental illnesses and noncompliant behaviors. i see you . i love you. i know the distress and pain you are in. i am sorry they are not listening to you. i hope your pain eases soon.

(also note, this is my experience as someone w autism, psychosis and "dissociative and cluster b traits" [whatever the shit that means tbh]. i am also white, which means i experience less discrimination in the medical field than a person of Color. )

[lylethelion]

Shoutout to therians who don’t/can’t do quads!

Shoutout to therians who don’t/can’t have gear! Or only enjoy subtle gear!

Shoutout to therians who still don’t know their theriotype but know they’re a therian!

Shoutout to contherians, physical, biological, psychological, and delusional therians! You are just as valid and real as any other therian!

Shoutout to therians who get nothing but hate!

Shoutout to therians who don’t really interact or feel connected to the community! You are still seen and respected from over here!

Shoutout to grey muzzle therians! Thank you for sticking around!

Shoutout to therians with species dysphoria! You are not broken or “crazy”!

Shoutout to THERIANS of all types, experiences, shapes, and sizes! <3

[dorianbrightmusic]

What I really appreciate about the Milk duology is that it's the only piece of media I've ever seen attempting to depict the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia while still humanising the main character.

I do not have schizophrenia, so I can't speak from experience of whether the disorganised thought shown in-game is accurate, per se. But what I find striking is the fact that Milk-chan is obviously trying so, so hard to keep it together. Her speech is often tangential, even when her thoughts are easier to follow, but even when she's tangential, she's obviously trying to follow them to a certain conclusion. The tangents aren't made out to be funny, nor to be creepy or off-putting. They're just a symptom of her psychosis.

Moreover, she struggles with other cognitive symptoms. Reading now causes her fatigue, because focus takes so much more effort than before. Her memory is jumbled and gappy. Her thoughts will just block. Decisions are hard.

And, to add to all that, although her emotions might seem disorganised to outside viewers, they're always reactions to things she's experiencing, real or not. If she suddenly becomes sad, it's in response to genuine upset. If she gets angry, it's because the world, as she perceives it, really is that terrifying. If she's overjoyed, it's because she's achieved something, however small, and she's right to feel damn proud of herself. Even though her feelings seem extreme without explanation, she's not shown to be unstable or senseless. Rather, she's reacting to her reality, as refracted through illness.

Milk-chan is so so so human and likeable. She has disorganised thought and hebephrenic tendencies, and she is still not demonised for these, nor distanced in any way from the player by her symptoms. Her illness doesn't make her act without reason, even when she struggles to stay in reality. And I don't think I've ever seen schizophrenia humanised this way in media ever before. I wish the bar weren't this low, but I'm still glad that this depiction exists.

[wierszalin]

Hello tumblr user. I have noticed you talk a lot about "the neurodivergent experience", but all your posts seem to only talk about autism and ADHD. You must now make a post centering schizospec, dyslexic and other neurodivergent people or your favorite character will be put to death.