tbh a lot of people online tend to be prescriptive and not descriptive about their self-diagnosed mental illnesses or disorders. a lot of them end up going ‘I know I am having a problem, so I must have a disorder’ and then go about picking one from a list that neatly explains said issues in a way that they like and how they want to perceive themselves. which. i am not saying can’t end up being true, but, it also allows you to skip a lot of internal reflection.
when i was a bigger tumblr user as a teen, i thought i may be autistic. like. way before it became the current trend that it is, now. back when it was more niche blogs who were part of the autistic community, and it wasn’t cool.
nowdays, i’ll be honest: i’m still not sure if i’m autistic! but you know what i am sure of, having allowed myself to question that identity and challenge myself? that a lot of the ‘symptoms’ i thought i displayed and that were an innate part of me were actually just habits that i had fallen into. things that i could change, and not something that i was doomed to do for the rest of my life.
on top of that, i also realized that.. i’m no longer so desperate for a scapegoat for my behavior that i genuinely don’t care whether or not i’m autistic lmao. if i do something that nets a negative reaction from others, i have the power to change that.
obviously, this is not universally true. some disorders and mental illnesses can impact functioning to an extreme degree, and some people may literally be unable to stop their compulsive behaviors or thoughts. but. those usually aren’t the people self-DXing online, so.
