“Mental Illness Cringe! Tiktok Cringe Compilation!”
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT condone any hunting for, bullying or doxxing of the people mentioned.
I recently committed a cardinal sin of the internet: partaking in Youtube comments. I’m by no means a commenter, but due to the nature of the content, I couldn’t stay silent. I am by NO means saying this to put anyone on blast, I only thought this to be a “good” example of what we’re (neurodiverse community) dealing with.
In watching many Tiktok Compilations, Youtube had begun to, at least a year ago, spit all kinds of compilations at me. I happily watched ND and DID and chronic illness compilations. However, seeing these “cringe compilations” (which, without the mention of mental illness, usually were made up of a good amount of such videos), made for a surely sour mood. I “tried” these out of curiosity and just got disgusted with how adverse to differences these compilations were, and started avoiding them by clicking the “not interested” options.
That changed when a commentary video came up--it obviously being commentary from the cartoonish avatar as part of the thumbnail. I tried it because, believe it or not, I have found some videos that are legitimately commenting on inclusivity and swearing off the PROVEN fakers, but they are very rare.
There were only three Tiktok videos this individual “reacted” to. I felt shell-shocked. They even took this video of an outspoken individual with DID giving an “angry reminder”--for which there was a trigger warning, and falsely pigeon holed the entire thing! Every single very valid point! (I managed to find this video and that individual gained a follower from me, they make very good content!)
Due to the faux information--and I did first check this person for any credentials: psychological degree (one requires a masters degree and personal testing for a valid diagnosis) and/or personal experience. They had none! And even stated in their About Page that “everything they say is satire or a joke.”
You cannot say that then proceed with spreading misinformation that HURTS people. That is why I commented and in the nicest way possible that I was capable of:
<> Added to give clear delineation of beginning and end of comments.
ME: <You need to stop this. There’s only so much of this misinformation and bullying we can handle before we all start to throw the towel to the wall. Please stop. First of all, you don’t seem to have any certification to talk about this and diagnose whether we’re for real or faking (besides that, it’s in bad faith to my knowledge to diagnose based off social media without any actual tests). Leave it to the professionals that spend years studying this and working with us. You apparently deciding what “makes sense” for us to do is part of the problem that perpetuates harm against our community. You may not personally be trying to hurt us or encouraging others to hurt us, but those that consume your content and others like this may take it to “the next level” and cyber bully us, dox us or turn physical irl.
We literally can’t win in this “you’re faking” argument because if we act the way people (especially laypeople) expect, then we’re trying too hard to be dIfFeReNt, and if we don’t then we’re still trying too hard to be nOt LiKe OtHeR kIdS.
What’s actually cringey is armchair psychiatrists calling us fakers because we don’t fit into the mold they have in their minds.
We’re not factory produced and these conditions materialize differently in different people. We are also allowed to coin our own terms, and make communities where we share amongst ourselves for inclusivity, and create educational content for people questioning themselves and neurotypicals.
No one’s saying that fakers don’t exist. They do. It’s a fact. However, it’s not the “majority” that you claim.
Many DID/OSDD alters develop in childhood; they’re what the child saw as protection or comfort etc. It doesn’t matter that it’s “a cringe popular personality/character.”
Also, self diagnosis is a very good step. That “maybe I have such and such condition based on this and this,” gives them a reason to find a doctor—given they are able to. And if they’re not lucky enough to have the resources, why should we gatekeep it exclusively to those fortunate enough to get a professional diagnosis. Why shouldn’t we invited people questioning themselves into a community free of masking and the following burn out of education and tips.
And please don’t brush this off as “satirical” or as “joke” as your bio claims all you say to be.>
PERSON 1: <DID is actually pretty rare and most of it happens in adult hood [sic] not child hood [sic] I don't think.>
P1: <And most of the people on there are actualy [sic] faking it>
ME @ P1 COMMENT 1: <How do you know? Do you have a certification? Have you tested these individuals?>
ME @ P1 COMMENT 2: <“Young children’s brains are less mature than adults, and they are more susceptible to develop a dissociative personality because their sense of self and their personality are not very cohesive — they are still developing. They are less able than adults to cope with and integrate traumatic experiences. So the younger a person is when they experience trauma, the more likely they are to develop a dissociative disorder….
“But dissociative identity disorder seems to develop only as a result of childhood trauma. Often the symptoms of a dissociative disorder do not become apparent until adulthood, but it is generally felt that trauma which occurs solely in adulthood will not result in a dissociative disorder. “
https://www.carolynspring.com/blog/what-causes-dissociative-identity-disorder/
As kindly as possible, please educate yourself properly before speaking on such topics.
P2 @ P1: <no , it doesn't fully form and become distinct until adulthood but the trauma to form the system must happen within childhood before the personality "forms into one">
P1 @ P2: <ah okay that makes more since>
P3: <No these I’m not diagnosed self diagnosed people using tags that belong to communities and people who are diagnosed isn’t fair And you have no idea how many times I see people say oh I have borderline personality disorder because I fit a couple of the things which are also the symptoms of other disorders so no self diagnosis is not always good you need to go see a doctor that’s it.>
P3, HIGHLIGHTED REPLY: <And their are hella ppl faking did osdd bpd and bipolar all over tiktok and spreading mis information [sic]>
I don’t know why looking at an actual, valid source is so difficult or how P1 was so, so easily swayed by P2 after P1 commented on my initial explanation, to which all these were a response to. That’ll forever be outside my ken.
Also, every single one of these people’s comments--who were supporting the misinformation--received likes on their comments. I’m no Youtube sage but I do know what support, however small, looks like.
Evidently, I am only screaming at the dust when I ask: According to who? What authority do you have on it? What makes you, oh, so sure? Even when you are diagnosed with such and such disorder, how can you know for certain that the kid over there is faking when these manifest differently in different people?
Good rule for life: if you don’t know what you’re talking about, then, disrespectfully, shut the fuck up! There really is only so long we can be nice about this and as you can see, my fuse is rapidly shortening. And if you read this and think any version of: “oh, you’re being too emotional to actually speak on this, I don’t believe you.” Then listen up. We DON’T owe you jack shit--neither do BIPOC for that matter. The mentally ill, chronically ill, disabled, BIPOC and otherwise oppressed minorities do. Not. Owe. You. Sunshine and rainbows. When. Going. Out of our way. To Educate. Your. Belligerent. Ass. And you getting “offended” at being told off when being overwhelmingly offensive, really shines a negative light on you, now doesn’t it.
To those suffering: I see you; I support you; I love you.
