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absolutely wild that until 2016 all schizophrenics were banned from donating blood because doctors were (presumably) worried that being schizophrenic made your blood dirty somehow even if it couldn’t be detected by any test equipment, even if they won’t admit to it in official documents

bonus casual ableism as a treat:

THE INSANITY VIRUS

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?

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but i stay silly! *←said in the most world-weary voice you ever did hear*

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and it’s never coming back

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Psychosis is so much more than hallucinations and delusions.

It's disorganizing phrases and sentences. Instead of saying "I lost my bag" you end up saying "I bag my lost".

It's saying something out loud and hearing it echo in your head, only to completely forget what you said, or why.

It's lacking words and the ability to organize them in a sentence so that they make sense.

It's thinking you wrote something only to find out you wrote something else.

It's suddenly losing track of what you were telling someone, or thinking.

It's unknowingly misreading words, somehow sensing the sentence doesn't make sense, reading it again and realizing you read half the word or a completely different word.

It's your mind going blank and feeling a need to stay still and stare at nothing in particular.

It's repeating words and phrases for no apparent reason.

It's having an insight or remembering something you want/have to do only to lose it within seconds.

It's not being able to tell if something actually happened or it was a dream.

It's not being able to tell if a memory was a dream, a made up story/memory, or an actual situation in which you were experiencing positive symptoms.

It's losing track of time, feeling it goes too slow or too fast, or that it freezes.

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Mary Oliver, from “The Gardener”, A Thousand Mornings

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you ever get surprised by your own recurring issues. like come on man. I thought we were past this.

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gps but for a way out of this

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Do you know of any books that show psychotic characters in a positive light?

Feeling a bit alone and want to read stuff that doesn’t treat my illness like it’s something subhumans have.

I’ll read anything. Realistic fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, novels, short stories, comic books, etc.

Hey there! I have not been reading as much as I want to for a very long time, so I haven't read most of these myself, but here are some I've come across.

"Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman is the only one on this list that I've actually read. It follows a young guy with developing schizophrenia before and during his first hospitalization. I personally quite liked it. The author has a schizophrenic son who allegedly helped him a lot with the book.

"Freaks like us" by Susan Vaught is a book that I started reading, but had to stop because it was stressful. It's a thriller/mystery where the main character is a teenager with schizophrenia. When his best friend goes missing he becomes a suspect primarily due to ableism and he tries to help solve the case. I've been assured by others that it does have a happy ending, if somewhat bittersweet.

"The book of Form and Emptiness" by Ruth Ozeki follows a young teenager who is having psychotic symptoms after the death of his father, and some other mentally struggling characters as they support one another. Judging from what I've read about it, this book is at least somewhat critical of psychiatry and I believe that it may be a theme that the main character is overmedicated, with questions about what's normal and what's abnormal, etc. I haven't read it but it sounds interesting to me.

There's also a fantasy science series called "The locked Tomb", where the second book is "Harrow the Ninth" where the main character has been confirmed by the author to be dealing with schizophrenia (though this concept isn't recognized in the same manner in the world the story takes place in). It's a sequel to a book called Gideon the Ninth, the main character of the second book is schizophrenic, and they may also have a role in the first book without being the main character. (Edited with a correction from the comments)

"I never promised you a Rose Garden" is a classic from 1977 by Joanne Greenberg (pen name Hannah Green). It is a semi-autobiographical account of a teenage girl's three-year battle with schizophrenia. "Deborah Blau, bright and artistically talented, has created a world, the Kingdom of Yr, as a form of defense from a confusing, frightening reality. " The story takes place in a mental hospital in the 1950s so without having read it, I imagine it might involve some disturbing stuff.

If anyone knows of others, or can speak for or against the books that I have mentioned, please don't hesitate to chime in!

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Things I’ve Learned as a Disabled Person

[Text without formatting: “Things I’ve Learned as a Disabled Person]

You did not commit a crime simply by being mentally ill or disabled!

You are not wasting anyone’s time or energy by simply existing as a mentally ill or disabled individual!

Please surround yourselves with love, support, and positivity whenever you find the opportunity!

You deserve compassion regardless of your symptoms or experiences!

You are not a monster or an abuser for being disabled or mentally ill!

You can and will find people who love and understand you, or at least try to understand to the best of their ability.

You can and will find people who support you, regardless of what that support looks like!

You do not have to need the same types of support as others. As long as you do what is best for you, that’s all that matters.

At the same time, it’s okay to need accommodations, no matter the type!

You can always work towards coexisting with others, and I hope that you will be surrounded by those who do the same for you!

You do not have to stretch yourself thin and overextend yourself to make others happy!

It’s okay to advocate for yourself! And, if you cannot do this because of your mental illness or disability, it’s okay to allow someone with your best interest in mind to advocate for you!

While you don’t need to force it (and it probably helps more not to force it), please hold onto the hope that things will not always be at their worst!

If it helps you and isn’t hurting anyone, it is nothing to be ashamed of!

Finding support is huge! It doesn’t have to be folks in your immediate area, online support is acceptable as well! What matters is that we are uplifting and supporting each other and ourselves.

There are so many things I’ve learned as a disabled person. I hope to learn many more

Please feel free to share what you’ve learned as well, or please share if you found any of this helpful! /not forced

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I feel like people don’t talk enough about the guilt, shame, and embarrassment that come with having mental disorders or experiencing low mental health. Constantly worrying that you’re secretly a horrible person or that you’re negatively impacting anyone who is close to you. Feeling selfish because you’re so stuck in your own head sometimes that you’re not doing enough to “earn” anyone’s company or care and that ultimately you must be a terrible friend because of that. Berating yourself for not just being better already. Believing that you don’t have a “good enough” reason to be feeling the way you do. Fighting constantly between wanting connection with others and wanting to hide yourself away to protect them and you. Having your rational mind on board while experiencing symptoms so you have to watch yourself not always acting rationally or healthily. The humiliation of being seen behaving in ways you normally wouldn’t behave when those symptoms are lesser or that low mood is higher. Just hoping people can see through to the core of you and allow some grace for your humanity.

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I think it'd be neat if during discussions about schizophrenia and psychosis more people made a point to mention how psychotic episodes themselves can be deeply traumatizing. because they sure can. experiencing a break from reality like that is traumatizing. delusions, even though they aren't real, are traumatizing. believing you're being prosecuted by God himself and not knowing how to cope with that just to later realize none of it was real is probably traumatizing. experiencing frightening hallucinations can be traumatizing. people talk about how psychotics suffer from their disorder but let's talk about why we do. and I haven't even mentioned the inherent trauma of living with a stigmatized disorder in a world where psychotics are despised and shunned and kicked out of homes. lets not forget that one.

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Art fight attack on @canisalbus

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