Speaking as someone who lives with mental illness, who struggled and suffered for decades with undiagnosed and unacknowledged CPTSD, with a side of Depression and Generalized Anxiety, (who continues to struggle and live with it) I know how difficult and scary a mental health crisis can be.
I also know how vicious and ruthless and cruel the political world is.
So I am incredibly grateful to Senator Fetterman for getting mental health care without shame or apology. His courage saved lives. There are people today and in the coming days who are willing to seek mental health care, because he spoke openly and without shame about his own mental health.
Depression and mental illness affects EVERYONE, and when people who have enormous public profiles speak about their experiences, it chips away at the stigma that has claimed too many lives.
I am not a United States Senator, but I know this is absolutely true, because people have told me that my public journey to care for my mental health and heal my trauma gave them what they needed to make the appointment and begin their own journey.
My heart is with Senator Fetterman and his family. I wish them all the best. I know how tough this is. How scary it can be. How Depression will see the struggle and just pour lie after lie after lie over you, trying its best to make you believe you deserve or are responsible for it.
All of that is bullshit. Depression lies.
I want to remind anyone who is struggling with their mental health, who is just *so tired* of feeling all the things Depression and its buddies try to drown us with that IT IS OKAY TO NOT BE OKAY. It's not shameful or weak to ask for help. It's courageous, and you deserve to be helped by people who have dedicated their lives to helping us get better.If you or someone you know is struggling, please know that help is available when you're ready. If you are in the United States, you can dial 988 from any phone to speak with a counselor who is ready for you.
It's really disappointing to see the stigma against necromancy crop up on this site, but I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised.
It's a common misconception among anti-necromancy societies that the skeletons working the fields and forming the armies when needed are terrible desecrations, the honored dead enslaved by vile masters, when this could be nothing further from the truth. Our people give their bodies over to this out of love for their families and community. Allowing their bodies to provide labor and security after they are gone so that those who live do not have to waste their years doing menial labor and throwing themselves away in violence, and instead can pursue a life they take joy in freed from the burdens of survival. And so when we grow old or ill we choose to have our bodies serve our community so that our children, and children's children can enjoy the freedom and security that we did.
During the Days of Remembrance the skeletons are brought in from the fields and factories, back to their family homes and we celebrate them by telling stories of their lives, enjoying their favorite foods, and spending time with the part of them they left behind out of love for us. It's a delightful sight seeing the skeletons adorned with handknit woolens, colorful paints, or glimmering candles when they return to their labor after the holiday.
So I got brunch with a friend today and she brought along a load of stim toys to share with my little boy, who also stims. Fuck, I stim and I was fucking excited to pop poppits at brunch.
Which is to say my kid got to spend time with an adult like himself and see her have friends, exist in public, and otherwise her best disability-positive life. Idk if this is helpful to anyone but you’re doing a really brave thing for kids and their families if you are choosing not to mask.
NOTE: I am not trying to be disrespectful to experts in the mental health community, Stephenie, or be needlessly reductive here, and I know a lot of these examples have overlapping or the same context. However I think it's a really interesting framework to understand Bella's dependency on Edward, her loss of stable identity or simply enjoyment of life and pursuit of her goals after he leaves, the extreme measures she takes to recapture the feeling of seeing or hearing him. The fantasy genre can do an incredible job of illustrating real-world psychiatric topics in a way that feels organic (a great example is wartime PTSD in The Hunger Games). I don't think Stephenie was aiming for borderline rep but this interpretation can make Bella a very relatable character for anyone who has battled the loneliness of uncertain identity boundaries or the enmeshment of a love partially based on complementary schema wounds, roles or ego states.
This does not make a man weak, or less of a man. A man who is in touch with himself and comfortable and strong enough to express themselves, that is a real man. Men are losing their lives, Black men, Black CHILDREN!!! In particular, because society says it’s not okay,but it is okay…. It is deep and acknowledgment and unification are all vital to empowering men…. Be strong for your man as he should be for you, too. Or your brother, father, cousin, friend, … we need to get the village mentality back…
Sorry another personal post (on MY own blog, how dare me!)
But might be getting hooked back up with some regular mental health support again finally. Downside is I have to go through my high school ex-bf who called me back about it as he works at my doctor's office as the inhouse "counselor", despite me already telling them I can't deal with him because of our previous romantic dalliance (even if it mostly consisted of our mates trying to get us to "hook up" (make out awkwardly standing upright) while they all watched cos that was the cool thing for us as teenagers back then)
Don't get me wrong - he's a decent/nice dude from what I know, but that doesn't mean i want him to know all my private business. And I'm not out about my illness irl/still in the schizospec closet so to speak, due to the stigma and subsequent repercussions one faces out in the wild (neurotypical society where the propaganda is that we are evil "psycho" murderers out to kill everyone etc - doesn't do well for future potential employment options)