#fakeclaiming cw

[talkingattumble]

Hi guys! Here’s some advice from a cane user on how to spot a fake cane user/disability faker!

YOU CANT

You can not spot a “fake disabled” cane user. You can not know if someone’s “really disabled”, much less by just looking at them. Here are some common misconceptions.

“Cane users always need their canes. If they walk without it or put it away when it’s inconvenient, they’re faking”: WRONG! Many cane users are what we call “ambulatory” cane users. This means they don’t always need their canes to walk. I’m an ambulatory cane user, and I experience really horrible leg pain on the daily. However, I don’t always use my cane, and when I don’t need to walk or stand a lot in a certain place I don’t use it. And when I do use it, I may lift it off the ground or carry it in places that are sandy, gravelly, or otherwise hinder my cane.

“Cane users walk abnormally without their canes, someone who walks normally without their cane is faking”: WRONG! Many ambulatory cane users can walk in a way that seems “normal”. This doesn’t mean they’re not in pain, or not “really disabled”. This just means that their condition doesn’t cause a noticeable difference in walking, and likely manifests in a different way.

“Cane users always need their cane, someone who doesn’t use their cane at home is faking”: WRONG! Cane users may not use their canes at home, because at home they may be able to do things like sit down wherever and whenever, regain more spoons, and use other mobility aids. Additionally, some ambulatory cane users only need or use their canes when they are doing something physically taxing, like going on a hike or standing in a long line.

“My cane user friend told me this person looks like they’re faking, so it must be true”: WRONG! Being a cane user doesn’t immediately make you an expert on all different conditions and experiences. Your friend does not know the random cane user walking down the street, they are going off looks and stereotypes. Disabled people are not immune to being ableist.

“They enjoy their cane too much/they’re too happy/they decorate their cane, so they can’t actually be in enough pain to need a cane” WRONG! We’re people like everyone else, and we experience positive emotions too, even if we go through a lot of pain. To me, customizing my cane is like getting a tattoo or putting streaks in my hair, it’s a way of self expression. And we deserve to be able to talk openly about our full experience, which include the parts we’re neutral or happy about.

“They’re one of those cringey teenagers who name themselves arson and like dsmp, so they’re probably faking” WRONG! Do I even have to explain why saying someone isn’t disabled because of their name and interests is messed up and also stupid? Or did you already know that and just wanted to make fun of a disabled teenager?

“They’re too young to be using a cane, so they must be faking” WRONG! there are lots of disabilities or injuries that can cause young people to need a mobility aid. For example, I use a cane for my fibromyalgia.

“They only use it in private places, and never in places where people recognize them, so they must be faking” WRONG! In a world where anyone can just randomly take out their phone, take a picture of a cane user, and post them online to be made fun of, it can be stressful to use a cane in public areas. Also, they may not want people to ask questions, or they may feel embarrassed about it.

“I saw them switch hands, so they must be faking” WRONG! There are different reasons a cane used might do this, but I’m going to use my experience as an example. My fibromyalgia is not consistent. Sometimes one leg hurts more then the other. But as I said, fibromyalgia is inconsistent, and sometimes my other leg will start to hurt more or need more support, which is when I switch hands. And when both my legs hurt equally, I may switch my hand if it’s getting too sore.

“They told me they feel like they’re faking when they use their cane, doesn’t that mean they don’t really need it?” WRONG! Imposter syndrome is strong in a lot of disabled people, especially when for a lot of our lives we were told by doctors that we were fine and just being dramatic. Anxiety is also comorbid with a lot of physically disabilities, which only strengthens this. To add to this, something that I’ve felt and seen other disabled people talk about it, when their disability aid lessens the pain, they start thinking “well I’m not in that much pain so I don’t really need it” even though the reason they’re not in that much pain is because of the aid. I know it seems dumb, but imposter syndrome can be that strong and affects disabled people a lot.

“They don’t have a diagnosis, so they must be faking” WRONG! First of all, diagnoses are expensive. On their own they’re often already expensive, but counting the tons of tests you have to take to confirm the diagnosis? Absolutely ludicrous. Some may also choose not to get a diagnosis, so that they don’t have to deal with the prejudice and setbacks of being diagnosed. Also, some people use a cane for injuries, and for stress or fatigue related pains.

These are only a few of the things I commonly hear from fakeclaimers, and I wanted to just put out a reminder that fakeclaiming hurts the disabled community much, much more than it does ableists. Next time you see someone with a cane switch hands, or someone with a wheelchair stand up, or someone with crutches put them down, before you immediately call them out to a friend, take a picture, or write a post: does your fakeclaim rely on stereotypes? Are your reasons things that apply to ambulatory aid users?

If so, just stop. Be mindful. Please.

[cl0ckworkpuppet]

on that note, i think there's a lot of merit in talking about the happy, weird, or even silly parts of being a system. because at least for me, being a system can be really, really scary-- especially in the beginning, when i was first discovering that's what was happening, i was terrified. the origin of my system is pretty brutal, something i wouldn't talk about in detail to someone i don't already trust deeply. but we're not defined by our trauma, our plurality just came from it. we're all still people, individuals with our happy moments and our sad moments. i don't think anyone should be defined by the worst things they've experienced, systems included.

and also, when people think of systems, of someone with "multiple personalities", the first things they think of (thanks in huge part to awful media representation) are the scary things, the tragic things, the unrealistically violent things. talking about the day-to-day discoveries and occurrences that are unique to plurality-- yes, even the "cringe" or the "quirky" that make us look like we're "faking it" to someone who doesn't know better-- is incredibly important for breaking the stigma around DID and OSDD. because believe it or not, fun system fact, systems don't go through heartbreaking, life-altering trauma every single day. i know, right?

so before you recoil at someone you think is being "too silly" to be real, ask yourself this: do you know this person/this system's entire life story from the one single post you're seeing? or even from reading their entire public blog? do you know who they are more intimately than they know themselves? is this really about them "faking it", or do you want a reason to dehumanize a person so far that their only visible trait is their trauma?

and even if you are right, and they are faking it, what do you stand to gain from running the risk of denying a system who *is* real of their identity?

[lefluoritesys]

Brain: You're faking. You're not a system. These little symptoms don't mean shit.

Also brain when somebody tries to fake-claim you: Hell nah, I'm the only one who gets to fake-claim my system, shut up.

(@thew1tness)

-host

[murielsbottombitch]

"you're faking your disability for attention"

why would I spend a bunch of money on mobility aids just for attention?

I could spend that money on an onlyfans model and get much more attention.

[eliana-system]

"if you don't show your diagnosis you don't have x disorder/illness" sure buddy let me go through the hell of getting diagnosed just for this purpose, and if I already am, let me just post my personal information on the internet this seem so not dangerous and not bad advice thank you so much

What do you mean I can't get diagnosed officially with a severe dissociative disorder because it would be told to my parents and also make it near impossible to get a loan? What you mean doctors could refuse to treat me because they think I'm "crazy" and therefore making up symptoms? What do you mean if I put my disability diagnoses on the internet I would dox myself? What do you mean they're not in English so the assholes wouldn't even understand?????? Yeah I guess that means im faking! yippee my physical and mental pain are totally gone and I don't need my wheelchair anymore!!

[debunkingfdc]

an r/fakedisordercringe member made a bait poll o r/autism to see who was self-diagnosed and who was diagnosed. after a while, the poll was posted on r/fakedisordercringe and everyone on there had a fit about self-diagnosed people simply existing.

(note that the amount of people who were self-diagnosed were less than the people who were diagnosed, but fakeclaimers swooped in to say that most people who said they were diagnosed were just faking their diagnosis, because they have to justify their harassment somehow)

[interstellarsystem]

The whole McLean Hospital situation has made us very upset and angry, and we weren't even any of the ones included in the videos.

For those who don't know, the McLean Hospital posted a video (that has now been taken down due to backlash presumably) titled "Social Media and the Rise of Self Diagnosing Dissociative Identity Disorder" that claimed certain systems on tiktok as examples of fake systems, without contacting them at all or asking permission to use their videos. The systems in question allegedly didn't have their usernames censored in the video either, to make matters worse. We haven't actually seen the video as we were late to getting to it, so we can't go into more detail than that.

But anyway.

Fakeclaiming systems over the internet when you can't possibly know if someone has DID or not is already bad enough, but now medical professionals are doing it? People who should know that you can't just know personal information like that without speaking to a person about their experiences. People who should know that people's diagnostic history is private information and you can't possibly guess what disorders a person has just by watching a few tiktoks they posted.

So I'm going to take this opportunity to say a few things.

Systems living their lives and being public about being a system does not make them a fake system. Systems being happy despite the difficulties their system may or may not cause does not make them a fake system. Systems being on tiktok does not make them a fake system. Systems advocating for themselves does not make them a fake system.

You can't tell who is or isn't a fake system just by what they post online, unless they outright say they're faking. You can't tell if a system is faking in general unless they say so. System experiences are so varied and different from each other that a lot of the time, no two systems are the same or function similarly. A lot of systems also don't always fit into clean-cut boxes and that does not make them fake.

Fakeclaiming sucks and hurts real systems more than it'd ever hurt the fakers.

[sappy-sabbath]

as a society can we stop making mental illness/neurodivergency trendy and romanticized. i know more mf who faked claim than ppl who actually had the condition. at the end it just makes the people who are diagnosed with the condition the butt of the joke or look disingenuous.

ALSO IF I MAY be real for a sec!!! it’s because of the “destigmatizing XYZ 🥺” tiktoks and self diagnosing that make this happen, i know they are good intent and not all people have resources but its one thing to be concerned about your mental health and another to claim to have a disorder that you haven’t been diagnosed with!

autism, ADHD, schizophrenia, BPD, bipolar disorder, psychosis, OCD have all became quirks than serious debilitating condition and as someone with ADHD and psychotic depression IM SICK OF ITTTT, it’s different with things like depression and anxiety bc you experience that at least once in your life but it’s getting out of hand

[theswiftheartsystem]

We got posted on r/fdc let’s discuss.

So we knew this was going to happen, and rather then being sad about this, we’d like to point out flaws in the arguments. Obviously warning for fake claiming.

also warnings for: talks about trauma and abuse, splitting, mental health episodes, psyche wards, ableism, making a joke out of exorcisms.

First off, “disorder salad” on that introduction post we only talked about things we were medically recognized as having or diagnosed with. Also the “it’s always the anime ones” it’s a picrew? A lot of Picrews are in a anime style, and if you go to Louise’s actual alter intro she uses not just picrews.

This one is just making fun of us. I don’t think we have ever fully posted why we are so connected to the character, but I’ll explain now. So when we were little we went through a lot of abuse and trauma. We had a lot of DVDs and a couple were CareBears. And we felt safe when we watched silly little characters like that. It brought us relief. We aren’t sure why we are so attached to Swift Heart specifically, but we have a little who is obsessed with the color blue and rabbits that formed around that time. We even own the original 80s plush which we found thrifting and means so much to us, plus a few other things of the character. We named our system this, not only because it represents our trauma, but also it represents safety, a light in the dark.

When did we self diagnose???? Also in that post we state that we intend to talk about the bad sides. We don’t think this is fun. Yes we portray ourselves a certain way, but we actually have constant flashbacks, panic attacks, and BPD episodes. It’s sometimes a daily thing. For around 2-3 weeks we would split at least once a day. We don’t think thats fun. But also sometimes you can enjoy life and enjoy being plural. When you live like this you learn to enjoy what you have and what you are living with. If we didn’t we wouldn’t survive. How parasocial do you have to be to think A TUMBLR ACCOUNT shows how we are 24/7.

Going back to the Self Diagnosis thing, We were being treated for DID before anyone put a label on it. We were talked to about “how when someone has many parts of them, sometimes fusion can help them feel more whole.” And asked when dissociating and acting strange who we were regularly asked who we where. When we we’re 15, we had gone to the Psyche ward for the 2nd time, and they couldn’t diagnose us, because of our age at the time, but they strongly suggested we get tested for it when we were old enough. And to get them to recommend anything, they have to talk to all the therapists, doctors, and psychologists, especially the ones who work with you. It’s been years since then, and guess what? We still have DID!

Finally the last claim out of the first comment, the Sub-System thing, that wasn’t in the original post, and I’m unaware who edited it in, but the reason we are confused if they are a subsystem, is because they are plural as it’s where dormant alters are stored. They speak as one and it’s quite strange. Not sure how to explain it.

Okay, comment 2:

The difference between DID and OSDD-1 in the DSM-5 is it’s nearly DID but isn’t quite. (Bad explanation, but these people need simple explanations) often times, it’s the alters are not distinct enough from the host, or a lack of blackout amnesia. This isn’t always the case but that’s what they were referring to. Also have you read the DSM-5’s entry on DID and OSDD-1?.. We have, many times actually. Guess what? it’s purposefully vague FOR A REASON. Because disorders are complex and wouldn’t be able to fit everyone if it was to specific.

This is just ableism. We have been told this by people and our life (luckily nothing was done), and we have heard stories about systems going through this. This stuff is incredibly traumatizing to the people who go through it. This kind of rhetoric being treated as a joke is disgusting.

We aren’t online everyday (also you, the person who commented this, have posted 10 times in the last 11 hours)

The stuff we are “faking” are often co-morbid with DID?!?!

I’m pretty sure this comment is trying to be like “they are doing it for attention to deal with their trauma that’s so sad 🥺🥺🥺”

If that’s the case, you are adding onto the problem

if you believe us and feel bad for us, thanks, but posting it on that subreddit just boost the post which can lead to harassment.

That’s literally the words that was told to us. By our former therapist. We believe it’s C-PTSD, but we put that instead of that because some reason we struggle to believe we have PTSD more then we do DID at this point.

Anyway, yeah, we’d thought we debunk/explain why the argument they have is stupid, they have a platform, but so do we.

[cavityinmybrain]

something else that made me personally change my ideas on syscourse was that my system didn’t function like a lot of anti-endos. i relate much more to things that people say are “faking.”

not everyone in my system is aware of themselves as a person. we dont know how many there are, but we have a lot of fragments. pieces will show up and front with specific memories and we can target where they’re from and they’ll never front again. my system kept going entirely dormant/unaware for months repeatedly. i got worse amnesia about my life and lived experiences. i felt like i was doing it all for attention. except its been happening for as long as i remember.

seeing people poke holes in others experience to say they’re “faking” was really bad for my denial. now im seeing a therapist and thats kinda helping.

so yeah, when you fakeclaim, you hurt people who experience whatever looks “fake” to you.

[dyspunktional-revan]

Post your diagnosis papers

Since Sophie @sophieinwonderland got the same ask I assume this is being mass sent to the pro-endo critter army thread participants, or something like that.

Imagine demanding folkel post their literal fucking medical documents and thinking you're fighting ableism.

[call-metiger]

Hey google how do I know if I've been through more severe trauma than I think I have?

I just... I feel so much like a fake system. What I went through wasn't that bad, it wasn't bad enough, it wasn't extreme or horrible. I remember so much of my childhood and past, and my system is so TikTok-esque it's fucking comical.

On one hand I just want to know that it was bad enough, it was trauma, I'm not making it up.

On the other, I wish what I went through was worse so I wouldn't be feeling this way in the first place.

Any advice is welcomed and greatly appreciated, please and thank you.

[partypacking]

DO NOT REPOST // REBLOGS OK // This is about members of a system

Believing in your own existence certainly helps when someone tries to claim you're not real. It can be easy to believe fakeclaiming if you experience psychosis and have experienced intense gaslighting, but learning to have that trust in yourself will do wonders for your mental health, and can extend to other things as well.

Effects used: ExcellentShadow, ExcellentSSAO, ikBokeh, WorkingFloor_Blur, PostMovie.

Models used: Character models ripped and converted from The Sims 4 to MMD by us. Moon stage by Ai2418sv.

Poses used: All helgatisha this time. Thank you for your amazing work as always!

[lefluoritesys]

TW: fake claiming

We didn't send it. This was typed out for our own validation and the validation of others who have been fake-claimed before. This is not even about reddit being toxic towards systems in general. This is your reminder that people have no right to say what you have and don't have. People will say whatever they want for their own comfort, especially toxic people. Don't even waste your time telling people that they're wrong, if anything, that's exactly what they want. You cannot disprove anybody unless they are willing to listen to you, and such people aren't. You can't fix their stupidity, things they call "opinions," etc. And y'all are better than any person who tries to fake-claim you, harass you, or hate you. Knowing what's true to you is way more important than even the opinion of a medical professional.

Y'all are valid. And so are we. 💜💚

(Note: the person did end up being reported and blocked)

P.S. And leave toxic communities. They are not worth it. So aren't toxic people.

-host, physical persecutor who are, in fact, a system, and anybody who says otherwise can go to hell

[murielsbottombitch]

If you genuinely believe that people never fake being disabled, you must be sheltered as fuck. I can't count the number of people who saw my mobility aids and bought a $20 splint from Walmart while pretending they broke their leg/arm/wrist, and I'm guessing you never had the experience of being a deaf person who had to put out someone faking ASL or a hearing person randomly losing their hearing for an hour around you.

Lucky you. Still not okay to excuse abuse and mockery by those with factitious habits.

Tw fakeclaiming, eating disorder mention

I never said people never fake disability. I said it's rare.

my belief is that fake claiming is far more harmful than faking, granted they aren't making money off faking or spreading misinformation.

pretending to know sign language is way different from pretending to be deaf, in my opinion it causes far more harm to deaf people than someone faking. they're literally making money off a lie while making something that should be accessible, inaccessible. that's far more harm than going online and going "yep, uh huh. sure I'm deaf. totally."

fakers still have mental health issues that they need help for. people don't do that kind of shit just to do it, being that desperate for attention means something is wrong. munchausens can be really serious. people will go to terrifying lengths to get validation. just like anorexia, it's trying to look sick on the outside to get people to notice that your brain is sick. fakers need help.

fake claiming every disabled person you see online does not help anyone. it doesn't help disabled people. it doesn't help fakers. it doesn't help anyone.

I am genuinely sorry if people have seen your disabilities and faked them for whatever reason. I am not condoning that behavior in the slightest.

that is something that happened to you personally though. there's a huge difference between seeing someone online and jumping to calling them a faker and knowing someone personally who you know isn't disabled faking it in front or you.

I literally knew someone who would say they "had autism and aspergers" to make it sound like they had more going on, I guess hoping I wouldn't know they're the same/aspergers isn't real. this person had serious mental issues and would lie constantly for attention. lying about their conditions in order to minimize mine. I'm well aware that it happens. I hope they got the help they need. it does hurt people when it happens irl.

it's a horrible coping mechanism. that's why it's part of a mental illness.

this isn't about coddling fakers, it's about not abusing disabled people online because of your paranoia. you can't tell through a screen if someone is disabled.

[killerrqueztt]

system meme