#it might beneficial for labels to fit the tiktok algorithm

[bandzboy]

tiktok has it flaws that’s for sure but when it comes to smaller music artists you can find so many talented people there! there have been so many musicians that i discovered because of tiktok but, as for bigger artists, it’s just a means of promoting music and their managements/labels make them do the silliest things for promo on there and it truly it might be chore to some… but also the fact that a lot music standards is centered around this app is so limiting. the way songs are around 2 minutes just so it fits better for tiktok sounds is kinda ruining the full potential some songs could be and in that sense it’s extremely awful in terms of creativity

[granulesofsand]

🗝️🏷️ syscourse, invalidation, McLean video

I (alter) just watched the McLean video in its entirety, thanks to a syscourse incitation on TikTok. It’s been the only version I could see and hear (or my auto captions could hear and transcribe for me), and I have opinions about it.

If you& were destabilized by the original circulation or have found peace since, consider skipping this post. If you& want to discuss it, please let us know how to make the conversation accessible to you&.

My overall impression of this lecture is strongly negative. There were large segments I agreed with, but the tone and labels left a bad taste in my mouth. We have a system policy against using content without permission, and Robinson knocked it flat down.

In addition to all of that, he was told what was disrespectful four months earlier at his first lecture, and he did it again anyway.

I don’t believe the use of “imitative” is beneficial when describing presentations of a disorder. His definition of “imitative DID” — misconstrued symptoms exacerbated by psychological gain — was very similar to factitious disorder, so much so that I’d argue it serves more as a subtype than a new category.

The proposed imitative presentation was a direct contrast to the “genuine” cases, who Robinson claimed were in all stages of healing.

Genuine vs imitative:

Covert vs overt — rather than recognizing a changing population, Robinson asserts that the increase of overt presentation is evidence of poor representation of a past percentage

Shame vs celebration — shame is not addressed as relating to trauma despite prevalence in traumagenic DID presentations, while celebration is viewed only through the lens of dangerous encouragement to fit in

Fragmentation vs multiplicity — fragmented presentations of DID are still multiple if they take the label, and be likens the elaboration of alters to creating character rather than healing

Amnesia vs disavowal — taken from the study of the women who were supposedly misdiagnosed with DID, frames disavowal of memories formed in high emotional states as lying rather than state-specific memories

All plurals, multiples, and endogenic are defined by these standards, though not directly diagnosed imitative. A question in the final segment of the video asked what Robinson made of empowerment, which he answered by saying we should stick to prescribed informational campaigns.

I think the main problem of the lecture’s content was Robinson’s misunderstanding of community pride. He does notice the pressure to identify with a group and remain in that group, the differences in plurality vs medical multiplicity, and the allowance for genuine presentations to take up space, but ultimately decides our pride defines us as not CDD systems.

Another question asked what he intended to do to help this other population, if they weren’t in need of trauma therapy for CDDs. He restated that it was not what he offered, and moved on.

Because Robinson remains outside the plural community, he has no awareness of non-traumagenic dissociation whatsoever. He does a wonderful job of illustrating the connection to trauma and the history of getting there, but the closest he got to disproving healthy dissociation was showing that those with CDDs were not likely sociogenic (as in prone to fantasy and confused).

He made some good points about algorithms of social media, commodification of users, and unhealthy group dynamics, and I can see how people on these settings might find their psychological reasons for misconstruing symptoms (which he calls imitation).

If that were his whole lecture, my only concern would be how the community took it, but it wasn’t. Robinson overreached by using video examples of behaviors and by defining those behaviors to start. He defined an entire social movement into imitation, and his reasoning for our being harmful didn’t match his criteria.

There is no correct presentation of a CDD. You& meet the DSM criteria or you& don’t. You& get professional treatment or you& don’t.

The plural community exists for all of those options, and it exists because some fell into the “don’t”s.

This is why we push for acceptance of both medical and community voices; some people need therapeutic treatment, and most people need social care.

Nobody has to opt in to any identity label. Those with CDDs don’t have to be plural or multiple, but getting to know others with similar experiences can alleviate that shame so common in traumatized people. It’s okay if that sounds like a poor fit for the present, and it’s okay if that sounds like a poor fit forever. The important part is that everyone gets a choice.

We (system) also had shame around our trauma and our system. We still do, though to a much lesser extent for far more of us. Most of us weren’t so elaborated when we found out we were multiple, and we’re learning even now how to allow overt switches for safety. Putting our body down during long switches sounds better than slumping or falling while we dissociate, and we’re safe enough to stop hiding those switches now. We don’t have so much amnesia of amnesia anymore, so we can tell we’ve forgotten and talk to each other to find out what happened.

Community really helped us, as did a therapist who insisted on internal realities rather than imitative symptoms. You& deserve better than this “genuine” presentation. Heal how you& heal, and do whatever empowers you&.