#nd terms

[gs-flags]

Term idea: Idiosynth

Idiosynthing: The action of quickly adopting personality traits from others in such a way that it causes major, noticeable (to yourself or others) changes to your own personality, mannerisms, way of talking, etc. Often temporary, but can be permanent. Created with people with BPD and autism in mind, but can be used by anyone that feels like they experience it

Idiosynth:

The verb describing this action; to idiosynth

The noun to describe who you're masking with; an idiosynth

May also be shortened to "synthing" or "to synth." "Idios" for the noun form might be used as well, though unfortunately it's very close to the term "idiot" and may be misunderstood

Pronounced id-ee-oh-sinth or eed-ee-oh-sinth, either is fine

Example

Say that you as a person are typically a timid, self-deprecating person. You often avoid others and feel bad about the things you do. Most of your friends know this about you, and can recognize when you're feeling especially down, as you tend to isolate yourself.

Those friends invite you to a movie night, and your brain instantly connects with one of the characters in movie. They're incredibly charismatic, bubbly, friendly, and confident. While you watch the movie, part of you changes, and afterwards you find yourself talking more like that character, growing more confident in yourself, and becoming less timid. You put more time into being the first one to message your friends or invite them to things; you find yourself having less desire to be alone for a time.

A few weeks later, you've started shedding these traits and going back to your "usual self," as those self-deprecating thoughts creep back in and you find yourself taking more and more time to be alone. You've stopped engaging with that movie and the fandom around it, which has dried up your mind's immediate interest in that character, and you find yourself no longer acting the same way as them.

That's the kind of experience this term is describing: taking on traits that others have to the point where it completely changes how you act. It can make you meaner, kinder, shyer, more confident... The exact traits will change depending on the person you're synthing from, and they can be positive or negative.

Origin

From the Greek word ίδιος (idios), meaning one's self or belonging to one's self. This was chosen as idiosynthing is often a very personal thing that changes what might feel like your very being, often due to personality and identity confusion that comes with being ND

Synthing is a shortening of synthesizing, referring to the action of synthesizing different traits from people and taking them on yourself

The term is also similar to idiosyncrasy, or behaviors and thought patterns that are often unique to a person. This experience can change your idiosyncrasies to be those of another person, or may lead you to taking on others' in addition to your own

History

There's probably a few terms out there describing this, but I don't think I've found them yet. The closest I've gotten is constelic, which I do also identify with, but I wanted a term that had less ties to kin or alterhuman communities (which: it's not a kin term, but, still) and was more focused on the ND part of it. There's also the fact that this doesn't necessarily change how you identify so much as how you behave or express yourself, and what constitutes your personality rather than identity

As someone with BPD, autism, and DID, my brain often looks at fictional villain characters and "steals" traits from them, whether that means the way they talk, the way they move, the way they treat others, etc. This isn't something I can control and it's incredibly hard to stop once it starts- I usually have to wait it out and avoid that piece of media for a while. Sometimes getting back into it or being reminded of it will get my brain going again, but at that point it's typically a bit easier to control since I know what traits to expect to change. A lot of the time this can be a good thing, as it gives me a boost that helps me get things done, but most of the time for me these traits force me to work harder to be the kind person I want to be. I'll find myself being more sarcastic and sassy than usual, or darker and edgier, or giving into my depression more. It ranges a lot!

Moving on: while this was originally created with fictional characters in mind, it may also apply to people borrowing traits from real life people. For example, someone with BPD might synth as their FP (favorite person) for a time. People with autism may synth as their best friends, or celebrities they have a special interest in

This term is intended for ND people, but there are no other requirements. You don't have to have BPD or autism or DID, or anything similar. If your brain has a tendency to borrow traits from others for a while, which results in major changes to the way you yourself behave, talk, think, or interact with others, then congrats- the term is yours!

Restrictions

This term doesn't really have restrictions, but I do want to make some things clear:

This term is not an identity term per se, but rather a term like "masking." It's intended to describe something you do, not something you are. If you want though, you can probably use idiosynth as an identity

Due to the above, there currently is no flag. We may think about creating one later, but right now, we would actually prefer if there was no flag for this term.

This term is intended to be connected to the neurodivergent community, not necessarily the kin, alterhuman, etc communities. In short, "it's not an otherkin term" is what I'm trying to say. People in those communities are welcome to it, however!

This term doesn't inherently have to do with gender or orientation, but it may affect your gender presentation. As gender/etc is more part of your identity, we tried to avoid considering that as part of this term. However, if you still feel like the term fits you, then you're more than welcome to use it :)

Pretty sure that's all for now, I'll be sure to update this if I feel the need to add to it. Feel free to tag this account or @xgrskx if you want to share things about your experiences with idiosynths :3

[aw-tysm]

Some people seem to need this reminder.

"neurodivergent" and "neurotypical" was never meant to be a personality trait.

"neurodivergents are good at ___". And then lists some random human trait that anyone could be good at.

"neurotypicals are bad at ___". And then lists some random human trait that anyone could be bad at.

Whatever trait or symptom you seem to think makes a person "neurodivergent" is wrong. It's not a diagnosis. It's not personality. It's not a condition. It is an umbrella term for a bunch of disorders/conditions. If you don't have those then you're not ND, no matter how many "traits" you think you have.

"allistic" means not-autistic. It does NOT mean NO disorders/conditions.

Allistic still includes anyone with a disorder/condition that just isn't autism. INCLUDING anyone and everyone under the "ND" umbrella that isn't autistic.

[autistic-katara]

yeah wild how someone making a post about a transmasc child being murdered would believe transmascs are oppressed, they should be killed for that horrible backwards opinion forreal

edit: not sure if i need to clarify this or not but i’m very stressed rn so id rather just do it but yeah. i probably shouldntve called Nex transmasc bcz apparently they didn’t identify as transmasc (i didn’t know nd thought id seen them referred to as such before) so idk sorry abt that i would properly edit it and word it better but aforementioned stress isn’t exactly letting me think clearly so

[cleradinel]

Favorite S4 Mike parallel -> Mr. Bingham.

[toxictranny]

𓇢𓆸

[aro-culture-is]

ND aro culture is not knowing if ur aromantic because you have trouble identifying ur feelings/emotions

.

[dkettchen]

Watch Nimona, guys.

Watch Nimona and then go buy the comic and also read Nimona, cause as nicely streamlined as the movie is they did change the style quite drastically (proportions and stuff, I’m not on abt the 3D-ness or the adjustments to make characters visually fit their cast better) and Nate’s original art is GOOD, and they left out some things I really liked in the comic (where was big buff guy nimona you monsters ToT) and comic has slower pacing that lets you have some more time w the characters, yada yada

NIMONA GOOD, CONSUME NIMONA IN ALL ITS MEDIA FORMATS

[momett]

the fight for accessibility doesn't begin and end with making a space accessible for people with sensory issues. making a space accessible for abled people with AU/HD is not the end-all-be-all of disability rights.

i'm not saying this is a bad thing. i have autism and greatly benefit from stimming being normalized and having dedicated low-sensory spaces.

but how am i supposed to access those benefits when your building has a staircase up to the front door and no ramp access? if i can't even get my proverbial, or literal, foot in the door, what use does you being sensory sensitive have to me, or the wider disabled community?

claiming your space is "accessible" when you don't even have the bare essentials to make your space accessible to a wheelchair user isn't accessibility. it's virtue signaling.

[livixbobbiex]

I love how much we're all talking about neurodivergence here and all but let's all remember that neurodivergent is not ADHD/Autism only.

I've seen a lot of people using those expressions interchangeably and, whilst those are the most common conditions, neurodivergent is a wider label than that.

[adhbabey]

not everything spiritual or "weird" is a delusion or delusional attachment (challenge impossible).

But no, seriously, do NOT assume people's spiritual beliefs are delusions and vice versa, do NOT say people's delusions are spiritual.

You do not have the right or consent to reality check people without permission, and people are not "crazy" or "delusional" when they have beliefs that exist outside of proven science.

It drives me CRAZY, that people, especially skeptics, call people terms like "delusional" or call people insults, just because they have different beliefs than you.

You literally are an ableist cunt if you do this shit.

[schizopositivity]

how you shouldnt use the word "psychotic"

•to describe someone evil

•to describe someone dangerous

•to describe someone unpredictable

•to describe someone with different views/ideas/morals than you

•to describe someone manipulative

•to describe someone antisocial

•to describe lgtbq+ people

•to describe activists

•to describe being weird or quirky

how you should use the word "psychotic":

•to describe someone suffering from psychosis, thats literally it.

by changing the meaning of the word you are adding stigma to an already stigmatized word. you are ripping the true definition away from us who are actually psychotic. i hear psychotic misused every day and im tired. us who do suffer with psychosis are in the world, on the internet and we hear how you twist our word to fit any meaning but the real one. i want to live in a world where i can say im psychotic and people will understand what that means. but it cant be done by psychotic people alone. everyone needs to uphold the true meaning of the word to detstigmatize and educate people on psychosis and what psychotic actually means. i know language can evolve, but misusing, and allowing other people to misuse "psychotic" is actively harmful to psychotic people.

[daebelly]

i simply do not understand the drive of some people to put down any attempts to improve, to get to a 'normal' level of kindness, productivity, healthiness, etc as "the bare minimum," which isn't 'worth praising.' humans respond positively to praise, and continue to do good things when it means good things are said to them or happen to them as a result. this is elementary shit, and it's why people do horrible shit--it benefits them, so they keep doing it. to ignore this simple mechanic in humans is completely asinine and will make just about every effort you make to improve things much harder. does a child learn to love reading if you huff at them and say that it's the bare minimum when they read their first book? does a teenager learn to respect themselves if taking care of themselves gets them seen as preening self-service? does a parent get to learn from their mishandling of their child raising strategies and figure out that they've improved things via positive feedback? or are all of those things 'the least they could do' and not worthy of praise? what a bizarrely cruel, shriveled mentality some people have.

i had initially replied this in response to someone being weirdly mean about someone fixing their parenting, but i figure it fits better as a post because quite frankly i find that mentality exhausting.

[kasumingo]

So tired of mfs going "everyone wants to be lgbt/neurodivergent now!! stop using our language!!"

it's as if the internet gave people ability to explore themselves and realize there is something going on, especially when they congregate together in groups that share those traits

It’s as if these words describe their experience and helps them in one way or another

[nosfelixculpa]

Look - whoever you are - you don’t know the first thing about Terra. Me and him will always be a team.

The Master, he tried to hurt Ven. I only fought because I wanted to protect him.

TERRA & VENTUS KINGDOM HEARTS (2002 - )

[trans-axolotl]

What is harm reduction outreach? I saw you mention it in a post.

Sure!

So I do outreach through an org in my city that provides harm reduction services to people who use drugs and sex workers. We have specific areas of the city that we go to on specific days, and also do deliveries. We also do at least one overnight shift a week to be able to better provide services to sex workers. For outreach, we hand out safer use supplies including needles, sharps bins, tourniquets, cookers, sterile water, stems, Narcan, fentanyl test strips, condoms, lube, bad date sheets, wound care supplies, food, water, etc. We also try to help provide people referrals to services like HIV and Hep C care, share what resources in the city are trans friendly and how to navigate social services with the least bullshit, and also provide peer support and harm reduction education to help people have all the information they need to make choices, and help reduce risk.

It's really important to us that we are not acting like exploitative nonprofits that come in, hoard resources, and expect people to be grateful. outreach is pretty much done entirely by people who are also drug users and sex workers. We are also really involved in local advocacy--we participate in a decriminalization campaign, a drug users union, and a sex work advocacy coalition. and i think nonprofits and government attempts to coopt harm reduction are so fucked up and actively harmful--you can't do harm reduction without also fighting to abolish the oppressive systems that are targeting drug users and sex workers. we have a lot of ties to the community that we're doing harm reduction in--for most of us it just is our community + neighborhoods lmao, and we make sure that we're always getting feedback, respecting autonomy and consent, and building mutual relationships. we've been around for a while and do have a lot of community trust, but we always want to be making sure we're respecting what people want and need instead of coming in with ideas about what services + supplies they want.

anyway. harm reduction is so fucking important to me and it's not just like, something i do to like, build my resume or to try to "save people." i'm a former sex worker and when i first started doing sex work, i didn't have any information, community, or access to anything that would have helped me to be able to work safer. it fucked me up pretty bad and i survived a lot of violence. i wish so fucking badly i had all those things, and it's super important to me to try to build community, care for each other, resist fucked up systems and protect each other.

[zmpl]

not to be a killjoy but the term “neurospicy” became annoying extremely quickly. it’s an obnoxious term. sorry