#that post is exceptionally dumb and that's a high bar as most posts about ocd on tumblr are dogshit

[ranticore]

If I hadn’t already done so and been given an OCD diagnosis, reading STBH/TVM and relating as hard as I do to Islin could’ve been the thing that made me realize I should start therapy. Because even if I couldn’t put a name to it, I feel like you drove home how miserable it is being Like That…. at least for the people around you if you won’t work on it for your own sake. So good job???

Yep i put a lot of work into my portrayals there. so what i wanted to show with Islin is like. ok sure he might be annoying to live with (you might not think you'd feel that way but let's say you don't wanna humour him), and his behaviours might be frustrating, but he has to live with that 24/7, he doesn't get a break like the ppl around him do, so he has it much worse. genuinely when describing his chapters to one of my friends in the early days of considering posting the book for others to read, i said "i feel like this will be annoying to read, but that's the point, it's by design. but i don't know if people would find that enjoyable or entertaining" and my friend said "it will reach the people it's supposed to reach". so there ya go

(anon's other ask & more in depth stuff under the cut)

One of the main impetuses for writing Islin's arc specifically was a kind of exploration of how supportive friendship can't actually cure someone.. you can't Power Of Friendship your way out of a hole that your friends - inadvertently, with all the best wishes and love and empathy in the world - are partially responsible for putting you in. If your friend comes to you for reassurance, and you hate seeing him in distress, your instinct will always be to reassure him and offer what comfort you can. But this has a legitimising effect on obsessions - because, in the mechanics of ocd, a compulsion is the behaviour which eases the stress of an obsession. The alleviation of stress is brief and only gets briefer the more the compulsion behaviour takes place. I know you know this, anon, but just for other ppl who don't - seeking reassurance, in this case, is a compulsion. so it turns into a feedback loop. that is why having someone go "shut the fuck up that's so fucking stupid" can help you break that loop, but (without pre-negotiation, which can be done) your friends who don't understand the mechanism of your mental illness probably won't go that route.

now u might go wait a second, félix would absolutely tell him to shut the fuck up, and he would, but his attempt to reassure his friend is to debate him on it - a theological debate or whatever else the obsession is about. "shut the fuck up that's so fucking stupid, god doesn't think xyz about you" is still legitimising the obsession by taking it at face value. you will never be able to debate or intellectualise your way out of it