It Okay If You Want To Get Rid Of Your Autism.

i feel like something a lot of a ppl need to understand with DID is that it’s an extremely internal experience and, most of the time, isn’t as clean-cut as it is portrayed. sometime switches can be simple and feel possessive, as one alter enters and one alter leaves, but in other times it can feel like the slow and swaying liquid inside of a lava lamp. everything can mesh together and cause even more dissociation/confusion as a reaction, leading to not knowing who is exactly fronting and even how many. every system is different, but this is always the worst for us.

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For all my over-heating spoonies out there:

While doing chores/moving around, if you start to get really warm, put ice packs in your pockets, 10/10

Drink lots of ice water, but not all at once, your body might freak a little and go nauseous

Have a large amount of tank tops in various colors, when you go out and have to look a bit more formal, use a cardigan/very thin jacket so you always have the option to take it off

Spray bottles on mist form <3

Sometimes resting, or laying down, helps to cool off cause you're not using energy

Keep your bare feet on the cool tile/wood/etc. as often as possible

Bowl of ice in front of a fan works weirdly well

Popsicles, but make sure they're not high in sugar/dairy/etc. because those can make it worse

I know it would seem like tiny tight clothes would be best, but make sure your clothes aren't tight, you don't have to wear long flowing capes and gowns but having shorts that are cotton/loose are always much better.

The backs of your arms (the upper half) your feet, and your knees are often colder than the rest of your body, utilize that

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to the disabled person who needs to hear this:

you don't have to earn or "deserve": resting, sleeping, taking your medications (including OTC meds, cannabis, creams, etc.), using your mobility aids, eating, declining to go to an event, choosing to stay home, having a self care/lazy day, or taking care of yourself in any other capacity. you can be good to yourself today.

Disability will have you thinking shit like “I’m not even that disabled. I can manage as long as I limit myself to very specific careers, never go shopping for more than an hour or two at a time, keep my plans open so I can cancel and stay in if need be, and only go out a few nights per week at the most”

therapists saying you're surprisingly self aware is like being called a pleasure to have in class for adults

Trauma is the response, not the event.

And when we talk about how DID is formed from severe childhood trauma, what is not meant is that what happened to you needs to have been objectively "severe". If you have severe trauma responses (such as DID), then you have severe trauma.

Your trauma is enough regardless of what happened to you.

Trauma is incredibly subjective; what was incredibly traumatizing for one person may not be for another. How we become traumatized is related to a complex web of factors. No case of traumatization will look the exact same.

Trauma is not a competition. What matters is that it affects you. It's enough.

I will be the first to admit that I’m not a good friend. I forget people exist, therefore I don’t text them. I don’t call them. I don’t acknowledge them.

I forget people are…people. To me most the time, everyone is just people that float around. People that help me as I float too. It sucks. I wish I saw people as more. I wish I had friends.

I’ll be the first to admit that I have disorders that cause me to not be a good friend. They aren’t excuses, but explanations. I try my best, yes. But sometimes my best just isn’t good enough. That’s ok. I’m content with that at the moment. However, I work everyday to get better and be a better friend. A better brother. A better person.

You’re still chronically ill if you have a good day. You’re still valid. Your chronic illness is still valid if you have one good day out of a hundred bad days.

seeing people my age talk about how scared they are of memory loss, which they only associate with old age, is so surreal to see as a 24 year old who has actively experienced memory loss for a long time now

there are causes for memory loss besides dementia and alzheimer’s, i hope y’all know that. dissociative disorders, trauma, brain injuries, thyroid problems, even just stress and lack of sleep can fuck up your ability to store, process, and access memory. and that’s just a few of the many causes i can think of off the top of my head right now.

please stop treating disabled people like some scary “other” that you might become only in the distant, decades-away future. we are your age, too. you may become one of us sooner than you know. stop acting like memory loss marks the end of a life, when so many of us have so much living left to do!

dear fellow career driven spoonie,

you’re not a failure, you’re sick.

you were putting just as much effort forward before you were sick as you are now, you just have less energy to use so the results aren’t as exciting. it’s not complacency if you’re putting forward an effort.

it’s normal for your work life to suffer when your personal life does. you’re not a robot, you’re still a person, it’s unrealistic of you to expect yourself to be able to compartmentalize your symptoms at work. your body doesn’t care where you are or who’s time you’re on and it’s okay.

if all you can do is maintain your responsibilities, that is enough. you are probably not going to get fired if all you’re doing is what’s on your job description. it’s okay that you can’t put anything extra forward to grow. you’re growing in other ways right now.

even if you lose your job, you’re still not a failure. you’re not defined by the fruits of your labor, but by the substance of your heart and you are still that same career driven person who worked so hard in that position in the first place.

the reason why you’re successful isn’t because of what you’ve done, but who you are. take pride in your talent, motivation, knowledge, intelligence, and grit. that’s where your value lies.