This is an interesting post with some tips and opinions on mental illness recovery. Pro-recovery isn’t anti-disability. While we should never shame neurodivergence, we should also not shame healthy behaviors as neurotypical.
Opinions on Mental Illness Recovery
I really want to play devil’s advocate here…
I am neurodivergent (ADHD) and have depression. I take medicine for both.
-First… please, ADHD is NOT an “illness.”
-Second, not all neurodivergent conditions are the same, or even similar. You can’t use such a broad stroke and assume it works for them all. BPD is not ADHD.
-Third, do you have any idea how hard it is to “be around others, get active” when you are depressed? Want to know what happens to someone with ADHD when they are forced to be around people while depressed? They either get ignored or withdraw, and then the “Default Mode Network” (DeMoN) in their head convinces them they are unloved, unwanted, annoying, etc. which makes the depression *worse.*
That’s not to say this is not something that works… but it won’t work for everyone.
Want to know a far better way to deal with being sad?
Medicine and therapy. Because when you have ADHD, you being sad is a medical thing. People with ADHD have trouble regulating emotions, which makes the highs higher and the lows lower. It makes the sads much sadder. Seriously, go to your doctor and get a therapist. THEN go get exercise and be social.
-Angry… again, ADHD cannot regulate emotions. Anger is much harder to control. Avoiding is great advice, the rest of that is garbage. Therapy. I wear, THERAPY. Your therapist will give you tools to help you control anger. “be kind, no judgements” is not it.
-Frustrated. Part of ADHD is something called hyperfocus. So when I’m frustrated, it’s because *I ALREADY WORKED HARDER* and failed. Asking me to work “even harder” is like spitting in my face. Once again… THE-RA-PY
-Worthless. Welcome to ADHD. We always feel worthless. Helping others doesn’t stop that. All it does is make us feel *more* worthless when we fail at it or get distracted. Seriously, this is no joke. There’s nothing like saying to yourself, “I can’t do *anything* right!” and then proving it again. Please, for the love of all that is neurodivergent, don’t get your advice from a meme. THERAPISTS!!!
-Fear. HAHAHAHAHA!! “Stay and do what is fearful!?” I’d love you to watch as my brain shuts down and my body curls in on itself in panic because there’s a bee.
-Guilt. This totally depends on why is making you feel guilty. For ADHD, it’s probably more like, “i feel guilty because another year has passed and I haven’t done the things I wanted to do with my life.” And this fits nicely under “just do it” being completely useless advice. “do what makes you feel guilty?” So…. I should just continue doing *nothing* with my life? No.
Yeah… sorry… this really, really doesn’t fit with the ADHD brain.
And here we have the demonstration of the very type of person who shits on anything that might help others. You’re hyperfocused on ADHD and missing the forest.
It’s about mindfulness, not blind rote activity. Examining the whys and what could be done differently to achieve a more positive result.
It’s not supposed to be easy to start out changing your ways of thinking: you’re brain has been rewired in multiple ways to reinforce the hurtful and counterproductive thinking. The idea is that over time, and not giving up completely, it will become easier. And yes, absolutely get help, get therapy, get medications if ones exist that can aid your treatment.
Most of the base emotional responses have direct negative consequences: doing those does not help you get better or lead a harmonious and happy life for yourself. You just reinforce hurting yourself: purposefully sitting behind the fan as the shit hits it. Getting angry and yelling at someone in the short term may feel great, but directly leads to further anger and violence in response. Staying at home in fear of what could happen leads you to staying at home in fear of what could happen, it leads back to itself.
And before you pull that bullshit about reinforcing neurotypicalism or me being neurotypical; let me assure you that I am far from it. I am neurodivergent, and probably have a laundry list of untreated mental illness. I just happened to have seen for decades what happens when you give hack, unscrupulous mental health professionals unfettered and unlimited access to the mentally ill and the ability to whisk them away to try corn fields on a whim: and thereby don’t trust the mother fuckers with my brain or physical liberties
This comment should be the full post. ^