For Anyone Who Needs To Hear It 💫

We need to talk more about this.

Leia Organa - Bipolar Pride

“I’m not crazy- That bitch is!” - Carrie Fisher

(bipolar pride flag by @bipolarings !)

in all seriousness it’s very alienating knowing theres Something Wrong With You. like seeing your mental illness come through in your behaviour and thought processes and knowing it’s irrational and unhealthy, knowing other people are reading you as weird or stupid, and not being able to do anything about it is such a lonely experience

i feel like tumblr has kind of changed the meaning of the word "echolalia" into something that can be more precisely described with "vocal stimming." people on here use echolalia to mean "repeating a word or phrase over and over because it feels good" which fits the definition of vocal stimming. that's the established term for doing that; echolalia usually means something else.

the classic meaning of echolalia isn't repeating a word that sounds good, but is actually a conversational pattern where one person repeats the last thing that got said. for example, someone might say to me, "i'll bring you the rest of the articles tomorrow" and i'll reply back "articles tomorrow." it could also be just repeating yourself after you've finished talking, like i'll say a sentence, think i'm done, then catch myself repeating the last few words of the sentence.

i also do this in ASL, so it isn't just about the mouth-feel of the words. also the words don't necessarily have to be particularly pleasing or stand out in any way. when i do it, i'm not even really trying to communicate anything, it's just how i process language. that's different from vocal stimming, which is when a word is so pleasing to say that you say it over and over again.

the reason i care about this distinction is that echolalia is a majorly stigmatized feature of autism (though it also occurs in other neurodevelopmental conditions that affect language). it's often seen as a sign that an autistic person is "low functioning" or as something to be trained out through ABA. i've never met another autistic adult with echolalia, and when i do it, it confuses the hell out of whoever i'm talking to unless they know about it as an autistic thing. i just hope that other autistic people with echolalia know that they aren't the only one who does this, and it isn't anything to be ashamed of

You're neurologically simple. That's what we should call them. 😂😂😂😂This is @andrewrusso is the only reason why I have TikTok. His mental health skits and because of Timmy. If you don't know Timmy check @andrewrusso on IG, TikTok and YouTube.

“The focus on cis white male presentations of autism creates a massive diagnosis barrier for marginalised people. Our actions are viewed differently depending on our race / gender etc. We need better representation in media and we need academics to understand and embed cultural nuance, not seek to further restrict diagnosis.” (@girl_unleeshed on Twitter)

Here’s the second comic I worked on for Autism Acceptance month! This comic is a collaboration with Leesha (@girl_unleeshed). Please check out her Twitter to read more of her awesome and thoughtful writing!

It’s the masterpost that no one actually asked for, but I really wanted to make. I’ve found a lot of resources, but they were never in one place. So instead of searching all over the place all the time, I decided to make this.

This also includes resources for schizoaffective disorder, which I’ve never seen a masterpost for! I didn’t include things like “Dealing with a bipolar loved one”, but I might make a separate post for friends/family.

Basic information:

About Bipolar Disorder (DBSA)

Bipolar Disorder (NIMH), Bipolar Disorder (Mayo Clinic)

Overview of Bipolar Disorder (pdf)

Bipolar I (WebMD)

Bipolar II (WebMD)

Cyclothymia (Mayo Clinic),  Cyclothymia (WebMD)

What is rapid cycling? (DBSA)

Schizoaffective Disorder (NAMI), Schizoaffective Disorder (Mayo Clinic)

Diagnosing bipolar disorder NOS (verywell)

The secret life of manic depression (pdf)

BPD vs BD (post by homojabi)

Mania and hypomania:

Mania symptoms (psych central)

What is mania and hypomania? (WebMD)

What is a manic episode? (healthy place)

Coping with mania (healthline)

Dealing with this manic episode (living manic depressive)

Behavioral strategies for preventing mania (pdf)

Cognitive strategies for preventing mania (pdf)

How to prevent a hypomanic episode (pdf)

Hypersexuality information post (OP deleted, so it’s on bipolarnet)

Depressive episodes:

Depression in bipolar disorder (black dog institute)

Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about bipolar depression (bphope)

Cognitive strategies for preventing and managing depression (pdf)

Behavioral strategies for preventing and managing depression (pdf)

Depression laundry tips (depressionresource)

Mixed episodes:

Mixed episode symptoms (psych central)

How to treat mixed mood episodes (bipolar burble)

Bipolar episodes with mixed features (WebMD)

Schizoaffective disorder:

Living with schizoaffective disorder (psych central)

Living with schizoaffective disorder (brain blogger)

What is schizoaffective disorder?, self care, + treatments and support (mind.org)

Psychosis:

Talking to friends about psychosis ( @therapidcyclist )

Surviving halloween with psychosis ( @mentalhealthwarrior )

How to deal with paranoia when you’re alone ( post by skailu )

How to handle hallucinations (post by schizotiger)

Treatment and medication info:

crazymeds (mood stabilizers, anti-psychotics)

Bipolar medication guide (help guide)

Bipolar disorder - What medication is available? (mind.org)

Bipolar disorder - treatment (nhs)

What to do if your parents refuse to let you have access to mental healthcare (posted by abusedkidproblems)

Self care / executive dysfunction:

Dysfunctional’s guide to functioning ( therapidcyclist )

Grounding kits ( @depressionresource )

What to do when showering is too hard (depressionresource)

lowspoonsgourmet and no-more-ramen

articles on college and bipolar disorder (ibpf)

Fact sheet on recognizing and preventing future episodes

Bipolar self care post (unfortunately OP’s theme is nearly impossible to read, so it’s on bipolarnet)

Apps:

Bipol-app, Booster Buddy, Daily Feats, Daylio, Emoods, iMood journal, Mango Health MediSafe, MoodPanda, Pacifica

note: I’ve tried to make sure all of these apps are free!

This ended up being really long already, but feel free to add to this. If your post was featured here and you want me to remove it, let me know! Please let me know if any links are broken.

my adhd ass when someone says something and expects me to be able to comprehend it the first time

There’s a big problem in the autistic community we need to address

I am a semi speaking autistic with high support needs, when strangers see me, they know I’m autistic.

I’ve often seen fully speaking autistics refer to me and other autistics like me as “just stereotypes”

But I’m not just a stereotype, and neither are other autistics like me.

We deserve to be seen too, we deserve to be seen as people with our own personalities.

Please don’t forget us

(Absolutely ok to rb, please spread this around)

dam…….. that website “you feel like shit” (it’s like a questionnaire / troubleshooting guide for when you feel like shit) really works………………….. im not even all the way thru it and i even half-assed a lot of the suggestions and i already feel loads better