Also, disclaimer, schizophrenia doesn’t make anyone a lesser or worse person, it is not a character flaw to have schizophrenia, and being schizophrenic doesn’t make you worthy of mockery. This also goes for anti-recovery schizophrenics, who are valuable and whose experiences deserve to be heard.
Shout-out to loveless aromantic folks who reclaim words like heartless, robot, and monster, which are words frequently used against people like us. This goes double for neurodivergent aros who have to deal with the ableism behind those words and the fact that experiencing and wanting love is often used as a way to humanize both aros and neurodivergent folks. Ultimately leaving out/ostracizing mentally ill and neurodivergent loveless aros.
Being able to acknowledge and think critically about discomfort is a skill that the world doesn’t want you to learn.
No, this is not a conspiracy theory.
Discomfort is your body and mind’s way of telling you, “Hey! Something’s different! Something’s off! Something’s changing!” It’s a useful tool, evolutionarily. The primordial ape that responded to being cold by bundling up in a pile of leaves was more likely to survive than the one that did nothing. As a result, humans are generally quick to feel uncomfortable.
Sometimes, discomfort is a sign that something is truly wrong, and you need to get away from the source of the discomfort right away. Other times, discomfort is a sign that this is an opportunity for growth, for improvement, for making the world a better place.
However, we are not encouraged to think critically about discomfort and figure out which of these two circumstances it is. In fact, we are actively discouraged from doing this.
If you’re in a position of power, you are encouraged to think about any discomfort at all as the most terrible thing ever. This is why white people often behave as though being called racist is worse than actually being racist.
If you’re not in a position of power, then you’re not supposed to think about your discomfort as important at all. This is why people with chronic illness are so often told that they’re faking it or making a big deal out of nothing.
Being willing and able to think about our discomfort – to consider it instead of simply avoiding it – is not an easy thing to do, but it is a revolutionary act. Thinking critically about discomfort opens doors and is a vital skill for changing the world.
(I talked about this first on TikTok – watch it here!)
Being neurodivergent in a neurotypical world is such a specific type of alienation. Knowing that people don’t like you and consider you inferior because of how your brain is built is so traumatising.
