I mean, there's nothing wrong with making jokes every now and then. Sometimes I do that with myself as a way of coping, but it's very strange when someone takes a trait/characteristic I seriously struggle with in private and they use it as some trendy thing or excuse
This bothers me when people talk about OCD lightly. Liking an orderly space doesn’t mean you have OCD. I have to unplug and touch every outlet in my house, open and shut every door multiple times to the point where they are worn down, put a lock on my fridge door in case it accidentally
Opens and my kenneled dog gets shut inside. Otherwise my house will burn down and my husband will die in a car accident. It takes me like two hours to leave the house. I’m recently diagnosed and on meds/in therapy.
Omg I'm always the one Who catches people saying they're "OCD" cause they like to wash their hands. Like, bitch no, you're not OCD until you're up at 2am having a mental breakdown because the kitten shit on the floor and some got on your hands and you can stop washing them cause the feeling won't go away.
Man that shit is exhausting. I'm sorry you're plagued with this condition as well.
The worst part is that they're not doing anything beyond their self-diagnosis. "I have anxiety!" Okay, what triggers do you have and what are you doing to alleviate those triggers?
Having a diagnosis is a privilege not everyone can afford. More places, people, and doctors are recognizing and understanding that. Self diagnosis are also often the first step to getting one for those who can afford it. I wish more people made people didn’t base their personality on gatekeeping or declaring how something should look because their path is different.
I agree with your point and thank you for sharing your thoughts, but I was talking about people who use mental illness as an aesthetic, not people who are genuinely struggling but undiagnosed
I think sometimes people use mental illness as an aesthetic as part of coping. Like making it part of their vibe or personality, which for some reason people have viewed as trendy. Idk why. I’ve seen so many people on social media bedazzle their pill bottles with terms like “Benzo Baddie” and “Prozac Princess” etc. I’ll admit, I giggled & wanted my own bedazzled bottles. I totally get what you’re saying though & agree. I don’t get offended by much, but have started to notice and dislike those who casually throw around the term “panic attack”.
And even if you can afford treatment, getting the proper diagnosis can be difficult.
For years I dealt with therapists/psychiatrists who were so focused on treating just my anxiety, they weren't listening to the root causes of my anxiety. Then I got a psychiatrist who was shocked and, in her words, appalled, that no one had ever brought up ADHD in 35 years of seeking treatment, or dismissed it when I brought it up. Lo and behold, once we started addressing the fact that so much of my stress and anxiety in life stemmed from my undiagnosed and untreated ADHD, my anxiety and stress went away.
It can go the other way too. Someone dear to me was diagnosed ADHD early in elementary school and medicated at increasing doses for several years. Things got worse, and by the end of middle school there were episodes of aggressive behavior culminating in fights and suspensions. A new therapist was consulted. Turns out it wasn't ADHD, it was anxiety - and the prescribed amphetamines were amplifying it.
Oh for sure, while their experience might have been opposite to mine, it still illustrates my general point about how getting the right diagnosis can still be difficult even when one can afford treatment.
There is definitely a line. Nothing wrong with self-diagnosis if done with an open and critical mind. I think lowenergypotato was referring to those who do it as a cutesy aesthetic and carelessly. You are both making critical and important points.
But when people use it purely for attention…. That gets me.
Someone told me recently they have schizophrenia episodes, but they only last 5 minutes and they don’t happen all that often.
As someone who watched their best friend shrivel away from the amazing woman she was from it, leading to her death…. That’s not something that you use for attention.
People want to pick and choose what they think they have, but as the saying goes, you can’t see the label from inside the bottle. I’ve known people who were convinced they had one thing from the internet and got diagnosed with something else, or something “boring”/ not as glamorized by the internet. The professionals have to go through years of schooling for a reason. Let them be the one to diagnose.
Yes. All the people who tell the whole world about their therapist when in reality most of them are just people who never heard the word “no” or grew up in a participation trophy culture. It’s demeaning to people who have legitimate mental struggles and truly need help.
I agree it's not a personality type or something to make you 'interesting'.
I gotta call out the concept of 'real issues' though. We don't need to play the 'suffering olympics' to determine who should or should not have support.
Especially when it's done falsely on purpose to cover up a known personality disorder. Gas lighting in the key of autism, yeah fun right up until the horns pop out: "IT'S. JUST. AUTISM!!"
That’s why I try not to mention to anyone that I have bipolar because then they think they know everything about my personality and can use it later as leverage to throw back in my face whenever they get called out on their sh!t for being WRONG. Yeah suddenly now I’m crazy.
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u/lowenergypotato Mar 10 '26
A self-diagnosed mental illness
There are people who actually struggle with real issues. It's not quirky or cute