as small as a world and as large as alone

3:00pm September 11, 2014

raptorific:

so much happening here:

1. Feels a lot like you’re saying all of those things are supposed to be synonyms for “crazy” and “insane,” which is honestly more hurtful to me as a mentally ill person than being called “crazy” or “insane.”
2. Thanks for starring out the letter A there. If I see those words entirely intact, I’ll probably spin into a manic rage and poop on the floor like a wild animal! Thanks for removing literally one letter so I only have to see 85% of the word, now I don’t have to start foaming at the mouth!
3. The words “crazy” and “insane” are actually really important words for a lot of mentally ill people, who use it as a necessary shorthand to express concern that our illnesses might be skewing our perceptions of reality. For example, “is it crazy that I’m so worried about this?” is a much more effective thing to say than “is this a legitimate concern, or am I just projecting my own anxieties and paranoia onto the world around me?” Treating “crazy” as an inherently hurtful slur in all contexts (even “just saying it with no context so people know which word you’re talking about” as above) takes away a “real or not real” shorthand from us. 
4. Seriously this kind of post is so patronizing people stop doing them

Also my experiences with being crazy don’t match a diagnostic category.  Crazy, mad, and insane, and similar words, are literally the only words I have that even close to match the experiences I’ve had.  Because as far as I know there is no diagnostic category for the things my mind decided to do to itself in severely destructive ways.  Like there are diagnostic categories I fit, but the overall picture has no diagnostic category.  So there’s no ‘polite’ word for what I went through other than that I was crazy.  And that’s okay.  I probably wouldn’t like it if there were a diagnostic category, because I don’t view my experiences being crazy as a medical experience.

Also I really find these posts far more patronizing and insulting than I find it when people say “what a crazy day I had” or whatever.  And no, it’s not that I’ve never been harmed by the word crazy.  I’ve heard the word crazy my entire life, I’ve been introduced to people as “that'sAmandashe'scrazy” like all one word like that, since I was a child.  So no, it’s not that I lack exposure to the way these words are used against us.  I just think words have multiple meanings and that not all usages are insulting or wrong.

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