I’m diagnosed with a whole concoction of mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder, OCD, and others. I don’t often divulge this information to people unless they’re close friends or it comes up organically in conversation. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been accused of faking it for attention or talked down to because I can’t possibly know what’s going on in my own head. And with communities like fake disorder cringe and all of the hatred and accusations of faking it against neurodivergent women right now, I’m just left feeling really demoralized by how my struggles will probably never be taken seriously.
It feels like it shouldn’t be my job to educate people about why their preconceived ideas about certain mental illnesses are incorrect, but at the same time it’s hard for me to sit back and say nothing.