muffins* and opinions, provided in bulk

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See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna
allpplareequal
dark-audit

Things I wish more writers understood about PTSD

  • Traumatic events don't always lead to PTSD. Two people can experience the exact same traumatic event, and one can go to work the next day shaken up but otherwise alright, while the other still has trouble functioning normally two years down the line. This is a fact that's been studied to death in psychology, but we're still no closer to figuring out why this discrepancy exists. So no, that character who experienced a very traumatic event and wasn't traumatized to your liking wasn't actually 'unrealistic'; they just didn't live up to your preconception of how trauma is supposed to effect people.
  • There is no flaw or 'weakness' in a person's temprament or personality construction that will make them more likely to develop PTSD, and likewise, people who don't develop PTSD are not inherently 'tougher'. PTSD is not the kind of illness you can blame on the person who suffers from it; human beings are more complicated than that. Furthermore, people who don't develop PTSD from a traumatic event exist, in fact they're very common, and while they don't develop that precise, largely arbitrary set of symptoms, they are still likely to be deeply affected by the event/s. Their experiences are no less real than those of their counterparts.
  • Sometimes, a person who experienced a traumatic even didn't develop PTSD afterwards - because they already had it. There are lots of people who go into therapy following a traumatic event only to discover they've been experiencing the symptoms of PTSD for years, following a previous unrelated traumatic event. This is especially common for people who had C-PTSD beforehand. Since PTSD can often manifest in very subtle ways, and since people are likely to 'mask' symptoms as a way to keep judgement or prying at bay, this scenario is not particularly uncommon.
  • PTSD doesn't always develop immediately following the traumatic event. PTSD can take any amount of time to develop. For most people, it takes around 3 months for symptoms to appear, but for a lot of people, the symptoms of PTSD do not appear for many months, even years after the event/s. This usually has something to do with the memory issues that can arise after trauma, and also might be affected by how a person conceptualizes the 'threat level' over time.
  • People with PTSD are not 'broken'; people with PTSD can be treated. Human beings aren't inanimate objects; we're living beings, graced with this incredible ability to adapt, grow and change. While there is no 'cure' for PTSD, there are loads of types of psychotherapy and medications that help to alleviate symptoms, and many people with this disorder are able to live fulfilling lives despite the diagnosis. Recovery is never out of the question, no matter how severe a person's symptoms might be. PTSD or not, I for one have yet to encounter anyone I would ever consider irrevocably 'broken'.
  • People with PTSD don't all experience the same symptoms. I feel like it needs to be said, because there is a bit of a 'type' in fiction, isn't there? And this can be incredibly disheartening to read for someone whose PTSD doesn't align with the way it is constantly shown to 'normally' manifest. In reality, PTSD is a very complex disorder, which might express itself in a wide breadth of different ways, and people handle their symptoms using a wide breadth of different methods. You'd be hard pressed to find two people who are completely alike in this regard.
  • Perpetrators of violence are just as likely to develop PTSD as their victims. This is one of those things I learned though my torture research escapades, and I've found it applies to other violent crimes as well, such as violent assault and murder. It's not a particularly nice fact to know if you want to maintain your straightforward good-vs-evil worldview, but alas, the real world is grim and complicated. There is actually a name for this type of PTSD, and it is Participation-Induced Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PI-PTSD), or perpetrator trauma. PTSD does not discriminate, and you're not safe from it just because you're not on the recieving end.
  • People with PTSD aren't automatically more violent. I don't know why this myth has to be so prominent with every single mental illness ever, but like, yeah, its not true for this one either.
prodigaldaughteralice
incognitopolls

Do you have dreams that involve your teeth falling out?

Yes, frequently

Yes, occasionally

I've had this dream once or twice

No, but I've heard of this

No, what?

We ask your questions so you don’t have to! Submit your questions to have them posted anonymously as polls.

polls nightmares yeah that’s one of my standbys generally along with a heaping helping of ‘‘it’s my fault’’ and ‘‘can’t let anyone know’’ <-prev QUICK WHATS A WORD FOR PEOPLE WHO SHARE NIGHTMARES. FEARMATES? DREAMBOUND?? WE ARE THAT.
bat-in-the-machine
danshive

I'm pretty sure spellcheck being so easily accessible is making me worse at spelling.

When I don't know a spelling, I don't figure it out, or look it up, or whatever. I just tap the squiggly.

And the proof that my brain isn't retaining the corrected spelling is repeat errors.

bat-in-the-machine

It gets worse. When I see the squigglies, there are three possibilities:

  1. I expect to (because the word "squigglies" is not, in fact, a word)
  2. I have misspelled the word
  3. Spellcheck is, in fact, wrong because it is either
    a. Incomplete or
    b. just plain wrong now because now that's a thing that fucking happens because spellcheck is pulling from other people's usage.
queenwendy
apolloendymion

since mrs, ms, and mr are all descended from the latin word magister, i propose the gender neutral version should be mg, short for "mage"

apolloendymion

some people think this is a shitpost so i want to clarify that i am dead fucking serious. make mage the official gender neutral honorific NOW. i want it on my passport. i want it on my bank account. i want doctors and judges to use it for me. i don't care if it sounds a little silly. people thought "missus" sounded crass at first. call me mg.

apolloendymion

benefits of mg:

  • easy to pronounce, even for children (though kids 4 & younger may pronounce it more like "mayd" or "maygh")
  • ONE SYLLABLE!!! ("individual" is too goddamn LONG.) you have to be able to say it quickly and casually
  • ends in a soft vowel sound, so it'll flow right into the next word ("ind" halts the whole sentence)
  • fits neatly into the existing structure as a relative of master/mistress that can be abbreviated down to an m and one other letter
  • distinct enough that it can't be mistaken for either gendered term (if you call me mix I'll kill you. it sounds like miss with extra steps)
  • wizard.

drawbacks:

  • there aren't any
  • yes, i know about milligrams and magnesium. i don't give a shit. ms can also mean microsoft. who cares.
HOLY SHIT YOURE RIGHT AND YOU SHOULD SAY IT