u/EWF_FanZ

I (23F) drove myself to work today for the first time. Baruch Hashem!!!! (Praise Gd) 

One of the ways my autism manifests is in sensory processing (sights, sounds, touch feels different for me) and multitasking. I know it might not seem like a big deal, but learning how to drive with autism is very difficult for many of us. Especially if you are late diagnosed or had to figure out how your brain works from scratch. I'm thankful for the family, friends, and kind strangers that took the time how to teach me to drive, as it wasn't an easy process for me 🫶🏾

Are there other late autistic drivers that want to share their experiences?

Deconstructing: Religious Psychosis and Unhealthy Christian Spirituality

TW- Talks of Spiritual Abuse and Mental illness

•As part of my deconstructing journey, I'm unlearning a lot of unhealthy and erroneous beliefs on spirituality and the Divine.

Disclaimer: I am NOT attempting to frame Christians or Christianity as a mental illness. However it is very important to distinguish someone who is legitimately struggling with a mental health disorder when it comes to religious spaces. Coming from my own experience and extended family, that may include unlearning religious beliefs and ideologies that were not theologically sound. Instead they were a byproduct of a very serious mental crisis that if left untreated can cause significant harm to the individual or others.

•Finding out a book I read that influenced much of my Christian beliefs actually was written by someone with a clinical mental illness is really alleviating. I feel good that a lot of those beliefs are false but also feel terrible for the author and those that were hurt by her teachings. The book was written during the “Satanic Panic” era in the mid 1980s and focuses heavily on spiritual warfare and demons. I found myself first intrigued by this book as someone who had delved into a lot of occult and new age spiritual teachings and was freshly introduced to Christianity through the more charismatic Pentecostal and Deliverance ministries. There is A LOT of questionable depictions of people who were allegedly possessed by demons, experienced child abuse, those with medical conditions like cancer, and even personal encounters with JC…

•I remember first reading this book and much of the material scaring me more than educating me on spiritual warfare and Christianity. I will not discuss the other themes in this book as much of depicts things that would be considered PG-13+

•I found myself thinking about this book a few weeks ago and looking back at how far I've come from distancing and educating myself more when it comes to healthy understandings about Gd and the spiritual realm. So I did some digging and found out the author of this book was not only diagnosed with multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia (with acute hallucinations related to demons) but also has her medical license revoked (as her book title lists her as an M.D.) due to her attempting to perform exorcisms on her patients! A part of deconstructing is that realizing a lot of stuff we have been taught about religion was straight up mental illness or spiritual psychosis. The lady in the book claimed to be a doctor and she said JC came into her room and started telling her that hospitals are run by witches and that she had to help deliver people out of satanism...

She then goes on to talk about how vampires and werewolves are real and that she saved a lady that was about to marry Satan

•Although I am Jewish now, I have many close friends of mine who are Catholic, and I remember specifically this book demonizing Catholicism to the point of calling it satanism. I distinctly remember asking one of my Catholic friends about some of the claims in this book and he verified that they were completely false!

•So I guess the moral of the story here is to practice discernment and to make sure you are not neglecting your mental or spiritual health when you are deconstructing. I distinctly remember coming to terms with being neurodivergent, struggling with PTSD, and Depression there was so much I had to unlearn about how we are to approach our issues in a healthy way instead of shifting it towards “lack of faith” “demonic” or “I didn't pray enough” each person in this life is going to experience something. For some it could be challenges within the mind. I hope that our generation unlearns toxic spirituality that enables us to stay in situations or ideas that prevent us from getting the proper help 🙏🏾.

TW- Talks of Spiritual Abuse, Meltdown, and Self Harm

I am just sharing this to bring awareness to trauma experienced from Autistic individuals from religious backgrounds (in this case Christian).

23F and I was late diagnosed in 2024 after several panic attacks and going through severe burnout. I was going to school and working 2 jobs without a car 🥺. I came home one evening after work and started uncontrollably crying, experienced skill regression as I forgot the basics of my job, severe insomnia, and depression to the point I lost my appetite. While I was experiencing this my mother started telling me to "take authority over that" and then started to shake me to get me to calm down.

After this, I managed to get in contact with a licensed Speech Pathologist and ASD specialist outside my state. I was screened and got my results back within 2 months. I then found out that in my state you have to be diagnosed by a Psychiatrist, Psychologist, or Neurologist (sometimes a Speech Pathologist is valid in some states other times it's not). I then went to a local university and got an IQ test, Autism assessment, and tested for other possible neurodivergence. I was diagnosed with ASD yet AGAIN! This time after 5 months of testing, yet my mother still believes im faking it and that "she knows people with autism and I'm not autistic".

I had to explain to her that autism from person to person looks different and just because I have low support needs and I can talk doesnt mean I'm not on the spectrum. She then proceeded to try to tell me about how people who are autistic are just people who struggle with demonic spirits and need Deliverance. I'm not Christian and I actually have friends who are Christian and on the autism spectrum! I'm so sick and tired of toxic religion telling people to deny science along with logic and reason to support these ridiculous delusions! I honestly believe alot of her denial is her not wanting to accept her own autistic traits! It's so tiresome! I've had several instances before where I've had autism meltdowns but didn't recognize them as such (including one at one of my cousins weddings which caused me to get yelled at even though I didn't understand myself why I reacted that way).

If anyone has any resources that could help until I'm able to move out please let me know! I just need to get out of this abusive environment!

23F, wondering if this was a common experience. Having a crush on someone and them becoming obsessed with them or they become your favorite thing to talk about. I'm self aware of it but I can't help it 😭.

If anyone has been paying attention to African LGBTQ news, recently they have doubled the penalty for those in same sex relationships. This includes those in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Senegal, and Nigeria too. I get so frustrated when I see white lesbians celebrate pride and bragging about oppression but literally many lesbians and LGBTQ people in the middle east and Africa are literally given the death penalty, thrown in jail, lynched, etc 😢.

I get it if this is not the post that fits Pride Month, but I just had this on my heart lately. If there are any lesbians here, please stay safe and take care of yourselves! Your existence isn't a crime ♥️

Hello, I've been Jewish for about 6 months now converted through the reform movement. I have a question regarding certificates. I asked others in my congregation if they received some sort of document confirming they converted at that shul. I have pictures from when I was converted along with a news letter with my name in it confirming I am Jewish and a member of that synagogue.

My question comes up as my Rabbi is now no longer able to be the leader of our congregation due to health issues (he had my surgery right before and after I was converted also) and I was wondering if this will affect me if I move or go to another reform shul. I plan on studying this year for conservative/masorti, but having a paper trail also helps. One of my congregation members said the rabbi has it on a file a Hebrew union college, but he initially converted conservative and attends reform

It’s been almost two months and I still can’t wrap my head around what you did to me! I accused you of things that weren’t your fault out of genuine misunderstanding and fear. On top of the message I sent you on Valentine’s Day that was inexcusable. I genuinely am sorry about those things I said about you and I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me and understand I was only trying to protect myself, but I ended up hurting one of my favorite people in the process. It really didn’t hit me until you sent me that fuckass break up text, and then I reread it and realize you did see the good in me…you did understand that I truly loved you, but you weren’t there yet….

That being said, I don’t think you understand how much your actions devastated me. I felt like you tricked me, you didn’t want to be by yourself so you used manipulation and self pity to get me to stay, all the while you haven’t even figured yourself out yet or we even sure if you wanted a relationship! How others have treated you bc of your mental illness doesn’t justify bread-crumbing and lying about your history! That’s the part that hurt. When it came to being reciprocal in empathy, care, accountability, although I was never perfect, I genuinely tried….you didn’t!

Respectfully I will always mourn this relationship as a tragedy, I felt for once in my life I found someone who genuinely understands me and I understand them….but that’s not how things work in this real world. I sent you that last message to give you a reality check on how things are out here! You can’t use how your parents and your ex treated you to be an avoidant POS to the very person that just wanted to help you 💔. Was it all mania…or was it real, was any of it real? 😞

I think about you all the time, I still have the Dinosaur you gave me. The journal you gave me I burned it because it was too painful to read 🥺. You taught me to never ignore the red flags bc you want to see the good in someone…you will pay for it everytime.

I accept your apologies, but I cannot do that to myself ever again anymore! I love you…and I always will. But please heal for yourself, and more importantly those that love you….

Take care ladybug 🐞…

TW in Advance:
In November 2015, I attempted suicide by jumping out of a moving car. I’m 23F and was diagnosed with PDD past year (Persistent Depressive Disorder) by a psychologist. I would like to open up this discussion to talk about signs of someone would could be suicidal and what goes through the mind of a person who experiences that. May is Mental health awareness month and I wanted to use this post to share how you can help someone and hopefully help your loved ones 🫶🏾.

Without going into personal details, please be mindful and report anyone who lies about their identity or their name on dating apps to lure you to talk to them.

I matched with someone in December who I didn’t know at the time was arrested with burglary and assault 6 months before they set up a dating profile. They were open with me about why they had been arrested (BP 1 psychosis episode) but not about the time frame or their name. I think they lied and said their name was something else to prevent me from finding out their record.

This person was also on the wrong dosage of medicine and I eventually found out was displaying signs of mania while talking with me. And when I asked them to go back to being friends because they were rapidly making plans, they snapped at me and the told me “I wouldn’t have made a dating profile if I wasn’t ready” then proceeded to try and guilt trip me into keep talking with them because in their words “everyone always leaves when they find out I have Bipolar disorder”

Along with a lot of other things, they were staying up very late and often time spending a lot of money, which made me really concerned that they were not stable enough to be in a relationship let alone on a dating app.

Throughout us talking, this person was abusing large amounts of alcohol (up to two bottles of wine per night) with their medication, and I warned them that that behavior is dangerous to their physical health. It could potentially poison them or even kill them. They ignored me and basically tried to redirect the conversation towards something else. Once I started doing further research about bipolar disorder, along with disclosing my own experience, having relatives with this disorder, I was trying to get them to take care of themselves and do better for themselves. Unfortunately, this person sent me a bunch of hurtful voice messages and also constantly brought up their ex saying that when she told them about their bipolar they were manipulating and controlling them. Even their friends called them out on their behavior.

I am not sharing this to shame those with this mental illness, but if you do not feel right or something is off about someone, DO NOT let someone guilt trip you for it and make you feel bad, and report it! Hinge has some safety tips in their profile to help users also. I don’t have much social media, but if you do, check the person who you are talking to for suspicious behavior or red flags! I found this persons mugshot on Facebook with their real name on it!

Anyways, please say safe everyone and good luck 💕

Without going into personal details, please be mindful and report anyone who lies about their identity or their name on dating apps to lure you to talk to them.

I matched with someone in December who I didn’t know at the time was arrested with burglary and assault 6 months before they set up a dating profile. They were open with me about why they had been arrested (BP 1 psychosis episode) but not about the time frame or their name. I think they lied and said their name was something else to prevent me from finding out their record.

This person was also on the wrong dosage of medicine and I eventually found out was displaying signs of mania while talking with me. And when I asked them to go back to being friends because they were rapidly making plans, they snapped at me and the told me “I wouldn’t have made a dating profile if I wasn’t ready” then proceeded to try and guilt trip me into keep talking with them because in their words “everyone always leaves when they find out I have Bipolar disorder”

Along with a lot of other things, they were staying up very late and often times spending a lot of money, which made me really concerned that they were not stable enough to be in a relationship let alone on a dating app.

Throughout us talking, this person was abusing large amounts of alcohol (up to two bottles of wine per night) with their medication, and I warned them that that behavior is dangerous to their physical health. It could potentially poison them or even kill them. They ignored me and basically tried to redirect the conversation towards something else. Once I started doing further research about bipolar disorder, along with disclosing my own experience, having relatives with this disorder, I was trying to get them to take care of themselves and do better for themselves. Unfortunately, this person sent me a bunch of hurtful voice messages and also constantly brought up their ex saying that when she told them about their bipolar they were manipulating and controlling them. Even their friends called them out on their behavior.

I am not sharing this to shame those with this mental illness, but if you do not feel right or something is off about someone, DO NOT let someone guilt trip you for it and make you feel bad, and report it! Hinge has some safety tips in their profile to help users also. I don’t have much social media, but if you do, check the person who you are talking to for suspicious behavior or red flags! I found this persons mugshot on Facebook with their real name on it!

Anyways, please say safe everyone and good luck 💕