u/dikdiklikesick

I'm sick of self diagnosis. I'm sick of everyone who is slightly awkward claiming to be autistic. Or someone that is thoughtless claiming they are autistic. Or being excitable and claiming to have BP II. Or not enjoying work and claiming ADHD. I was going to say I've noticed no one has claimed Down's Syndrome for clout, but then I remembered a really horrific case of that.

I'm happy there is more normalization & awareness of mental issues. But AAAAAAAARG! My life was an unending series of humiliations & dangers from my siblings having BP II & autism. It's not cute! It made their lives so extremely painful and challenging. It made my parent's lives painful and challenging. It made my life painful and challenging! Developmental issues are not a pass to just be a dickhead to people.

I've noticed that people who falsely claim to have autism usually don't have the really embarrassing parts. Like the awkward facial movements, stereotyped motions, toe walking, monotropism, flat affect, inappropriate volume, flapping, hitting their head on the wall, zoomies, the scratching & hitting, the self harm, complete lack of awareness of appropriate behavior. It's just they are kind of mean & thoughtless.

Honestly, it's really cruel to people trying to survive out here. When people treat BP like a joke it makes it harder for people /with/ BPD to want their treatment or to even understand what is happening to them. When people act like autism is this easy thing to live with, it makes it harder for people who are struggling with their autism. I'm sick of it!

I'm sick of people talking over me about it. They won't even listen to how BPII & autism affected my life. They just say "Oh you get it, I'm silly some times!" No, man, if you have BP II you'll get paranoid & cut your sister's breaks because of some perceived slight. It's not the same as being animated at all.

I don't know how others feel about this. I'd like to know I'm not alone, but if I am that's fine.

edit: Correct BP II. And clarifying I am not saying the people who mask well are fakers. I am not talking about you personally. I understand people cannot afford diagnosis, but be real, you know people do this with every mental illness, why do you think people wouldn't do it with autism?

I need some help with strategies for dealing with my family. I've learned to cope with autistic meltdowns. The being ignored. The expectations. Everything except: I can't deal with the delusions.

My younger sister, in her 40s, is autistic. She is very high functioning, but that unfortunately masks some serious issues. She still has the emotional development of someone between 13-18. Most of the time that doesn't matter, but she'll get these childish delusions and be completely intractable. For some reason my mother goes along with them.

This was irritating enough when I was a youth, but I'm in my 50s now. I don't know how to distance myself from the belief that my sister can talk to animals and is psychic. I don't mean like, regular people talk to animals. You know body language, some squeeks and meows or whatever. I mean that she thinks she can hold philosophical discussions with animals.

I don't mind if she believes that! It doesn't harm anyone. It is that they are trying to force me to agree that she can talk to animals. She can't.

They won't even agree to let me have my version of reality. They absolutely must have me agree that she can talk to animals and have them do things for her like clean the house. My family yells at me and tries to coerce me if I doubt it. I don't even say I doubt it, I just make a doubting face.

There are other delusions that are more extreme, but I don't want to give too many specifics, because I want to keep this account anonymous. I think many of the specifics would give it away.

Please, any advice. I'm being mega gaslit here. It's very hard on me.