3.5E
What interested you in this book club? Are you neurodiverse? Do you know someone who is? I finally pursued an adhd diagnosis after 30+ years of coping and depression after being raised by parents too anxious about the stigma of neurodivergence to pursue a diagnosis (just put me in advanced classes instead). My partner and I are both shades of partly diagnosed spicy, adhd and major depression are mine and she has a “highly sensitive introvert personality” with anxiety. We’ve been tugging at threads in our tangled brains to try and figure out what’s up. We’re both fairly successful in our fields through masking, coping, and misery, and want to be advocates such that no one else needs to feel anything besides pride and an embrace of their neurodiversity. Hoping the perspectives of this book will be transformative in the way that Trans Liberation was the first time I read it. A better future is coming for all of us.
What stood out to you about the introduction? Any choice quotes? Anything you relate to? Will download tonight and dive in and check back in to the thread.
Ps this com has already done wonders for my understanding of neurodiversity, embrace of my own and that of others, and you’re all wonderful people who deserve nothing but the best from life
Cat- I’m a kitty cat- and I dance dance dance and I dance dance dance
Cw- talks of excessive drinking and suicidal ideation
https://.clevelandclinic.org/emotional-hangover-why-alcohol-can-give-you-anxiety
spoiler
___ Alcohol is a depressant and messes with your serotonin and causes a laundry list of related issues. By the time you’ve aged, your body is unable to process this literal poison as effectively as when you were younger. When you’re coming up from a hangover it is intensely important to remember that it amplifies thoughts associated what that depressant classification- suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety- and worsens how essentially every one of your major organ systems function.I used to be a problem drinker-still am given the opportunity-in order to cope with anxiety/de-mask in social situations/de-stress. I’ve heard it described as paying for tonight’s fun with tomorrow’s happiness. For me, it’s been essential to understand why I’m drinking, and in addition to regular water drinking, take regular mental check-ins. When I drink a pint or two with friends it’s usually as a social lubricant. When I stay at the bar after for another 8 by myself-there’s usually something else going on.
Frankly it’s literal self-harm. It’s only legal because capitalists use it to exploit the proletariat to great effect.
That said too, 4 pints in a night now give me the equivalent hangover that a case would- aka the enshittification of my liver- and yes it will happen to young folks too- faster than you think. I’ve heard 100% agave tequila doesn’t have the same depressant effect. Idk if it’s true, but if I wanna get blasted that’s usually my drink of choice.
I try to stick to thc edibles now when I want a buzz- in a legal state so unfortunately isn’t the case for everyone.
Final moralizing point- take care of yourself, friend. Treat yourself like you would a dear friend. Drink water, talk about what’s bothering you, and pace yourself. We live in a hell world, and can only persist together. The capitalists want you to drink yourself to death-don’t give them that pleasure.