gothschizo:

penguinsandpetticoats:

gothschizo:

gothschizo:

people always talk about edgy 13 year olds saying they have a mental illness to look cool as if that started with tumblr but like.. they’ve always done that…… they’ve literally always done shit like that. and overall increased access to mental health resources is an overwhelmingly good thing. plus if someone’s pretending to have an illness for attention they could probably use those resources anyways

the idea of the “teenager who lies about mental illness for attention” is essentially entirely a myth. i’m absolutely aware there are kids who say they have schizophrenia when they don’t, but i think them doing that is a lot more complicated than “they want to look cool online”. it’s often them recognizing the onset of mental illness of some kind and processing it through the only lens they have, which is media portrayals.

and behaviour like that CAN often be a “cry for attention”, but that’s something that needs to be taken seriously. people discredit a lot of things young people do (especially self destructive behaviours or self harm itself) as being something they’re just doing for attention, but that’s ridiculous because someone being in a situation where they need help enough they’re willing to hurt themselves to get it IS a real problem. attention seeking behaviour is a symptom.

Not to derail, but this happens with physical illnesses too, I wasn’t diagnosed for months because my doctor thought I was ‘just being a teenager’ when I was literally in kidney failure. If a teenager is saying they’re ill, chances are they fucking are ill.  

this isn’t derailing in the slightest! i really appreciate this addition. because my experiences there are pretty limited i didn’t want to speak on how this articulates with physical disability, but i know the rates of young people (ESPECIALLY young women) being dismissed by medical professionals despite having genuine medical issues that need addressing is staggering.