Yesterday When Working With My Case Manager, She Went Through A Long Checklist Of My Comprehensive Needs

yesterday when working with my case manager, she went through a long checklist of my comprehensive needs to refresh our treatment plan. as a part of the questions she was asking me, she asked for various areas of my financial struggles, including if i was able to afford social activities such as hanging out with friends, going to the movies, etc. as part of my necessary purchases. the question was specifically phrased as "Do you have enough money every month to be able to afford social activities?"

this was not proposed as a "luxury". the question was not phrased as "Do you have enough money every month to afford luxuries/luxury purchases?" this was listed with the necessities like food, housing, medical needs, transportation, bills, and clothing. this made me burst into tears when i realized it was considered a necessary part of everyone's mental and well being. my case manager told me that not a singular person on this planet deserves to have to "earn" the right to socialize, interact with leisure activities, or to do things that bring you personal fulfillment. your money does not, and should not entirely go toward survival and practicality. it will ruin your mental health.

to any poor person who has ever been told that they don't "need" or "deserve" social or leisure activities or that your money "needs" to go 100% toward survival: they are straight up lying to you. it is a fundamental part of your mental health. don't fucking listen to them.

The thing about ADHD is that the "lack of reward chemicals in your brain" doesn't just mean that you don't want to do any tasks that don't feel particularly yummy :(, it means that your brain will look at chores and tasks that need to be done like "doing this would be painful and tedious for absolutely nothing to gain from it, Do Not Do That." The same thing that your brain tells you about everything else that would feel really bad and hurt the entire time that you're dying. The part of your brain that stops you from doing the thing is the same part that keeps you from shoving your arm into a wood chipper.

With unmedicated, unmanaged ADHD, "I have to do this assignment or I fail and my life will be ruined and I die" feels like a SAW trap, every single time.

im proudly ableist if it means people get to experience their personal life struggles differently from me

I LVOE HAMILTON I LOVE SOTRYBOARD IN I LOVE

(hey here’s why I didn’t update yesterday)

Wanted to try my hand at an animated storyboard, it was a lot of fun! Hugely inspired by this incredible video

There’s like 12 different kinds of tension in this image.