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Why is it that Twitter thinks they know so much about random teenagers that they just fake claim them with no evidence??? Yes, a teen can have that many disorders ffs. Comorbidity is a thing, and not to mention the genetics some families have that alone can cause so many disorders.
"But you can't be diagnosed with [insert disorder here as a kid!" Yes, you can. It's just that it's typical for them to wait in the case of personality disorders. If it's bad enough or needed, they will do it younger. There are plenty of professionally diagnosed kids online. Aren't even hard to come by.
It all just comes off as "Grrrr, these kids actually got more stuff than me and I'm mad about it because it doesn't conform to my view of the world" tbh like grow up. Not to mention, let's say they were faking. THAT IS A SIGN OF MENTAL ILLNESS!!!! That is quite literally what some professionals look for when trying to diagnose certain disorders.
You're making up rules about disorders that just bring harm to those with them, then getting pissy when people point out how bad that is. Be real
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Joe
I kind of have to respectfully disagree, a lot of disorders aren’t diagnosed for kids because many disorders just… don’t develop until early adolescence, I think outwardly harassing children online is bad, but personally questioning wether or not a 13 yo is being honest about their diagnosis is kind of expectable. They aren’t made up rules, they are things that practiced medical professionals will say, it’s not IMPOSSIBLE, but the probabilities of someone under the age of 14, having 3-6 diagnosed personality, mood, dissociative, or schizoaffective disorders is so low- especially those which have overlapping symptoms or presentations. Yes, there are professionally diagnosed kids, but I would argue they are much higher to come by depending on what said diagnosis is, plenty of 13-14 year olds are diagnosed with depression, not so much of schizophrenia, even less so with DID, it just really doesn’t work as an umbrella.
Yes, faking a mental illness can be a sign for another mental illness, but isn’t an excuse for it, this is similar to people blaming harmful, exploitive, or abusive behaviors on their disorders- they shouldn’t be attacked, because they are children, but it shouldn’t be swept under the rug simply because they are unwell, accountability is important.
For most people it isn’t “Grrrr, these kids actually got more stuff than me and I’m mad about it because it doesn’t conform to my view of the world.” It’s that faking disorders, especially those subject to the most scrutiny, is incredibly harmful, and typically those who are faking invade the spaces of people with said disorders. No one is upset that a child is more traumatized than them, that is a ridiculous statement, people are annoyed that their lived experiences are being claimed, aestheticized, and used as a label for emotions, hormones, and want of attention rather than for what they actually are. It is offensive to me when someone claims to have a disorder they don’t, especially if they are also claiming to be officially diagnosed, it muddies the waters for everyone as is the same as anyone claiming something they aren’t- a white person claiming to be a race their not, and that they experience racism or other struggles because of that, would be shot down immediately it’s the same thing in my eyes.
This is coming from someone who was diagnosed with some things as a teen, and had some diagnosis specifically put off until I was an adult. This is not meant to be mean, I’m autistic this is all genuine.
I can see your point, don't worry. And I apologize for coming too strong! I don't think faking should be swept under the rug by any means. I more so meant that most kids 'faking' aren't doing it maliciously or purposefully. They tend to just be wrong in what they have! They don't even gain much of anything, let alone 'faking' personality disorders since just having one of those even if professionally recognized/diagnosed, can lead to death threats, etc.
Plus, most fake claims just tend to cause more incorrect info being spread along with fakers. Which is why, in my opinion, without any actual proof, fake claims shouldn't be made. Also, what I meant by arbitrary rules is stuff that is not said by professionals but rather made up by those without said disorders as a means to fake claim others. Basically, to create 'proof' where there is none.
Not to mention when people bring up mental illness being 'turned into an aesthetic' tend to not bring up actual cases of that(Not you). They just show someone being positive about their disorder in a positive manner that just happened to be a little cringe. As for the invading spaces, most kids stick to each other or just post online, which at that point people can block them.
To me, fake claiming is highly unproductive and tends to be overdone by those who are seen as cringe by neurotypicals or other neurodivergents who do not present in a stereotypical cringe way. 'Fakers' aren't held accountable, and more so just get harassed. The ones faking on purpose were 9 times out of 10 adults, not teens. Not to mention the number of adults asking kids to show them their medical documents to prove themselves was insane and highly dangerous.
Questioning the kid's validity is one thing, but that is straight up not what most people do. And even if people don't majorly get diagnosed until adulthood, being medically recognized before that isn't all that uncommon, which leads to people saying they have it when they aren't 18 yet(For simplicity). Childhood schizophrenia is also very real and under-looked do to stigma as someone who had it. My personality disorder stuff showed since I was 12. Hell, I was also dismissed for most of it until I was an adult, which is why I get so angry on these kids' behalf. Because I knew something was wrong, and no one listened just for me, like many others, to end up being right. It cost me YEARS of pain.
Fake claiming relies on ASSUMPTIONS. Even if something isn't highly probable doesn't mean a kid should be questioned by strangers, even through a vague tweet. For DID people also don't get diagnosed because they don't realize yet when people start realizing it's treated like a bad thing, rather than the info being more available, thus naturally leads to more realization.
Then there is underdiagnosis/misdiagnosis due to medical racism, transphobia, homophobia, misogyny, poverty, abusive partners/parents/guardians, etc. List goes on. Once again, a diagnosis is a luxury unfortunately in this day and age.
Basically while faking is bad, the act of fake claiming or even just speculating does more harm than good. Once again I understand the anger, but this sort of thing is not the answer to it when it usually just ends up being a harmful thing due to MOST claimers/speculators being bad actors(Not saying you've done any of the stuff mentioned in this comment) /nm /gen :0
by Chromadic_; ; Report
No need to apologize from coming on strong! I admire your passion on the topic and I think regardless of wether or not I agree, that kids need people willing to advocate for them like you :) I can definitely see your point, I think maybe my POV has just been soured by my own interactions and world view. I agree that I think fake claiming at its core is not good, especially when vocalized to said person being fake claimed, harassment is never okay unless said person is genuinely horrible. For DID, people don’t diagnosed because it presents stealthily, it took me 4 years to be diagnosed and I had to see a specialist, that’s just an extra part of it I’m tough on because liscened medical professionals struggle to diagnose it (my process started with my therapist, then psych, then to a specialist because they wanted to be sure) and it’s hard for me to imagine anyone thinking that they know better than people who have studied the subject their whole lives. It can do more harm than good, but I think people misconstruing disorders that they don’t have as explanations for typical things also makes it harder for people with said disorders, especially in diagnosis. My specialist had a year long wait list (because most will not see patients under 18 that are not recommended by a psychologist), said waitlists were clogged by 13-16 year olds that in his owns words, were dealing with completely different issues, obviously medical information is private so it wasn’t like he shared intimate details but out of the entire waitlist he concluded that after their initial appointments he only took about 3 people myself included as patients as no one else was diagnosed with a dissociative disorder. It’s just hard because I have very consistently had my own personal resources taken or encroached upon by people, usually younger, that just do not have said disorders. A support group in my town starting in 2021 was suddenly swamped by a influx of minors which 1, was not very safe, but 2 almost none of them were diagnosed and the issues they spoke about as ‘symptoms’ of DID were simply not experiences anyone seemed to have aside from the other minors. Idk, it’s just a slipper slope for me, I know there are a lot of bad actors who just go around fakeclaiming everyone they see as cringey, but I also know there are a lot of people like me who already struggle with misinformation and stigma around their disorders who has seen that worsen as they have began to ‘trend’ online, if that makes any sense!
by Joe; ; Report