so…why do you hate mentally ill fickin enough to reblog such a nasty post?

I don’t hate anyone. Especially not mentally ill people. My mother has struggled with bipolar 2 for 30 years, both with, and without medication, and therapy and spent a number of years of my childhood in and out of rehab for cocaine addiction. I believe that mentally ill people deserve understanding, compassion, and dignity.

However, I do not agree that people who believe they are fictionkin *solely* as a result of  mental illness are ‘real’ fictionkin. That is to say, they are not experiencing the same phenomena as spiritual/psychological fictionkin. Same for the people who consider being fictionkin a mere ‘coping tool’.

You may feel like this opinion is ableist, exclusionary, or identity policing. I understand, and you do have the right to feel excluded, however, please consider my point of view:

Ever since I awakened as fictionkin nearly 10 years ago, I have been harassed, trolled, and ridiculed at every opportunity. The message of the harassment was always the same. The message was, and continues to be that because I believe that I am a fictional character, I must be delusional, and mentally ill. The message is that I must seek help for my beliefs. The message is that no sane person could possibly believe that they truly are, in some way, a fictional character. I still get messages telling me this. So do many of my friends who are fictionkin. It hasn’t changed in ten years. When I say I am fictionkin, people believe that means I am delusional.

I have spent years of my life fighting online for fictionkin to be recognized as a valid belief, and not to be dismissed as a mere delusion, or symptom of insanity. I will never give up this belief, or this fight.

To me, being fictionkin is something real. Its not a delusion due to mental illness, or a coping mechanism developed in response to an abusive situation. I can never prove fictionkin to be ‘true’ objectively, but I believe and know in my heart that it is something real about me, and about others.

When I hear people claiming that being fictionkin is a symptom of, or coping mechanism developed for their mental illness, I feel invalidated. I feel like my sincere beliefs are being depreciated and in some cases, mocked. To hear that people use being fictionkin, what is my sincere belief as a ‘coping tool’ hurts me deeply.

I don’t want to take away something that gives someone else who is hurting, comfort, even when it causes me pain. However, the problem arises that when mentally ill people call themselves fictionkin online, and acknowledge that this belief is related to their illness, they give the detractors of fictionkin ammunition. People who hate fictionkin can point to these people and say “See, they admit it. They’re delusional. That means you’re just being delusional too. You need help”

I can’t stop anyone from expressing themselves however they want. However, I can, and will continue to express that I feel that mentally ill ‘kin’ are extremely invalidating and devaluing to traditional kin. That’s just how I feel.