The fear is balanced by the joy I experience being neurodivergent. “Neurodivergence” is a positive reframe on having a “mental illness” diagnosis. I generally think the diagnoses in the DSM have about as much legitimacy as horoscopes. For me, that means they do line up to a degree, but it can be harmful or at least unhelpful to take them too seriously. My diagnosis is Bipolar. I have experienced acute mania and severe depression, and have had to endure four involuntary hospitalizations.
My experience of psychiatric “treatment” is an institutionalized oppression just like the other forms of power that haunt me and others. I can’t do anything to change those forces. At least not by myself. That’s about collective action. Psychiatry needs to be dismantled and rebuilt, like all other systems of coercion and control.
But what can I do? 12 step recovery has given me a great deal of serenity—largely through its foundational building block—the serenity prayer.