And so it goes...

darren + talking about mia ｡♥ ‿ ♥｡

some people are afraid of dogs but i’m afraid of the opposite of dogs. the absence of dogs. dogless space

fun tip:

anxiety is not cured by forcing a person into the situation that makes them anxious

EXACTLY GOD BLESS YOUR GOOD SOUL

it’s called systematic desensitization and/or flooding and it’s one of the most effective treatments for anxiety and phobias

but you know, whatever, let’s keep being fucking stupid and demonizing treatment because it’s unpleasant to go through

okay so let’s talk about that

For background knowledge: I have an anxiety disorder and I remember having my first panic attack more than ten years ago. There was a period where I was having panic attacks almost daily and where I genuinely did not think I was fit to function in day-to-day life. I also have received trauma counseling, and training in trauma counseling. I have worked with people with depression and anxiety, and people with PTSD. I am not a professional but that training has been hugely helpful to me in dealing with my own disorder.

If you force someone into systematic desensitization before they are ready you can do irreparable damage. 

By forcing someone to experience something that triggers their anxiety over and over again when they are not ready, especially in the case of people living with trauma, you are reopening wounds over and over and over again and undoing a great deal of their recovery, if not all of it. You are forcing them into a situation in which they can experience sensory overload, in which their body starts to shut down, and in some cases, in which they dissociate entirely.

Can systematic desensitization work? Absofuckinglutely. Does it always? Nope. Especially not if you force someone into it without their consent, and when they’re not ready for it.

So please, take your self-righteous bullshit and shove it up your ass. Treatment can be good but it can also be intensely horrifying and traumatizing for people and just because something has worked for person x and person y does not mean it will work for person z, and if you insist on shoving people into things that will trigger their anxiety when they’re not okay with it and they’re not ready you will harm them. Grievously.

Your experience and knowledge does not define all experience and knowledge and the idea that you wouldn’t have to, gosh, apply some thought to how you’re treating a complex human individual with unique triggers and circumstances when you could instead assume the same treatment works for everyone is supremely arrogant and is fucking bullshit.

Stiles and I both feel it. Every day. Just like you said we would. And it makes me think about that quote Jennifer used to start our first class. Because when I feel it, it’s like I’m looking into the heart of an immense darkness.

So what do you do instead?

I look for my friends.

Darren Criss and Mickey Sumner at the Girl Most Likely premiere afterparty. [Vogue.com]

Darren Criss wore a black ribbon in Cory Monteith’s honor at NYC ‘Girl Most Likely’ premiere

The Phillies showed a nice montage of Shane Victorino during today’s game. Shane acknowledged the fans and received a standing ovation from the entire stadium.

Goats! (x)

“I LOVE MONICA, I LOVE HER!”