Euphylli - Rayne 🌧

Couldn’t you just pause it

fyi to yall in quarantine whos grasp on reality is getting a little slippery: isolation, intense boredom, stress and lack of positive routine are absolutely contributing factors to exacerbating psychosis and psychosis-adjacent disorders, even latent ones. im not saying this to fearmonger im saying it so u can recognise it and take steps to handle it especially if it induces your first ever episode.

some warning signs can include

starting to believe unusual things that you previously did not believe (e.g. living in a simulation / you or others around you not being real / secretly being in hell or dead / otherworldly beings communicating with you somehow / government conspiracies / everyone around you is out to get you and harboring ill intent)

seeing things youre pretty sure arent there (e.g. shadow people, floating lights, stationary objects moving on their own, animals in a house that doesnt have pets)

hearing things (e.g. murmured voices, occasional clear and loud voices, faint music, scratching sounds, any without a source)

feeling a sense of dread or generalised paranoia, a sense that you are being watched or that something terrible is looming on the horizon but you dont know what

having extra trouble putting your thoughts in order and speaking coherently, cannot concentrate, space out to the point of feeling slightly catatonic

those most at risk are anyone with a family history of this vein of mental illness as well as those using certain drugs to get through the tedium of quarantine - if this is you, its best to research whether the substances youre using have documented links to triggering episodes of psychosis in users. weed is included in this, not just psychoactive drugs.

here are some steps you can take to get a handle on the situation if your grasp on reality is slipping like this and you cant access irl mental health resources.

have a routine. this is vitally important - you need structure. set an alarm for a specific time every day, even though you have nowhere to be. give yourself a bedtime. eat 2 meals a day, at least, at regular times.

leave the house. no, i dont mean Go Out, just be outside for a while every day or two. go for a walk if you can. stand outside your house for 15 minutes paying attention to the cars and the birds and the breeze and the clouds if you cant. really observe your surroundings. get sunlight.

on that note - let as much natural light into your house as possible during waking hours. your circadian rhythm needs it.

take up some form of hobby that requires physical engagement - whether thats journaling, drawing, making origami, gardening, cooking. the point of this is to ground yourself in your body and the world around you, have an affect on your surroundings, and stimulate your brain.

dont dwell on your delusions, hallucinations or distressing trains of thought if you can help it. that isnt to say "snap out of it and just dont have symptoms", but rather accept them without either judging them or overindulging in them. observe them as they happen, accept that they happen, and let it go, if you can. you may not be able to control the experiences, but you can control how you react to them, and the best case scenario is not allowing them to overwhelm your thoughts and your days. this is much easier said than done, especially if the experiences are distressing in nature, but the aim is to sever the feedback loop that causes further stress and thus further bad extrasensory experiences.

this is honestly just a basic surface scratch of advice though bc im by no means an expert, just someone w latent psychosis who used to work in the field for a while. there are tons of resources online by others who have experienced psychosis that can be a huge help if u think you might be at risk due to the stress, boredom and uncertainty of quarantine

AAVE: STOP APPROPRIATING IT

What you as a non-black person shouldn’t be saying (this includes non-black poc):

killin it

-game too strong (i.e. eyebrow game too strong, etc.)

-ass (i.e. That’s some ignorant-ass shit.)

hella

turnt/turnt up/turn up/turn down for what

shade/throwin’ shade

ratchet (don’t be a smartass, the adjective not the object)

werk

yas

habitual “be” (i.e. they be killin it, he be walkin, bitches be like, etc.)

the thirst/thirsty

anything being “real” (i.e. the struggle is real, the thirst is real, etc.)

the struggle

on point (i.e. outfit is on point)

chill (as in got no chill)

side-eye

stank face

cray cray

-had me like

trippin’

boo/bae

imma be

do/dough/dat

gurl/boi

basic (as in basic bitch)

holla

finna (i.e. I’m finna do xyz)

tho/doe

reading/read

school/schooling

dope

fo sho/fo real

y’all

dig/dig it/ya dig/you dig

respect (i.e. respect man)

about that/here for that (i.e. I’m not about that life, I’m here for this)

tight (i.e. this shit got me tight)

giving life (i.e. Beyonce gives me life, black tumblr giving me life)

swag

goin’ through it

Things to avoid in general because they are offensive and/or mock black culture:

Sassy (NO YOU DO NOT HAVE A SASSY BLACK WOMAN LIVING INSIDE OF YOU.  STOP.  LOOKIN AT YOU WHITE GAY COMMUNITY).

Do not call black hair kinky or nappy. (Don’t touch it either).

Do not call things ghetto. Just don’t.

Don’t use the word thug in relation to black men.

Do not assume black people are ignorant just because they don’t speak the same dialect of English as you do.

Don’t make fun of black names.

If you use the n-word, I have no sympathy for you.  Good fucking luck.