Why I don't want to interact with "delusional attachment"/ "irl"s, since this is an apparently controversial thing to say.
ㅤㅤ⇢ This is specifically referring to "delusional attachments", things such as fictionkin, fictives, etc are not targeted by this statement
ㅤㅤㅤI wrote a thread on it here, but I have more to say here lol.
Speaking as somebody with psychosis, the way "irls" are handled online is, for lack of a better word, bullshit. There's far too much of "refer to them as their 'source name'", which is.. stupid. It is a delusion, and while it's not always best to challenge a delusion, it sure as hell isn't okay to feed into them as well. Whether you find comfort in it or not, delusions are harmful. There's far too much misinformation and feeding into psychosis for me to be anywhere near comfortable with that.
ㅤㅤㅤEven things such as labelling yourself as the [whatever your delusion is], is harmful. You are not your delusion, whether you like that or not, it's no more than psychosis. The amount of people who seem to actively encourage these types of delusions, or any in general, is sickening. If you wouldn't encourage any other type of psychosis, what makes this different? Because you think finding comfort in illness is doing something for you? At the end of the day, it's only doing more harm to your mental state. Long term effects of psychosis are nothing to mess with.
ㅤㅤㅤNot the mention the fact that so much of the supposed information about "delusional attachments" found online is essentially lies by people who want you to feed into their delusions because they feel it's okay. This Carrd is a great example of this. Within the first page, it states that one "becomes" an individual in which they're not, which is very obviously not true and dangerous to feed into. It also states that you should feed into ones delusions and address them as such, which is quite frankly stupid.
ㅤㅤㅤWhen psychosis is present, you are not to feed into the delusion. That's basic knowledge for anybody who has experienced or knows somebody who has experienced psychosis before. Encouraging an illness is an issue no matter how you want to paint it. I'm not saying to challenge the delusion immediately, as that too can be harmful, however that is an eventual step in breaking out of delusion. The aforementioned Carrd also states not to use medical terms such as "delusional, psychotic, fake identity, etc". Again, while challenging ones delusion out of nowhere can certainly present harm, for the love of god DON'T FEED INTO IT. I don't understand why that's such a hard concept for some people, but it apparently is.
ㅤㅤㅤIf you are attached to a character, there are ways to do that healthily, rather than a literal mental issue. Psychosis isn't some sort of fun and glamorized thing, and it's definitely not something you should want. I feel that maybe this will be taken more into consideration by bringing up the fact that repeated psychosis can lead to damaging not just your psyche, but your brain itself.
ㅤㅤㅤThis is coming from somebody who has experienced delusions of this manner, and can tell you firsthand that they are most definitely harmful. If you don't like that, then don't interact with me. If you continue to, just know that I will most definitely not be feeding into your delusions.
If you are experiencing delusions of this sort, please seek psychological help. Whether that be in-person or researching how to better maintain your mental health, because encouraging "IRLs/DAs" is unhealthy no matter how you look at it