Welcome!

Hi there. I’m Genesee, a twenty-something year old freelance graphic designer and artist living  with a whole laundry list of mental and physical illness diagnoses, including ADHD, schizoaffective disorder, and endometriosis, which causes chronic pain and fatigue. I’ve known all my life that the world was not made for people like me. Everything from phone etiquette to home arrangements caused me some kind of distress that was seemingly invisible to everyone else around me. I’ve learned a lot about overcoming these obstacles, mostly on my own. Living with chronic illness, I know that I spend way too much of my life trying to overcome the obstacles of getting by before I even consider living my life in any enjoyable capacity. I figured that if I could share any useful information to others going through the same thing, I might be able to help save a bit of their time and agony so they can keep trying to live their best life. 

I want to make it abundantly clear that I am not a licensed counselor, therapist, or doctor of any kind, even though I wanted to take that career route for a while. The information presented on this website is a collection of my own experiences and (cited) compiled information I’ve found while researching these topics. Please take my posts with a grain of salt. Mental health is an extremely personal experience that gets infinitely more complicated when neurodivergency  is added to the mix. Talk to your own therapist, psychiatrist, or doctor before making any drastic changes in your care routine. These posts are meant to be a starting point for you to learn more about which tactics might work best for you. 

I feel like it is worth mentioning that I am also speaking from a place of privilege. I’m a white, middle-class person with health insurance and a good support system. My mental illnesses are not mild but I’ve sharpened my masking skills so much that I can pass as a neurotypical person most of the time. In the words of Esme Wang in The Collected Schizophrenias, “I’m a high functioning person with a low functioning illness.” I realize that all of these things drastically change my lens on these topics. I do, however, try my best to educate myself on these things so I can speak as objectively as possible.

I also want to mention that you absolutely do not have to be mentally ill yourself to partake in the discourse on my blog! Part of the reason why some of this information took me so long to learn was due to the fact that mental health is so stigmatized and it’s a sign of weakness to say, “hey, why the fuck is life so hard and how the hell do I make it easier?” A fair amount of the content on this blog can be useful to neurotypical (non-mentally ill) individuals, and the content that isn’t can still be learned and applied to your relationships with people in your life  that do live with mental illness. I promise you know someone who does, even if you aren’t aware of it yet. 

I’ll be covering a wide variety of topics on this blog, but ultimately, I’ll be discussing what I know and what interests me. Here’s some of the broad topics you can expect: 

• Information on biological psychology / behavioral neuroscience: why our brain chemistry makes us act the way that we do, and what we can do about it 
• Explanations of various therapy techniques, how and why they work, and how to start using them in day-to-day life, outside of therapy sessions 
• Suggestions on daily routines, organization techniques, and self care tasks that fit a neurodivergent lifestyle
• Book and media reviews and suggestions, all related to mental health or illness 
• Rants and raves about the struggles I face
  

If there’s something in particular that you want to know more about, you are more than welcome to send me your suggestions and I’ll do the best I can! 

If you want to know more about me, check out my About page. 

Thanks for following along on this journey, I hope you find it useful.