‘’The woman you’re becoming will cost you people, relationships, spaces and material things.. Choose her over everything’’ 

sanctuarywitch:

starlight-witches:

sopherielspeaks:

Spiritualism and spiritual communities are filled with ableist ideas. To raise awareness for the harm these ideas cause, I’ve compiled a list here of all the examples of ableism I’ve observed as a participant in spiritual communities. Feel free to add on with your own examples too! 

• Saying psychotropic medication lessens spiritual abilities: This seems especially common in energy working, where there’s a standard that medication for mental illness makes energy work less effective. When our bodies need something via medication, this doesn’t hinder our spiritual ability to work and heal. 
  
• The idea “you need to love yourself before you can love another, or be loved by someone”: Simply not true! Working on loving ourselves as best we can is helpful to finding supportive relationships and loving others, but it’s not essential. We can always be a work in progress, and we’re still worthy and capable of love while we’re growing. 
• The belief we need to meditate in order to be “truly spiritual”: Not all of us have the ability to meditate. Many forms of meditation require intense concentration, which can be difficult for people living with ADD, ADHD, Traumatic Brain Injuries, or Anxiety Disorders (and others!). Also, meditation can bring us into the present moment which can be very intense when someone feels heavy emotions in the present moment (like with depression, PTSD, and other emotional states or disorders). 
• That we cannot work with spirits if we have a mental illness: For some people, it may be wise not to work with spirits when they have a mental illness, since it can create challenges around discerning the difference between voices and actual spiritual communication. But, to blanket everyone under this limitation is ableist. Each person knows their own limits best. 
• That yoga is the cure to physical and mental illness: This one’s almost a joke in disabled communities, but too often do we actually hear that doing yoga will cure our physical and/or mental illness. Yoga can be a great coping or healing tool for some, but it’s not possible nor desired by everyone. 
• Spending time in nature can cure depression and/or mood disorders: Nature can be fantastic and lots of elements can indeed boost our mood! Despite these, nature is not usually a cure for any mood disorder or mental illness. Equating nature with “real medication,” all because you don’t agree with actual medication, is ableist. 
• Equating spiritual systems with Dissociative Identity Disorder: Some people with DID do experience alters or components of their personality that have spiritual or non-human identities, but these are not always or often the same as spiritual systems. DID is a condition that faces some of the gravest stigma out of all mental illness, so increasing this stigma by attaching spirituality to it without clear distinction can do some harm. Otherkin “systems” are not the same as DID systems. For those with DID who have spiritual identities as alters, that’s wholly you and your own system, so that’s obviously valid though! 
• Praying for or spiritually healing the disabled without their permission: Too often, disabled people have others sending them pity in the form of prayer or unwanted healing. Not only does this make us feel awkward (especially since many of us do live great lives and don’t hate our disabilities!), but it’s also not respecting our personal and spiritual boundaries. (Note: there are some forms of healing, like Reiki, that will not interact with a person if their spirit or mind doesn’t consent to it, which overrides this point for that specific practice.)
• Cursing to try to give someone a mental or physical illness: Pretty self-explanatory. Wishing an illness on anyone, especially through direct spiritual intention, is a malevolent act. It’s ableist because it reduces the gravity of mental or physical illness and creates the idea that these can be caused by spirituality alone.
• Believing that it is “bad karma” or that a person deserved their illness because they are being spiritually punished: Some people do believe in karma, and that’s totally valid. But, imposing this belief on others is harmful and ableist. Imagine if someone came up to you and said “oh you have brown hair because you were a bad person in a previous life!” You’d be quite off-put, since you didn’t choose your natural hair color. We can’t control our disabilities, they’re not our fault. 
• That people with mental illness are “evil” or “innocent”: Both of these polarities have their own negative impacts. Thinking that everyone with mental illness is evil can do a ton of damage to our self-esteem and create unsafe spaces. Thinking that we are, in contrast, innocent because of certain demeanors our mental illness creates can also form a false illusion of who we are to others (this seems to happen a lot towards people living with autism). We’re complex human beings, not “evil” or “pure” personalities only. 
• Claiming to know “why” someone has a physical or mental illness due to psychic abilities: Phrases like “oh, well you’re just holding on to this” or “if you fix this part of your energy, your illness will disappear” are super simplistic and can be very detrimental. In almost all cases, physical and mental illness have complex causes. If we could fix them (if we want to in the first place) by doing a simple energy cleansing, we would. (Note: this doesn’t apply if the person asks you to examine their energy or intuit information about them.)
• Treating mental illness symptoms as part of the ego: The “ego” naturally has a negative stigma to it (i.e. “you’re being egoic, not mindful!”). Symptomatic anger, upset, narcissism, and so on are not egoic traits, they’re symptoms. Ego only comes into play when we have the ability to make or control our choices. 
• Indigos, crystal children, and so on being used as spiritual terms for children displaying symptoms of autism: Autism, like other physical and mental illness or conditions, is not something to be dismissed as a unique spiritual phenomenon. This seems common in parents, sometimes due to them feeling like they can’t love an autistic child (which is ableist all by itself), but that they could love their child if they’re “spiritually gifted.” Fyi, your child is beautiful with or without autism and with or without being a unique spiritual being. :)
• Psychiatry and therapy equating spiritual beliefs with delusions: There are delusions that take on spiritual tones, but beliefs are also totally valid. The key here is learning about discernment, the purpose of the belief, and the role it plays in the patient’s life. Patients with mental illness are often cognizant enough to make their own beliefs and develop individual and valid spiritual practices. Assuming all spirituality is the product of a mental illness is bias and ableist. 
• Lack of accessibility in spiritual communities: There are tons of ways this manifests, but looking for accessible venues, creating video captions, and adding text below images, are all ways to make your blog or venue more accessible. Do what you can, whenever possible! 
• Equating psychosis or upset with possession: I do believe possession exists, but I’ve never seen it manifest like psychosis (I’m not a therapist though). Perhaps it’s possible, but assuming someone needs to be exorcised when they really need proper mental health care is not only ableist, but dangerous for the individual! Go with the mental health root first, unless you have tangible evidence that it’s a possession. 
• That disabled children were given to their parents to teach them a spiritual lesson: One of the most ableist things us disabled people see is abled people using our conditions as merit for their own journey, inspiration, or growth. You may learn a lot from raising someone with a disability, but that lesson isn’t theirs to teach you–it’s yours to learn about your life situation and from honoring the amazing person that’s present in your life. 
• That people with mental or physical illness cannot live peaceful and joyous lives: We might face obstacles, but we’re super resilient and incredible people! We have the potential to be as spiritual, as successful, and as joyous as any able-bodied or neurotypical person. (It’s this idea specifically that I focus on with my website!)
• That positive thoughts create positive situations: The law of attraction does have some merit to it, since it helps us focus on intentions and energy towards a specific outcome. But, the idea that thinking a negative thought or doubting it will throw it all off is harmful, especially to people with anxiety, depression, or other related mental illnesses that create intrusive negative thoughts. All your goals are possible no matter what you think of them. It’s all about trying, not about being perfect in the process. 
• That all people with intuitive or psychic abilities are mentally ill or delusional: Like any skill, psychic abilities take time to develop! It’s no different than having a natural knack at drawing and getting better with years of practice. Not understanding a skill doesn’t mean it can’t be legitimate. 

There are probably a lot more situations than these general ones, so this is by no means a comprehensive list. I also want to mention that if someone with a physical or mental illness/disability chooses to use or adapt any of these for coping or as a part of their identity, that’s obviously not ableist! 

As always, I’m totally open to discussion or critique on this (just please keep it respectful!). 

Firstly, thank you for including DID in this! Most of the time those of us with DID get disregarded and I absolutely agree with you on the point you made.

It should also be noted that being possessed is nothing like having DID either. Also have soulbonds or toughtforms is also nothing like DID. Tulpamancy is not anything like having DID in any way either and is an appropriative term, but we’ve seen many Tumblr “Tulpamancers” call themselves systems because of their Tulpas.

Secondly, the only real issue I have with this post is that it does equate autism to being a mental illness (or that’s how it reads to me). Autism isn’t a mental illness, it’s obviously within the brain but it’s not a mental illness or disorder.

Anyway, overall I love this post, I love it a lot and it’s about time someone made a post like this! So thank you to OP for taking the time to make this post.

The only problem I find with this is that spiritual “systems” arent systems.

Reblogging again for the addition @sanctuarywitch made, thank you!