I'd like to talk about this from a place of opening genuine discussion, not trying to point fingers or demonise anyone, but I really wish we could talk about the issue of ableism in this community. We all have biases we have to unlearn, so I don't think most comments are

from places of genuine cruelty, but just reflective of how society is as a whole. Antis do this, too, of course, but they aren't going to listen to me, so I wanted to open up the discussion with people I actually know.
A lot of pro shippers call antis "delusional" or "psycho"

or "nuts", etc. I've briefly mentioned this before, but people with psychosis are not inherently violent, and having delusions does not make you someone who sends death threats online. What makes their behaviour bad is their cruelty to others. While an inability to separate

fiction and reality does actually show up in certain cases, that's not something we should mock people for (I've fallen prey to this myself). It's harmful when it causes emotional distress (to others and to the person with the inability to separate) and when it affects priorities

but simply holding beliefs of an altered reality doesn't make you bad. This is also often thrown onto kins and fictives, who are not inherently antis who send death threats either. You are perfectly capable of being neurodivergent and NOT being an anti. Don't blame being ND.

Blame the person's bad actions.
This is especially relevant when calling antis "sociopaths/psychopaths" or "asshole narcissists", etc. Again, NPD and ASPD are mental health conditions, they're not inherently violent. There's a lot of misinfo about both that I wish I could go

Into more detail on. But essentially: they are disorders that mainly manifest in feeling/expressing empathy. You can use a lack of empathy to do terrible things, but you can use pretty much anything to be cruel if you're set on it. You can have low empathy and be a good person.

And any untreated mental health problem can cause distress, which can cause people to lash out. Any form of unaddressed stress at all causes people to lash out. It's important not to demonise/place blame unnecessarily on a specific group of conditions.

This is the thing when addressing cruelty, trauma, and the cycle of abuse in general that's really important to understand. It's the lack of support, help, resources, etc to manage trauma that makes people lash out and further the cycle. Not the trauma itself or the condition.

Why is this relevant? Because a lot of us here are neurodivergent trauma survivors, and I think it's really important for us to support each and every pro shipper and not show them undue prejudice, and that should include people with misunderstood conditions.

Sorry for the length. This has just been on my mind recently and I think, much like how fiction doesn't cause immorality, it's important to talk abt how neurodivergence doesn't either. Feeling like a monster/freak for things we can't change is so harmful. Actions are what matter.