i want to remind everyone that mental health professionals—*especially* white mental health professionals—*do not* know how to diagnose Black ppl; *are not* trained to be empathetic to Black ppl;

*are* products of the racist, white supremacist, anti-Black, ableist, & eugenicist societies in which they& #39;re raised; and *do* think Black ppl inherently have a higher pain tolerance than non-Black ppl

and this is on top of all the other aspects of medical & mental health racism

so when you& #39;re like "i& #39;m not autistic/i don& #39;t have OCD b/c [x stereotypical diagnostic criteria based on stereotypical presentations of autism/OCD in cis white ppl] doesn& #39;t disable me based on [my internalized ableism]," you make it *significantly* harder for ND PoC to get help

and this also perfectly highlights why medical and mental health professionals shouldn& #39;t have the sole authority to "officially" diagnose anyone, *especially* ND ppl (even more so ND Black ppl)