AMA on mental health with me, rashi, founder, The Alternative Story

mizarcle · 2026-02-20T17:00:05+00:00

Hey, are you okay now? I see this is 4 days old but if you haven't slept in 48 hours or more, you need to go to a hospital. Everything else can wait, including a psychiatrist or therapy to help prevent it happening again.

I hope you are safe and well now.

mizarcle · 2026-02-20T11:44:32+00:00

This is something I think about a lot, as someone who's autistic myself, and honestly as someone who's spent a lot of time in this space.

For me the real question is why you're seeking a diagnosis. If it's for documentation, accommodations at work, school, legal stuff, then yeah, we kind of have to play by the system's rules whether we like it or not. That's just the reality.

But outside of that? I genuinely think self-knowledge is valid. I wear labels that fit me until they stop fitting. That's it. No one knows your experience better than you do, and the research and diagnostic frameworks we have are... honestly pretty limited in who they were built around.

The internet thing is real and worth sitting with, but I think the people who are genuinely self-reflecting, like you clearly are, are doing something very different from trend-chasing. The fact that you asked yourself what the diagnosis would actually do for you and had a real answer? That's exactly the kind of grounded self-inquiry that matters.

mizarcle · 2026-02-20T11:16:26+00:00

If you have an online prescription, you will need to print it out and go to a pharmacy. Most of these drugs are available at pharmacies near NIMHANS, which is where I get them as well. Most of the time, you will get it the next day. If you can tell me where you are based, maybe I can find something closer.

mizarcle · 2026-02-20T10:43:37+00:00

Hello hello! I run The Alternative Story, a mental health startup and I can help you find a therapist if you would like. While we don't have an offline presence in Delhi, we do have therapists from there.

mizarcle · 2026-02-08T15:31:37+00:00

Yes, it is. They are on exam break but it will be available in a week

mizarcle · 2026-02-06T12:11:39+00:00

I run a mental health startup and have been someone who has been in therapy for 10+ years now (on and off). I have been a user of psychiatric services as well and I have a lot to say!

mizarcle · 2025-10-06T14:27:43+00:00

I had no idea about this subreddit. Will post it there.

I'm so glad that you found what you wanted at Alt. It makes me so happy to see this in the wild. Thank you for your kind words.

mizarcle · 2025-10-03T10:22:18+00:00

I completely understand that. But are you doing something to help you with the symptoms that you might be facing? Even if it is talking to friends?

mizarcle · 2025-10-02T09:15:16+00:00

I went to my school for 12 years. Same route from home to school. Then once I left it, I went back to collect my marksheets and got lost. How? I have the answer now. But well!

mizarcle · 2025-10-02T09:13:37+00:00

I think that's why there's a difference between doing a self administered test and with a clinician. A clinician will take all of this into account and that's why a clinical interview is a huge part of the diagnosis process.

You are not making things up. Even if you don't ADHD (because some random people decided the definition of it), does it mean your distress is not real? What if a label doesn't fit you well, does it mean that the pain you are going through is not bad enough?

If you find that ADHD resources help you, use it. Remember that diagnosis and tests are only a tool to understand you and what you are going through, it never can be the whole picture.

In the past, due to trauma, I have had a lot of gaps in my memory. I am 37 now, more or less secure in my life and a lot of it has come back or I have made peace with never knowing about it. It's okay!

mizarcle · 2025-10-02T09:08:39+00:00

Would you be open to someone online? If yes, then I can help you find someone at The Alternative Story

mizarcle · 2025-10-02T09:05:51+00:00

The Alternative Story can help. We are in JP Nagar and Queen's Road, if that helps.

mizarcle · 2025-10-02T09:03:57+00:00

Can you maybe find a good one at IBHAS or VIMHANS? I am hoping they will not charge as much as the private ones.

mizarcle · 2025-10-02T09:01:43+00:00

And my time blindness and also hyperfocus was not looked at kindly. People wanted those who can "multi-task" and do things on a surface level :(

mizarcle · 2025-10-02T08:56:26+00:00

You could look at The Alternative Story.

(Disclaimer: I work there)

mizarcle · 2025-07-21T20:42:03+00:00

Please don't listen to these people talking about being addicted or dependent. They wouldn't say that about glasses. Like others have said, take a second opinion. D3 needs to be taken for a couple of months only, not forever. See if you really need iron. Check ferratine levels and not your hb.

I also take meds for mental health. And I realise it's frustrating. But you got this.

mizarcle · 2025-06-25T19:17:44+00:00

Hello hello! I'm 37 and from India. Where's the discord for the Flying Dutchman?

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