05:17 - First impressions of DBT House: Sounds like whoever came up with the DBT house just repainted the old house called Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

i hate you for down playing it

I'm really interested to know if cannabis makes your schizoaffective disorder worse. I find the smoke/smell from neighbours alone is enough to trigger a psychotic episode in me and it's made my life really hard. I'd love to know what your thoughts are on this, so I guess this is kind of a video request.

This video found me at the perfect time. Thank you 🙏🏽

you feel okay when your bad state of mind normalizes.

I wish you could mention something about the current political situation, as a person with disability and a member of LGBTQIA, you will be affected, since a lot of people do not have a social support system and access to healthcare like you. If not it will also be great to hear why you do not want to talk about it.

Great wisdom and perspective. Thanks.

i think anyone with mental struggles it will vary day to day or holidays. I hate to say it but after about 12 to 14 hours of people i need my quiet alone time. Ive been on paxil for about 8 months now ive notice i still get irratated/temper goes up when i need to unwind! your eye make up is always pretty, I love it when my wife does hers. something about dark eyeliner lol 😉

Very well spoken! I do agree, everyone has his/her normalcy. There is this pitfall with normalcy that when you momentariously get convinved you are normal, you skip the medicines. - Then the symptoms of your illness will reoccur.

When you have schizoaffective disorder (A severe mental health disorder) It impacts your life a lot in almost every way. Normal feels so far away, especially in a psychotic episode. When you have an invisible illness, it seems to hurt even more. I've been able to overcome most of my other mental illnesses, but this thing is a whole different beast. The depression and the psychosis are ruining my life, and I have no answer for it. I feel like I've had to dampen my dreams because I had to step down at work, and it affects my work so much. I feel like the only one going through this in my life and it's too tough to explain to family or friends.

the real question is why do suffer with wanting to be average while being above average?

🥰😔🥰😔🥰😔

I have had enough

When I was deep in the pit, couldn’t get out of bed, eating once every few days, showering……not really, mixed episode nightmare, I realize I desperately wanted to just be able to contribute at least as much I consumed. To be as independent as possible. Even when I couldn’t feel hope or joy or love; as long as I could take care of myself, I felt like that was a victory and that would make me proud of myself, and would prove all my detractors wrong. ❤❤❤❤

If I can barely manage to do all the 'normal' things, I must be normal! At least, that's what I told myself. It's normal to occasionally go catatonic for days. Working from home and having autistic daughters helped me. I never let myself stim because it wasn't normal, but if it's good for my daughter, why did I hate myself for doing it?

Thank you Kit! Thank you so much! Sometimes I just need to hear someone say things for it to be true. Thank you for understanding and being that person. 😊

this used to happen to me pretty often for like an hour at a time and no one ever cared. not my parents, not any doctors. all i can move is my eyes.

The older you get, the more you realise that being happy and content are so much more important than being normal. It's a real shame this realisation takes so long but getting older has to have some positives too!

OMG you too... I struggled with normal for decades. As i got older i stopped caring about normal and instead just be me, whatever that may be. Its not a good thing to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.

❤ normal people don't put themselves out there on KZbin to help so many other people. You are wonderful.

I am currently feeling mild symptoms difficulty talking and moving. I've only had full blown eps a few times, but I'm feeling scared. Words just won't come out

Thank you, definitely hits home 🕯️

I have never ONCE had anything close to a normal life. Honestly, I would give anything to just be a normal 34 yo dude. But it is obvious to most people pretty quickly I have issues lol it is destroying my life but it's ok...don't worry about those people. They prob just hate their lives and need to take it out on someone. Those types usually tuck tail and run once you stand up to them.

I understand why you were striving to be “normal” or “average”; I think humans want to feel connected and part of the whole. I certainly did. Listening to your list, it might help you, as it did me, to separate items in terms of the hierarchy of needs. For example, you need to hold a job to obtain money for food, clothing, and shelter. You take your medication and see your therapist in support of those necessities. Normal or average don’t come into it. Once I separated the things I needed to do for my own safety and wellbeing, I was able to ponder what I wanted out of life and develop steps toward those goals. I reserve the right to change those desires and goals over time, while maintaining the basics. For what it’s worth, I think you’re an extraordinary person, well beyond “average”.

This video resonated with me so deeply. I got really emotional hearing about your journey and changing relationship with the word "normal", as someone who has spent my life grappling with "normal" in some really challenging ways. From the time I started school, it became crystal clear that other kids found me weird, and that if I didn't want to be shunned or judged, I was going to have to appear normal. So I quickly learned how to put up a front and keep my weirdness private. Unfortunately, my mom encouraged this behavior by forbidding me from sharing certain things about myself in public for fear of how it might bring judgment on our whole family - like the fact that I wasn't religious when we were living in a small southern conservative Christian town, for example. (And she didn't just want me to keep my weirdness private, she wanted me to "fix" it and "just be normal" ...sigh.) This set me up for a life of extreme contradictions, where I was trying my best to look normal on the outside, but rebelling against the whole concept of normalcy on the inside. All the art I created was centered around tearing down society's insistence on being normal and celebrating authenticity instead - but I felt powerless to actually live my life that way. Things started changing during my late teens/early 20s, though. As I met more and more people who were just as weird as I was, I slowly felt more comfortable sharing parts of myself that I'd learned to keep hidden. And I felt even more strongly that the whole concept of normal was BS. Two big things finally freed me from the pressure to appear normal: coming out as queer/trans (because that not only explained why I'd always felt different, but also gave me a community of people who celebrated that difference), and reframing capitalism as "crapitalism" (because I realized that under capitalism, our worth is all about how productive we can be, and "normal" is all about making us feel like failures when we don't measure up to that worth, which... no thanks). It's easier to embrace my weirdness and deal with society's judgments of it now that I can see "normal" for what it is. As much as I reject the idea of "normal" now - both on the inside and the outside - there are times when I do still have to acknowledge that it exists, like you mentioned in the video. In those cases, I find it helpful to discuss "normal" in more specific terms. Are we talking about normal as in common? average? frequent? expected? natural? correct? etc. Being more specific about what "normal" means in a given context helps get rid of the feeling that if you're not normal, you must be abnormal or "wrong" in some way. I also find the mindset of "whole and complete" that you mentioned so powerful, and I'm going to be checking out Carson's work for sure! I'm glad his talk helped you decide to stop chasing a standard of "normal" that wasn't making you happy, reframe your normal things lists as regular to-do lists, and embrace being yourself. You're awesome and so was this video - thank you so much for making and sharing it!

Unfortunately there are always going to be delusional religious nutters. I report them on misinformation when i notice them peddling dangerous advice. Happy new year!

(standing applause) Seriously, great speech. I still struggle with Normal tasks that, in all honesty, I should do, but sometimes don't. Thank the Lord for my wife who loves and understands me, keeps me from forgetting these Normal things.

I absolutely hate it when people try to compare me to this thing people call normal. So I tell them, why would I want to be stupid and mean! Why do I want to should all over myself and others! Why do I want to have the problems everybody else has!

im also schizoaffective and the way i behave in social situations and in school can be viewed as strange by a lot of people. im just trying my best to be like "normal people" but its hard

For the longest time all I wanted was to be normal.

Please don't try to be "normal," whatever that is, because despite your schizoaffective disorder, you have an engaging personality and style.

As a blind schitz I can't stop others pitying or praising me but I can stop judging them, a talent that has enlightened and sustained my life

Weird can be good too.

Gorgeous?

I gave up trying to be normal years ago. My motto is "accept me as I am" because my schizoaffective disorder made being "normal" impossible. You find who your true friends are that way.

I feel sorry that you have met so many people who accused you of faking your mental ilness. I am mentally ill too, hallucinations were probably the worst thing that happened in my life and I think that when someone tells a mentally ill person that he or she is faking it, it is so cruel.

I'm a musician. About 6 months ago I saw one of your videos on KZbin for the first time. Granted, I don't have SAD, but you still somehow inspired me to look deeper into the problems I was experiencing at the time, which ultimately led to me researching ADHD and discovering that a lot of the mental health issues I was experiencing were poorly talked about symptoms commonly experienced with ADHD. I was diagnosed at a fairly early age but rejected treatment because I had been watching KZbin videos by New Age gurus talking about how medication will "change who you are" and was paranoid about it. I don't know why but it never really "clicked" with me that I had a disability, I was just trying so desperately hard to pass as normal. I saw the other kids with ADHD and it never occurred to me that "oh, we have the same disorder, we probably have similar struggles". I could've used that to feel less alone in the world, and to take it easier on myself when stuff just isn't as easy for me. Well, thank you for that. Even though our struggles aren't exactly the same, you have helped me to feel less alone in the world, and I appreciate that. I wrote two songs inspired by your videos, "It Will Be Okay" and "DSM-AZA". The first song came from a melody that I wrote when I was in a particularly bad place mentally and seeing one of your videos somehow helped calm me a little, at least for the time being. It's a very simple song, and most of it's an instrumental, but it starts out sweet before it becomes very dark lol. I called the latter song "DSM-AZA" because at the time I was living in Iowa but had to move back to Arizona to help take care of my mom - the terminals for these airports are called DSM and AZA respectively. It's a double-entendre though, referencing the DSM-5, since it's a song ultimately about feeling lost and alone and I feel as though the DSM-5 is something that inadvertently helps people to feel less alone, seeing as there are other people in the world that regularly go through the same thing as you.

thank you, kit, your videos are always so insightful. i have bipolar with psychotic symptoms and you have helped me wrap my head around my diagnosis & the way it affects my life. love that you mentioned DBT & specifically radical acceptance as it helped me get out of that pit, too. 💜

This affected me. I have schizoaffective disorder mixed type. What you expressed was very moving. I know I am whole, I just want to improve without all of the extra crap that usually gets in my way, like my thoughts. It's hard always trying to push through.

And you are AWESOME!!!! You are such a great person with Great character. I admire you.

And you are AWESOME!!!! You are such a great person with Great character. I admire you.

I relate in so many ways, Kit. Something to me about this normal talk and how you tried to be “normal” thing and mine as well. The bottom line odd we are all human. Everyone has that in common. Therefore, that is my definition of normal. Yes I’m neurodivergent and have a mental illness and can relate with others with the like illnesses and so forth. But all in all, we are all human. Neuro typicals have their differences within that umbrella but they are in fact human.

hello schizokitzo...i have ocd and rn i am in distress becoz i just did a bunch of compulsions just now, but since you uploaded just now, maybe i will stop doing compulsions now and watch you for a while..you are my inspiration i want to be like you...

the blurred vision side effect is bad...

Kit, normal is boring. You are anything but normal. 🫶🫶🫶🐰🐇🐰😊

Tbh... Who wants to be normal? Look at the world these days - wars, poverty, starvation, disinformation, work stress, screen addicition... I pride myself to not be an active part in a society like that. I'm not normal, and I'm glad I'm not!

Kit, I love blue hair, l love bees, I love really intelligent women. Kit, you are superior to "normal." I forgot to mention that you are a beautiful person too. 😊❤😊🐝🌹

I let go of normal a decade ago. I don't give a flying f*ck over the fact I've never had and never will have working ability. I have reached stability and is more often happy than unhappy. THAT'S my goal. I am still socially isolated, need a lot of support from the psychiatry, take a ton of meds, need a lot of rest, but I'm okay with that life. Because it's what *I* need, in order to function. If you expect normal things from a non-normal person, it's not gonna work. A star shaped person can't be pushed through a square hole. You can however expect me to do non-normal stuff, because that is my everyday life, and that is achievable. Find your own way of "normal"/average/every day, and follow that. YOU make up the rules. Not society.

There was a time I wanted to be rid of my voices so very bad but in the end it was not to be. They would stay although be less frequent. So I accepted them and came to see them as companions rather than intruders. Together with medication they became less disruptive and even helpful, although I have a healthy distrust of whatever they say. I now see them as something that makes me unique and enriches my life experience. To anyone reading this. I made it through hard times and you can too. What worked for me might not work for you but it's worth striving forward nonetheless.

Or even fleshed apocalypse, those guy like to go fast too. Cypropsy from Montreal are pretty fast too.