delusional attachment is a bad term and you are a bad person for using it. here’s why (by your friendly neighbourhood schizo)
misdefining delusions + how they should be treated
a delusion is a false belief that the person experiencing it doesn’t know is false, and comes as a result of some mental disorders. when someone’s experiencing one, one of the absolute worst things you could do is feed into it, validate it, try to participate, or convince them even more that it’s real.
the “delusional attachments” definition encourages all of these things. it says to treat these people as though they literally are these characters. it’s completely miseducating people on how they should interact with someone having delusions.
in addition, it’s encouraging the idea that calling something a “delusion” somehow makes it more real. “i have a delusional attachment which means i literally am these characters, more than kin” shouldn’t make any sense, since a delusion is by definition false. not only are you perpetuating something completely wrong about delusions, you are calling yourself fake.
use of “delusional” + people who shouldn’t be allowed to using it
if you’ve been living for long enough with delusions, you should know that “delusional” is used first and foremost as a derogatory term by society. something thrown around towards anyone people disagree with, using mental illness as an insult.
clearly, this is something that shouldn’t be reclaimed or used by anyone who’s never had one, right?
but the popularization of “delusional attachments” has people who have never even experienced delusions calling themselves “delusional” - even if the original “resource” on them tries to prevent it - because they think it’s the only way they can “literally be” a character. they think that claiming an inaccurate term based on a mental illness they don’t have is the only way they can be allowed to be uncomfortable with doubles, or say they’re a character in the flesh.
and those people aren’t to blame. the term existing is.
people have posted tweets saying things like “if you don’t have a delusional attachment you can’t call doubles factkin of you, it’s appropriation” which is completely and blatantly false - that practice has long predated the term “delusional attachment”. in essence, they’re gatekeeping fictionkin.
and as long as they keep saying no kin will ever be more valid than a “delusional attachment” and that having one is the only way to literally be that character in the flesh, people are GOING to keep misappropriating “delusional” no matter how hard you try to keep them away.
in summary:
just say the character is you, this gross ableist term helps nobody