The Autistic Traveler #2
Part Two
In this of the series I will try to explain how I became involved in advocating for various things and how those things seem to tie easily to the two main things I advocate about: nicotine and/or mental health.
For most of my life, I’ve dedicated myself to one or two specialized focuses (what I used to call obsessions) and could only manage one or two close friendships at a time.
My focus on nicotine started in 2014 and moved me away from my previous focus on genealogy and motorsports. Since then, I’ve helped many people stop smoking and have advocated for tobacco harm reduction (THR). I identified as a “THR Advocate.”
I am naturally curious. Since becoming a THR advocate, I’ve spent countless hours learning about nicotine. “Nicotine Nerd” is a fitting label because I enjoy reading studies and organizing them in my collection of studies I’ve read.
In 2020 and 2021, I was diagnosed with depression, anxiety, autism, ADHD, PTSD, and RSD. As I researched nicotine and advocated for THR, I learned that many of the other pieces of my life (my “package”) also have ties to nicotine.
Not only am I a package deal, but that is precisely what life is: many threads are woven together. My autistic talent for having a narrow focus on one or two things was no longer the lens through which I could peer.
Now, I find myself focused not only on nicotine but on mental health, neurodiversity, and obesity - the other health issues that have a profound effect on my life and the lives of those around me.
Those focuses have meant learning to be involved in multiple issues and friendships. It also meant I had to develop new skills as I tried to navigate multi-tasking and broadening the number of friendships I could participate in at one time. Whew! At times, it is complicated and overwhelming!
Last year, I wrote a piece for Filter about mental health and smoking. In it, I said, “Tobacco-related diseases contribute to approximately 53 percent of deaths among people living with schizophrenia, 50 percent among people with depression, and 48 percent among people with bipolar disorder. It’s estimated that somewhere over 20 percent of people in the US live with a mental illness. But this population smokes almost half of all the cigarettes sold around the country each year.”
My research led me to the discovery that some people living with a mental illness or ADHD find nicotine helpful. Some people find nicotine helps diminish their appetite.
Because all of my “package” is important to me, I can no longer call myself a THR Advocate. People who use nicotine and those who face mental health, weight, and neurodiversity challenges all face similar obstacles in life. We are forgotten, ignored, stigmatized, and face many injustices and inequities.
I found I couldn’t use my voice for just one thing. I had to learn to use it for many things. That is why I now identify as a “Public Health Advocate.”
The surprising thing about these changes this late in life is how much these areas of specialized focus overlap, that friendships can involve more than one interest, and how enriched my life is due to these discoveries.
Being an advocate allows me to do something useful, to try to help make the world a better place, and to make changes that will improve the quality of life for others. I highly recommend that anyone reading this consider advocating for something important to them.
Until next time….
PS: To my dismay, I’ve discovered I am having a very ADHD moment! Out of sight, out of mind. I wrote all five parts of this series but failed to publish any after the first one. My brain saw I was “done” with this project when I finished the writing part. My apologies! I will try to remember to send these out over the next few days to avoid bombarding inboxes by sending them all at once.