On being emotionally open on the internet.

This was inspired by a post by a friend this morning wishing that people would be less personal online. This was punctuated by someone commenting with the words "emotionally slutty". I'm just going to go right ahead and give that the biggest side eye I can muster. With an added fuck you.

The reasons I think perhaps people are uncomfortable with this are:

a, they worry about all this information being so readily available. Sorry to burst your bubble but it already is if you've got a doctor, rent a property, own a property, have a job, sign on etc. you get my drift. Unfortunately you have no control over where the information about you goes.

b, they're uncomfortable with raw emotion. Well that's your problem and not something to impose on others.

It is fine absolutely fine to be uncomfortable but it's not fine to project that onto those who do use the internet to be emotionally open. My Facebook is quite political and occasionally I hope I brighten up your day with my humorous quips. My Twitter is for my politics yes but also very much for me personally especially in a supportive sense.

The internet can be a fantastic way to call for help, to find others who feel the same and to find a community of support so that you feel less isolated. One of the scariest parts of mental illness is how isolating it often is, the internet has been a game changer in this way. It's scary to sit down and just talk to one person who may just look at you in an utterly confused manner and offer no sympathy whatsoever. Luckily my support in real life is very good however I still sometimes turn to the internet. Because there I find people who understand without me having to explain. They know about the spoon theory without me having to link them to the article. They understand my anxieties that I worry are really weird because they have the exact same ones. They understand the mood swings and the shame because they have the same feelings or illness. It soothes me and makes me feel like less of a freak. I also feel like I don't want to be constantly burdening my close friends with my MH because it IS constant. If I can ease some of their involvement by being emotionally open online then this is important to me.

There is such a huge stigma attached to mental illness. Don't make us feel more ashamed than we already do!