Today's unpopular opinion is that I dislike the way the culture here is to tell people to put ALL mental health discussions behind a CW.
If something is potentially upsetting, sure, be careful with that. But everything? After spending so much of my internet life, first being reassured that it's ok to talk about it, and then encouraging others to be more open about it too because it's not a thing that you need to hide... It makes me uncomfortable being in a place which tells people to hide it.
If you're talking in detail about intrusive thoughts, suicidal ideation, self harm, or other things which could negatively affect other people reading? Sure, maybe give people the option of whether or not they want to see that. That's just courtesy.
But I don't think people should feel compelled to add a content warning if they just want to say that they're feeling a bit depressed today or whatever.
You can't normalise something while also telling people that they need to hide it all the time.
@InvaderXan You've got a valid point here. I should be able to talk about my hypomanic bipolar cycles as readily and openly as a woman talks about her menstrual cycles. They're both biological functions. The only reason my bipolar gets treated differently is that the symptoms are behavioral rather than physical. Having faulty wiring in my head still carries a stigma.
@WanderingBeekeeper That's how I feel too. There have been movements going on for years to de-stigmatise mental health. Mainstream culture has managed to get to the point where it's acceptable to just casually talk about your therapist or medications without worrying about ridicule.
Insisting on blanket content warnings for all of it just feels like a step backwards.
@InvaderXan others have said it more eloquently but I still try to tag my mh posts just so I don't drag down anyone else's day by happenstance. Those who do care for me can still approach and talk to me about it, and I appreciate them for it, and the CW system for allowing that kind of engagement without incidentally hurting others
@InvaderXan there’s a balance, because being exposed to large amounts of depression tweeting on other websites has triggered depressive states several times for me. I continue to tag vent and mh tweets because I don’t want to make other people’s feeds like the kind of content that hurt me and ultimately pushed me off birdsite.
@millenomi This is a fair point, there's certainly a balance. I guess we need to try and use a little discretion in what we choose to hide. And maybe that isn't always easy, so I understand people wanting to be cautious.
But on the other hand, feeling like you can't talk about it at all without hiding it from public view feels discouraging. Especially if you mistakenly forget to add a CW to some things, someone will leap into your replies to politely scold you for it. Easier to just... not.
@InvaderXan I always felt about talking about it and its effects should not be CW-worthy, but externalizing pain is — I will rebuke people scolding me for mentioning that I’m a person with PTSD/ADD without a cw, or explaining that it makes things harder, but I cw any of my externalizations of feelings driven by them.
@millenomi That feels like a good distinction to make. A CW becomes appropriate if you're looking at deeper things and bringing them up to the light. It's also quite personal. But the things already on the surface for all to see shouldn't really need to be hidden.
@InvaderXan You actually have a point. I'm going to stop putting that behind CWs.
@Juju I feel like sometimes the CW basically already says everything you're saying in the toot anyway
@InvaderXan That's when I don't use them. Like, no "food" CW when I just mention eating.
I like CW just as a subject line to know what the toot is about but you're right, it should't always be hidden away like some shameful secret. If I'm not detailing every symptom in the panic attack I'm having I could just say "I'm having a panic attack" and that doesn't seem triggering.
@Juju Exactly! You always get me.