@neatchee I guess I should have just silently muted the OP then. *shrugs*

Also, just to be clear, there wasn't any attacking/punishing going on. I didn't call people names, curse, or make fun of their condition(s). On the flip side though, I received a bunch of ad hominem attacks.

Anyway, thank you for the chat; it does help in processing what happened. :)

@neatchee @raizon_d_etre Oh, everyone's got baggage alright; IIRC, the number's 1 in 5. (Not accounting for severity, because that's a spectrum.) So yeah, I 100% agree that it's a scary number, and that more needs to be done.

That said, follow my train of thought for a little. What will your timeline look like if you get more and more friends who are mentally unwell? What if you login on a really bad day to find that someone you banter with is gone forever?

I don't know about you, but the thought of facing that scares me.

@neatchee @raizon_d_etre I've been through both seasonal depression and PTSD from a near death experience, so I do know what it's like and what are some of the coping mechanisms that actually help.

Part of it is choosing exposure to happier things and avoiding triggers. I can't speak for everyone, but I really don't need reminders of what I had to face.

Of course, I'm not speaking for the more severe, chronic cases, such as victims of prolonged abuse, because that needs real specialist help. Which the general Internet can't provide.

@neatchee @raizon_d_etre I got booted for not being ok with people wanting to build another pity party for their myriad of mental illnesses.

Disclaimer: I have nothing against the mentally ill; their struggles are real and they do need help.

I'm simply not interested in watching people mope collectively, or in handing out participation awards for being alive. Coz that's deeply condescending, and it's encouraging people to wallow in their misery. I want to celebrate people winning instead.

@raizon_d_etre I had an invite to Bluesky... And then I got banned hahaha.

It has a completely different brand of problems, at least from an end-user perspective.