Topic Tuesday//Designing your online world//Tues. 16 Jan. 7pm - 9pm AEDT

[Former-Member]

The only place I talk about my mental health on line is here. No where else. I would not feel comfortable opening up anywhere else. I specificalyy don't join groups/like things on facebook (not that I use it much) to keep my mental health private.

[Former-Member]

I've found that in myself, @Determined. Social media's such a constant source of stimulus! One of the choices that helps me is about what I'm willing to talk about there -- what's public about me? I talk about mental health in general, but only sometimes mine specifically. I talk about professional stuff and tell terrible jokes, but I don't get very personal there, so there's less of a sense of the world having my heart in its hand.

[Former-Member]

Hi @Determined! Sounds like you will get a lot out of @Former-Member's points tonight. Its hard but even trying different ways of  balancing and going on and off social media- can be a good way to find out what works!

[Phoenix_Rising]

@Former-Member I super like the fact that Forum Land is anonymous. I feel very comfortable talking about my muddle here. I certainly wouldn't share the sorts of things that I do if it wasn't anonymous so for me that anonymity is a big factor. 

[Former-Member]

I like that you've made a strong choice, @Former-Member. That's one of the most important things to do, I think -- to make a choice about where you will and won't disclose. I'm also only on 2 social networks -- any more risks being overwhelming.

[Sans911]

I've lost the support of friends in real life due to my mental illness, and my friends on Facebook are a motley mixture of well known to once known, known by association. They are of various nationalities, cultures, races, etc. How can I possibly post online about my MI without the risk of insulting or offending someone. I definitely don't feel comfortable talking about my suicidal thoughts. That's way too much for most people to handle. Yet not talking about makes my world unsafe.

And I need my friends to advocate on mine and everyone's behalf for better services, quality care provision and increased funding for projects. They can't do that if I don't tell them. I work in such a public domain, where I'm fiercely private, so if word got out about my MI how would my reputation be seen in the public domain. Would I ever be trusted again?

[Former-Member]

@Phoenix_Rising The Forums are so great for that. This is my first time here as a participant, and I'm loving it!

[Determined]

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@Former-Member wrote:

Here's the first topic I wanted to talk about:

Sharing & disclosure

A friend of mine once tweeted: ‘I reserve the right to talk completely openly about my mental health here, then be a cagey a**hole about it because it’s private.’

That perfectly sums up the tension I feel about talking about my mental health online. I want to talk fearlessly, but I also want my privacy. What do you say & not say about yourself online? How do you decide?

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 Great point,

My wife dosent necessarily talk about her mh issues online but her shares and likes give  a fairly good insight to her state of mind but unfortunately she cant see the link. 

[Phoenix_Rising]

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@Determined wrote:

I do worry about my darlings social media use and its effect on her, there is a definite correlation between mood stability and data use 😞

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Ah but remember @Determined, correlation does not equal causation. It MAY be that your darling's data use influences her mood stability or it may be that her mood stability influences her data use. Alternatively it could be that some other factor is influencing both her mood stability and her data use. 

[Lonely_Together]

It's not specific just to social media, but a great resource I like about sharing your story - and some of the implications of doing this - is available on the Our Consumer Place website: Speaking Our Minds: A Guide to How we use our Stories

http://www.ourconsumerplace.com.au/files/SpeakingOurMinds.pdf

Another one is Pluck, Acceptance, Defiance & Fortitude: Telling Mental Illness Stories to Change the World (although this is a bit more about the politics and sociology of it all...)

http://www.ourcommunity.com.au/files/ocp-stories2016.pdf

Completely agree about the need to be mindful of protecting yourself!  It's always easier to add a comment than it is to remove it once posted... (Funny, but even typing this is making me anxious about posting! 😉 )