On Twitter Hypocrisy with Mental Health
People love to advocate for mental health until they have to personally deal with someone who struggles with it.
There's a trending post on Twitter in the vtuber space. It's about a random stranger trauma dumping on a small vtuber in a Discord DM. The said vtuber then posts four screenshots of the very uncomfortable conversation with the caption "vtubers are not your therapists AAAAAA." And the first thing I thought of before even clicking on to read the screenshot was
what the actual fuck is this and why does this post exist?
I saw it when it was fresh with a few thousand likes, read the comments and immediately side eyed at all those agreeing with the OP. At first glance there's already so many wrong things about this that I noticed even before I completely dived into it. Here's why the OP is wrong in so many levels:
- First of all, the caption itself already told me this screenshot was going to be exposing someone who trauma dumped, which means this person is struggling mentally, so why the fuck are we publicly showing screenshots of a private conversation of a person who is struggling?
- Second of all, if you believe they should talk to professionals about it instead of you, then why the fuck are you airing their private trauma that they (shouldn't have) shared with you personally for thousands and thousands of people on Twitter to see?
- The screenshot was not necessary. A vague tweet would've sufficed (but that wouldn't be getting a lot of likes compared to having a punching bag to personally ridicule now, would it?)
- Why are we replying like an asshole? The excuse "it's not my job to be nice" is wild and almost inhuman. Just because you can be rude doesn't mean you should. It's almost like, not blocking them shows you had your own agenda.
This post really angered me. It's very malicious in nature.
From the way they replied you can kind of tell it was already doomed to be publicized on Twitter. Who the fuck brags about replying "That's crazy" to someone at rock bottom? It felt like this person had been waiting all their life to get someone to trauma dump on them so they can post it on Twitter and stand on a moral high ground of "don't do this!" You can tell by the way they kept dragging the conversation instead of sharing resources, putting your foot down and saying stop this, or straight up blocking.
People online think they can be assholes because they are fighting a better stance. Sure, trauma dumping is bad, but there's no reason for you to lack compassion and empathy towards someone who does that, especially when we're dealing with a tricky subject that is mental health.
Apparently according to some people, this person fundraised for mental health in their pinned tweet. The fucking irony is insane.
People love to say they advocate for mental health, tell other people to be understanding about it, and yet when they're faced with someone who truly struggles with it they love "exposing" these people online for internet brownie points and validation. Why are we so comfortable with sharing private conversations publicly now? I yap a fuck ton in private, on personal accounts with zero followers. I share screenshots of creepy men in my DMs to three close IRL friends that I trust. I even censor their damn usernames like it matters. It's not that hard to let your feelings and frustrations out in a relatively decent and private manner.
Do we also understand that there are certain toxic traits that people with mental illness struggle with and can't control? Yes, it's not an excuse, but it is a fucking reason. That's why it's a mental illness for fucks sake. People should stop preaching about "it's not an excuse to do [this] and [that]!" when you don't understand what others are going through.
I personally struggle a lot with the way I react to things and deal with people. I get toxic and agitated a lot of times, especially towards the people I love, and its uncontrollable nature is the scariest thing I've felt that I would rather just die than to live like this. It's not fucking easy.
The disgusting self serving nature and hypocrisy of Twitter users are truly unparalleled.
We should instead focus our efforts on exposing screenshots of people who are an actual threat in society, like pedophiles who actively prey on children, or abuse! Not the fight you had with a random stranger online whom you have beef with! Not the receipts of that Discord mod who cheated on you! Not a random hate DM that a stranger you've never met (and don't even give a shit about) sent you at 2AM! Ohmygod Twitter!!
People are angry at the way they responded, and rightfully so. I belong in that group as well. Though I'm not part of the Twitter mob mentality with a vicious cycle of online validation. I'm just a person with a lot of feelings. I decided not to partake in the Quote retweet mob because I don't have any desire to preach a high ground, something Twitter is infamously known for. I just wanted to get my feelings out there so I'm writing it in my personal space. I'm also just trying to be considerate of the OP, as I don't intend to dogpile on the criticism they're already getting lots of. I just hope they learn from this next time.
One thing is for sure though.
I definitely need to stop being on Twitter and reading trash takes.
I will do my best to not get caught up in the drama and stay on my RSS feed where I find actual comfort in.