Mental Illness and the Social Media Spotlight

So you’re friends with someone on Facebook. At some point, you realize that something simply isn’t right with this person. It may have been a phone conversation where they dumped all of their childhood trauma in your lap. It could have been numerous inbox conversations where all a person had for you were numerous sob stories with what seemed to be no end. Perhaps it was you catching them being exceptionally messy and somehow involving you. Regardless to the reason, you knew that this person wasn’t someone that you saw yourself building a relationship with, even it if was just Facebook. The problem is this person’s misunderstanding of social media and how it works.

Rule no.1 Facebook Friend doesn’t mean real life friend.

Rule no.2 A person has every right to delete and or block you, without warning, and at any given time.

Rule no.3 No one you come across on Facebook is responsible for whatever mental health issues you suffer from outside of here.

Rule no.4 IT’S JUST FACEBOOK!

A misunderstanding of this has some people bypassing what could be an awesome Facebook experience, for their own little insane asylum that they want the rest of us to keep them company in.

When you delete someone on Facebook, it would be nice if it just ended there, right? Well, there are those who take your deleting them quite personal. You remind them of all the people who jump ship because they have first hand experience of their mental illness and the backlash that comes attached with being connected to them. In their minds, you’re a representation of the broken relationships that left them bitter. So now, you’re gonna feel it. These people stalk and follow you years after your decision to part ways, from harassing you on the pages of mutual friends, to even stooping to following you to other social media outlets. It’s confusing as hell because at the same time, these people have convinced themselves that it’s you who is stuck on them. They’ll share posts from your page, tag you in nasty diatribes, and do everything short of standing on their heads and doing a fan dance in order to gain your attention. A mere acknowledgement of them, from you, would make their day. If you take the bait and respond, they’ll use that as fuel to say that it is you who are interested in them. What’s even more unbelievable is that these people are several decades old. These people either can’t afford the help that they need or are in denial about needing it, and you, by way of social media, becomes their only outlet. You are a representation of any and everyone who ever hurt them. You were their very best friend in their heads. they wanted to be like you, according to them. They wanted to think like you, live like you, even one day work for you. But once you pushed that button, you morphed into a human walking, talking boil that resides on their very existence and all you ever did was exercise your right to no longer be connected to them.

Let this be a lesson to many of us. Pay close attention to those who go on public rampages about people who deleted them, especially if they were once singing these people’s praises. Typically, you’ll find that these people are very dishonest and never really have a valid reason for disliking the person other than said person decided to cut them off. How do you have that much of a problem with someone you never had a solid relationship with? Social media has provided wings for every diagnosed to no diagnose having individual who wants to strut their crazy stuff all about the townspeople. We are in a time where everyone is on candid camera and lights are everywhere. People will grow envious of you for being liked by so many, when they can’t even seem to get a like on one of the many erratic posts that you’ll find them spamming their own pages with. While people such as this may be entertaining to some of you, it’s really not funny. These are oft times unfulfilled, unsatisfied, and unloved people who hate you for being just the opposite. So many come to Facebook hoping to get the love they can’t seem to manage in real life and when that doesn’t happen, they turn rabid.

Just be mindful of the people you confide in and allow to confide in you. Some people are way beyond any help that any of us could offer them.