There is a woman in my neighborhood who is not mentally well.
I have spoken to her maybe one time, but I have heard that she was in a car accident and suffered head trauma. I do not know if this is true. She is probably my age plus or minus some years and lives with her mother.
We have a closed neighborhood social media group, and she posts really strange stuff pretty frequently, which gets deleted quickly, although sometimes not quickly enough.
You can tell that her mental state is not 100% by these posts, and it really doesn't matter whether it is due to trauma or disease.
I tell D about her posts, and I have commented on them to my neighbor who is also my close friend, but I never, ever respond to the posts themselves.
Because what is the point?
Based on the posts, the woman knows she has mental health issues, but she can't help her brain.
As a person who has had mental health issues, I, too, know that I cannot help my brain.
I try not to post uncomfortable things about my mental health on social media....things that make people cringe.
And there is a difference between posts about mental health that make people feel easier about their own mental health issues and posts that make people feel like you are exposing far, far too much of your soul to the world.
(I have crossed this line and been accused of TMI but usually when it involves me posting something about my sons and their nonstop freaking penis/poop/fart/digestive tract verbiage. My post was intended to be funny; I think someone I know also just likes to write TMI on my stuff.)
This lady's posts make people cringe, including people who also have mental health issues.
But what has galled me of late are the people in the neighborhood who have made comments to her public posts on the neighborhood page that poke fun at her.
Things like, "What in the hell are you talking about?"
And then a barrage of gifs from The Office and other shows, movies, and memes that are, perhaps, funny to them but assholish to me.
Don't get me wrong, I am totally thinking to myself, "What in the hell are you talking about?" when I read her posts.
I want her to stop because it makes me and everyone in the neighborhood uncomfortable.
I make a comment to my husband or to someone whom I trust in the neighborhood.
But to make a public cruel comment to someone who is clearly unwell is a whole lot of things but specifically: cruel and grossly immature.
I see people's posts on social media quite often that are embarrassing and cringe-worthy.
Posts about their relationship drama (the gal who got married and in less than a year had found another soul-mate and has now ended that relationship and will power through now and be on her own and strong and other stuff that perhaps she believes but I'm not buying.)
But I don't respond to her posts because.....it's not my business even if she is posting it.
And anything I say is going to make no difference in her life.
And to say something would be mean-spirited.
I am as much part of this problem as anyone because I don't say something like "Is cruelty really necessary?"
(Although in the neighbor's case the initial post and its replies are often deleted before I have an opportunity.)
I may need to make this phrase more a part of my dialogue.
I have spoken to her maybe one time, but I have heard that she was in a car accident and suffered head trauma. I do not know if this is true. She is probably my age plus or minus some years and lives with her mother.
We have a closed neighborhood social media group, and she posts really strange stuff pretty frequently, which gets deleted quickly, although sometimes not quickly enough.
You can tell that her mental state is not 100% by these posts, and it really doesn't matter whether it is due to trauma or disease.
I tell D about her posts, and I have commented on them to my neighbor who is also my close friend, but I never, ever respond to the posts themselves.
Because what is the point?
Based on the posts, the woman knows she has mental health issues, but she can't help her brain.
As a person who has had mental health issues, I, too, know that I cannot help my brain.
I try not to post uncomfortable things about my mental health on social media....things that make people cringe.
And there is a difference between posts about mental health that make people feel easier about their own mental health issues and posts that make people feel like you are exposing far, far too much of your soul to the world.
(I have crossed this line and been accused of TMI but usually when it involves me posting something about my sons and their nonstop freaking penis/poop/fart/digestive tract verbiage. My post was intended to be funny; I think someone I know also just likes to write TMI on my stuff.)
This lady's posts make people cringe, including people who also have mental health issues.
But what has galled me of late are the people in the neighborhood who have made comments to her public posts on the neighborhood page that poke fun at her.
Things like, "What in the hell are you talking about?"
And then a barrage of gifs from The Office and other shows, movies, and memes that are, perhaps, funny to them but assholish to me.
Don't get me wrong, I am totally thinking to myself, "What in the hell are you talking about?" when I read her posts.
I want her to stop because it makes me and everyone in the neighborhood uncomfortable.
I make a comment to my husband or to someone whom I trust in the neighborhood.
But to make a public cruel comment to someone who is clearly unwell is a whole lot of things but specifically: cruel and grossly immature.
I see people's posts on social media quite often that are embarrassing and cringe-worthy.
Posts about their relationship drama (the gal who got married and in less than a year had found another soul-mate and has now ended that relationship and will power through now and be on her own and strong and other stuff that perhaps she believes but I'm not buying.)
But I don't respond to her posts because.....it's not my business even if she is posting it.
And anything I say is going to make no difference in her life.
And to say something would be mean-spirited.
I am as much part of this problem as anyone because I don't say something like "Is cruelty really necessary?"
(Although in the neighbor's case the initial post and its replies are often deleted before I have an opportunity.)
I may need to make this phrase more a part of my dialogue.
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