Read on Twitter
I've tweeted around this issue before, but for those in tune with some recent events, both in the wider world of mental health services, and within our Twitter community, you will perhaps understand my ever increasing concerns about the safety of our community members...
One of the huge benefits of Twitter, is that it encourages (in theory) discourse, connection & debate between service users, professionals, those who identify across those terms & anyone else, without hierarchy. This is of course positive, and so crucial for so many reasons...
Not least for those who have spent a lifetime without their voices heard...Equally, it provides the opportunity to share experiences, frustrations, and to feel understood, for those who may feel traumatised, alone and unaccepted & silenced either individually or within systems...
With these vital provisions, however, come challenges: Without a structure around roles, where is the individual and collective responsibility for the physical, psychological and emotional safety of those we connect with, but may never meet? Where are the boundaries? Agreements?
Equally, whilst the opportunity to attune to a shared difficulty in a way that is meaningful can be massively therapeutic, at times the intensity of distress generated in a collective can become overwhelming and shared narratives all encompassing...
Twitter has the power to shine a bright light on profoundly important issues and yet equally that spotlight can start to feel burning for those who usually sit in the dark...Of course these concerns could apply to many of Twitter's populations...
Right now, however, my particular worries are around the community of individuals who connect with trauma and invalidation linked to pejorative diagnosis, particularly that of 'BPD'. There are currently some highly emotive, much needed conversations happening on this forum...
...Indeed the shared outrage, shock and anger at events both external and within Twitter are wholly valid and just. However, the amplification of these issues in this echo chamber can potentially result in a level of distress that is too much to bear and feelings of despair...
I will be less of a psychologist and perhaps just more human here, and say this: I am deeply worried that there are people on Twitter right now, who are internalising everything they read about events outside, their DX, along with their existing trauma, and feel hopeless...
Let's just say it: I am bloody frightened that more people are going to die and I honestly don't know what we can do? Enough people have died as a result of this barbaric diagnosis and what comes with it. So I am reaching out to you all for thought, feelings, ideas, feedback...
Are my concerns valid? Shared? How we can create a safe, hopeful place, a secure base without becoming punitive and potentially re-enacting the experiences of services, which may be a massive part of why people share so freely and anonymously online? Please connect with me, TY 
