I increasingly feel like a lot of the most troubling discourse on here isn't just a result of the short-form, meme-heavy nature of Twitter that rewards oversimplifications. It's because nuance on difficult topics requires access to information that's hard to get access to.

Like the "all age gap relationships are predatory" discourse and the way mental illnesses are talked about like zodiac signs ("Anxiety + trouble concentrating? SUCH an ADHD thing!")?? Learning about DV + mental illness are hard! But we want to feel like we know enough to be safe!

To truly learn all the red flags for predatory and controlling partners, you'd have to make a big investment of time and emotional energy, if not finances (here's a free DV certificate training: https://sites.google.com/a/simmons.edu/chapter-260-dv-sv-training/home)

And how many people are going to buy a copy of the DSM let alone READ it let alone understand how differential diagnosis works?

Versus how many people are at risk of DV and mental illness.

I feel like a lot of this is a reaction to a lack of accessible public education on these topics and that's a failure of professionals like social workers. We have failed you!

And I know it makes you feel better to be like "Ok I know if a guy is 7 years older than me he's a predator" and "I know if I have trouble sleeping and eat too much, I have Depressive Disorder" but it's not actually helpful!

I would probably pitch this as an essay except I absolutely do not have time to do that until after graduation, so I freely offer this up to the writers who follow me and like maybe throw me a 20 if it gets picked up. I have to do homework now :-(