Hey, so, as many of you are probably aware, we've recently been hearing a lot about how different people approach sensitive/taboo topics, especially when they are personally relevant. And I guess sometimes that affects other people negatively...
So I thought it would be helpful (at least, for me) to hear about how everyone feels about talking about depressing stuff, and how they think it should be handled here, or anywhere.
I'll start:
You know how, whenever you hear a story about someone with a terminal illness, you always hear a lot about how they're a 'champion' or a 'warrior' because they keep up their positive attitude in the face of it all...or something similar?
You very rarely hear about the dark parts...the days of constant pain, or the loneliness, or the lost privilege of being able to take your existence for granted. If you do hear about them, it's usually as part of the "rising action" or the "climax" before we land again at the hopeful conclusion.
That's not a bad thing. Hope is important...without it it's difficult, if not impossible, to keep living. But not everyone needs to express it to deal with pain.
I'll put it this way: for some people, thinking about the light at the end of the tunnel gives them something to look forward to. For others, it only serves to remind them of how far away it is.
I'm one of the latter sort. In times of hardship, rather than thinking of a past or future world where it isn't happening, I prefer to just accept it. Resign myself to it. Things are bad, and they're gonna be bad for a while, and that's just how it is. Don't fight it, just deal with it. Take it one day at a time.
At best, reminding myself of the "good times" just makes me envious of that hypothetical alternate self. And at worst, it makes the current pain that much harder to bear, because I know it doesn't have to be happening; it could easily not be happening, but right now it is and there's nothing I can do about it. :[
Of course, that doesn't mean I don't ever want to have positive or encouraging thoughts. Looking forward to snuggling up in my warm bed is a good motivator for walking home in the freezing rain.
But there's a time and place for those, and when the going gets especially tough, it's not the time. =/
As for how that should be handled on a public forum...well, if I knew, I wouldn't have started this topic. ^^;
I do try to be courteous, though: when in doubt, apply a trigger warning; don't spread blatantly harmful messages like "we're all better off dead"; don't get too personal (oversharing, even about happy topics, can get cringy fast).
But I gotta admit, that's pretty much it for me. ._. I'm not aware of any other social niceties pertaining to upsetting stuff online; and besides, I firmly believe in the power of clicking the 'back' button on your browser.
...But again, that's what this topic is for! So I can learn. So we can all share ideas about what we need to have a mentally-healthy space here.