I have had to delete Instagram

[wolfywolfy]

Before I start my small rant I would just like to say that I understand that social media and places like Instagram are a platform where people feel part of something and that they can reach out and talk to people and for that I applaud it especially if you are suffering mental health and it has helped you in some way, for some people it is good to connect with people and reach out, and it has helped you positively and make changes in your life. I also understand that it is your platform to post whatever you like, freedom of speech and all that but you cannot post controversial material and not expect people to reply/ disagree....however a few things I have noticed recently are :

Lots of people on my feed have started posting videos of themselves when they are crying /upset ?
I can't quite fathom it. Once upon a time I may have felt sad for them that they were upset, but now I just find it a bit confusing that grown women are posting videos of themselves crying for some online attention every other day or so. It seems to have become like a fashionable thing on my feed ?This may sound really nasty but I can't quite get my head round someone posting a five minute video of themselves With tears rolling down their face. I get some people are on the actual verge of desperation and need some real life help and don't know what else to do and believe me I have been in a 'desperate emotional situation' many a time, But I don't understand , its all very cryptic or maybe I am just getting old ? I do know some of these people who do this IRL and they are like this IRL. I know to some people this may sound like I am being horrible and I'm sorry but it is something I have noticed as of late..

Anti Vaxxers - A mother posting that vaccinations aren't vegan and that is why her son won't have them. Yet I have seen her videos / photos of her feeding him eggs and him wearing wool, but posting that she will ignore any messages about vaccinations 'she doesn't want to hear it' . I have tried very hard to resist messaging her with some questions I have but know I will be shot down in an instant. I wonder if her child caught a horrid disease weather he would be declined treatment incase it's not vegan.
Why would you post such things but not want to deal with people legitimately interested in your point of view ? Or people wanting to ask innocent questions ?

This is one of the few reasons I have had to delete social media, in a place that was invented for people to connect I am finding people more and more difficult to engage with because everyone has this online bravado and I am finding it too triggering.
I haven't had Facebook for a number of years and it's good what not having it does for the soul and now I am giving up Instagram for the same reasons.
I enjoy mumsnet because you can have a good debate or chat on here. No pictures so not on a superficial level.
I am ready to be told IABU by some .
Thanks for reading my rant

I am not minimising mental health problems at all and I would help anybody if I saw them genuinely struggling. Having been there myself I understand and for some it is very difficult to talk about.
Social media has opened many doors for people to talk about mental health and that is brilliant if it helps you and that is something I said at the start and that is one of the reasons I use mumsnet as a safe place.
It is very disheartening but Also true that mental health has been used to describe people's actions / people giving armchair diagnoses . And mental health been thrown about very wildly to label somebody. I wrote a thread about this in mumsnet about Roxanne Pallett a while ago.
Mental health has received a lot of media attention in the past few years which again is great, but has, as somebody also mentioned, attracted some people who like using their mental health for social media likes.
I'm sorry if what I said upset you but it really wasn't what I was trying to get across and could have worded it better.

you've said people posting on IG crying are attention seeking, you've laughed and said you wished you had the balls to do that when another charmer said why not post memes in the comments at them for starters.
Others have said people they know play the anxiety card when in reality they're just spoilt brats, people say they have it when "in reality it''s every day up and downs" (they'd know that how
Nope, no, no minimising or nastiness on this thread. If you say so.

likewise OP - I wasn't minimising genuine MH issues, but you're ignorant if you think there isn't a trend for some people to use it for attention and/or followers. Anxiety is more than feeling circumstantially nervous, depression is more than feel sad for a day etc... It's not ok to minimise actual struggles, the same way it's not ok to 'jump on a bandwagon' because it gets you attention, all they're doing is making it harder for people with real issues to be recognised and helped.

Mental health has received a lot of media attention in the past few years which again is great, but has, as somebody also mentioned, attracted some people who like using their mental health for social media likes.

Maybe that's how they cope with it? They don't want to feel alone. They want to feel connected, that there's people there who feel the same.
Not everybody thinks or copes the same.

If anything @rainbowsandsmiles I'm the one who's been called attention seeking a fair few times by you even , how do you know right now that I'm not struggling and wanted to post a chat on mumsnet for some company and you've come along and goaded me from the start and called me attention seeking ?

people say they have it when "in reality it''s every day up and downs" (they'd know that how

rainbows I already answered this point.

Are you saying it's really not ever possible that anyone hams up or claims an MH issue to get attention? When SM is all about getting attention? How would you know that?

I said there's some kind of irony in saying that posting on social media is attention seeking when you're doing the exact same thing yourself - posting on social media for attention.
If you were genuinely looking for a chat and wanting to talk to people, why alienate loads by making them feel shit and that people might think they're putting on their problems?
You say people over-share, but in the same breath don't seem to grasp that you're doing exactly that - oversharing on a public forum.

Shock! Not every single person who claims to have a self diagnosed MH issue actually has it - in fact some people even manipulate professionals for a diagnosis (and yes, I actually know someone who does this, she also has a psychology degree and knows exactly what to say which she admits to few of us - funnily enough, she's one of the main offenders who makes these posts).

Are you saying it's really not ever possible that anyone hams up or claims an MH issue to get attention?

I'm saying why the fuck would you come onto a massive public platform and create a thread that encourages people to pile in with their views on how some people attention seek and make up their mental health problems?

I personally don't think I've alienated anybody by saying I want to delete Instagram ?
I also don't think I've alienated anybody by asking if there is a new social media trend for people posting crying selfies ?

Do you post crying videos, Rainbows? You're taking this all very personally.

OP is posting on an anonymous forum, hardly sniffing for likes or followers.

Do you post crying videos, Rainbows? You're taking this all very personally

Never have, and never would, but that's just me. I wouldn't mock others or call others spoilt brats or attention seeking for doing so.

@rainbowsandsmiles but you called me attention seeking ??

I personally don't think I've alienated anybody by saying I want to delete Instagram ?

You're missing the point, that's not what I said at all. It's nothing to do with you saying you want to delete Instagram.
It's starting a thread about people's mental health on IG which has encouraged lots of "lovely"posters to crawl out with lots of putting it on, attention seekers, spoilt brats comments.
That's not going to make people feel crap at all if they read it, is it.
Can't sit by and not comment my piece when there's utter nastiness like this thread.

I know someone who posted a picture of herself crying. The reason was absolutely ridiculous and hugely attention seeking. I still cringe for her now.

@rainbowsandsmiles did you even read my op ? I said how social media has HELPED with mental health. 🤦🏻‍♀️

wolfy - why say you wish you had the balls to do that and a crying laughy face when somebody said post/tags memes accounts under it if you weren't mocking?
It's just a thread full of bitching and pulling others down.

@rainbowsandsmiles how do you know the crying pics are about MH though ? You don't follow who I followed to know in what relation the crying videos or pics were about they weren't predominately mental health related ? Hence why I may of thought it funny to post a meme of a friend crying being silly ? We may have had a laugh about it ? Im just wondering what the trend of people posting the crying selfies is ? Obviously some are mental health related and I would never mock anyone genuinely in distress. I think you have massively missed the point of my post.

I never called anyone a spoilt brat for posting a video of themselves crying. I said our niece was one, because she had her arse in her hands on a holiday my OH paid for over not being allowed a new horse = spoilt brat. She then tried to use a new found anxiety as a scapegoat for her behaviour because she has seen her friends at school get 'special treatment' for it.

I'm not saying every teenager pretends, some have very severe issues. But you're blind if you think it doesn't appeal to a select some (adults included) to have time off whenever they feel like it (as easily as saying you can't face it), deadlines extended and extra privileges as to not upset them. Teenagers are the biggest SM users and very impressionable, a majority of them crave attention and acceptance, so will do what they can to fit in/stand out.

@rainbowsandsmiles I even said some people doing it are obviously in need of real life help. But as some posters have also said on this thread ? Some people do these selfies for an array of crazy reasons.

And it's the people who DO pretend who make life a lot bloody harder for those with real problems as it castes doubt on their sincerity.

I never called anyone a spoilt brat for posting a video of themselves crying. I said our niece was one, because she had her arse in her hands on a holiday my OH paid for over not being allowed a new horse = spoilt brat.

I never said you did call them a spoilt brat for posting videos - I said you dismiss people as spoilt brats when you have no idea how they're really feeling.
In your head, niece was being a spoilt brat because, well, spoilt brat. Maybe she has other things going on emotionally? That could have been the straw that broke the camels back so to speak.
Maybe she saw her friend getting help and felt she might be able to be helped too, not because her friend wanted it so she automatically thought she wanted it too just for funsies.

You don't follow who I followed to know in what relation the crying videos or pics were about they weren't predominately mental health related ?

Yeah, but you don''t know them either. Just because you follow them, doesn't mean you automatically know what's going on in their head.
To mock them isn't funny, well it isn't to anyone being at least half decent.

She then tried to use a new found anxiety as a scapegoat for her behaviour

anxiety can make you over-react to things which probably look totally stupid and insignificant from the outside looking in. Maybe your niece is the same. Not trying to use new found anxiety as a scapegoat. It could quite easily be there all along, especially if you say she has moody behaviour anyway.

@rainbowsandsmiles how do you know that the videos aren't people I know !!!!!!! Cause I can tell you now some of them were !