Ptsd From Social Media

[Sandi79]

Has anyone read about this woman who claims she has PTSD from social media such as Twitter?

 

[digger]

Link?

 

[Sandi79]

https://twitter.com/MelodyHensley


If you google her name, you can get more details as reading her Twitter feed takes awhile.

Basic story is she was harassed for being a feminist on Twitter and now says she suffers from PTSD from this.

 

[Sandi79]

Melody Hensley @MelodyHensley
I'll say it again. I have PTSD due to online harassment and cyberstalking - basically because I was a feminist on the Internet

 

[Echo]

If you saw the barrage of rape and death threats some of these campaigners get, at a rate of hundreds per hour, plus violent, graphic pornographic images of rape, defilement and death, with threats that include intrusion into real life, such as timed bomb threats, I think you might understand just how bullying, abusive and upsetting it is. I watched another campaigner fall prey to this and it was truly awful. It did cross my mind that some of these women's rights campaigners may themselves be survivors and would find such attacks incredibly hard. I think some of them are immensely brave to campaign in this way (social media being only part of their campaigning outlets). The men who attack them are thought by researchers to be men who otherwise perpetrate domestic violence on their partners and who know how to denigrate and undermine women.

 

[digger]

I've not read much, but to be continually in fear from threats against you for that length of time is going to do some damage to most people I would think, especially if you're working in a field that means you are completely aware of what people like those threatening you are capable of.

 

[Sandi79]

Thank you for your insight. :-)

 

[open eyes]

This reminded me of a girl I met a few months ago in a support group. She claimed to have "post dramatic stress disorder" (her words, verbatim) due to cyber stalking & sexual harassment online.

I really don't know where I stand on this. To me, a traumatic event/s is something physical that makes you believe your life is in danger. But everyone reacts to situations differently, & PTSD definitely has a spectrum. I'm going to have to think about this one.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

She is VERY active on twitter, where she claims to have gotten PTSD. I know what UNsafety feels like and I don't think she has a CLUE as to what it really feels like to be unsafe, because if she did she would have deleted her damn twitter account rather than jumping back into the fire over and over and over again where she KNOWS she will get slammed with nastiness left and right. Yeah, I think I'll go hit up my unapologetic abuser and expect to heal, expect a different response, expect to never be hurt again. (Read, dumb, dumb, dumb idea that isn't going to happen!)

She knows how bad things get, but she REFUSES to help herself. Flame me if you will, but if she won't do anything and everything she can within her power to get better, then I say fine, let her fall on her own damn sword. And flame me again if you will, but I have seen a trend in feminism and such where feminists will stand up for their "morals" and their "principles" and their "values" at the complete expense of common sense. I mean her feminism tells her to stay and fight but the rational thing to do would be to delete the account (or let it go dormant) so that she can heal, but no, standing up for feminism ideals is more important than taking care of her own health. If she wants to pay with her health, that is her decision.

I have no opinion on whether or not this is PTSD, at the moment. Regardless, if she is truly suffering (with whatever it is), she is a complete and total idiot for re-traumatizing herself. Fall on that sword, it won't really get you all that far.

 

[Sandi79]

I was just upset she contacted people's commanding officers trying to get them in trouble for questioning her about her PTSD

 

[TimeToHeal]

Seriously, she claims to be "bedridden" from PTSD. But then claims to be in intensive therapy and physical therapy - do her therapists make house calls? And does she have a caregiver, since she is unable to get up out of bed to use the bathroom?

I'm sorry, I'm trying not to be judgmental, but geez, this sounds just a wee bit dramatic...

 

[Deleted member 1860]

@Sandi79,
I saw that, too. I laughed at the responses saying that the commanding officers would just laugh at her. The truth is, they probably will! I just read a lot of her timeline (or whatever it's called on twitter), and I must say that her behavior doesn't seem to fit with everything I know about PTSD. How many rape victims who are in active stages of healing go back to their rapists and antagonize them? We may stand up for ourselves, we may report them, but what we don't do is walk up to them and say "give it to me again!" Yeah, that's essentially what she's doing! OK, so she was bed ridden for 6 months (which doesn't equate with PTSD, but she seems to think so, as I was never bed ridden, and I know most other sufferers weren't bed ridden, but I digress...) Where is the avoidance? Most of us avoid triggers at all costs, but she just goes right back at it? Why? Is there any wonder that she's getting slammed left and right on Twitter? She would have a LOT more credibility if she shut down her social media accounts, took time to heal, and then went public at a later time saying "hey, online harassment had a negative effect on me and its an important thing to stop!" But no, she actively antagonizes other people. THIS is why she has no credibility, and THIS is why everyone doubts her. I mean its the same when someone comes on here having to claim PTSD and their responses (behavior) doesn't fit with how the rest of us act. You can spot the fakers from a mile away. Yes, I know that PTSD symptoms vary from person to person, but at the same time, the avoidance issues is a MAJOR part of PTSD and I just don't see it in her. (Was she tweeting from her bed? I wonder... I didn't read back that far in her timeline.)