I clicked on "Other" I don't think it is appropriate to post about the above list for reasons noted below.
If you have the slightest concern about what to share on a social media site
@SheilaKathy then the rule of thumb is don't share it.
Don't argue on facebook, don't "Tell it like it is!" on social media and don't argue with famikly and friends on social media. Disgreements are best done in either real time or the phone, because once you write something angry in an email or on social media it is there for people to read and reread again and again. No matter how right or self righteous or entitled you feel - don't do it - it is destructive to your place within a community.
I have two facebook accounts and one is for Arts and local politics, and the other one is for Science and nature. I post rarely, never about myself. I don't post photos. I don't talk about my moods, emotions, medical conditions etc etc. It is not appropriate on these two accounts. I occasionally share something (from a group or organisation) about PTSD, Depression or other political stuff, but it is never personalised.
Depending on the context these things could be completely inappropriate to post, or could be timely and appreciated.
It depends on the context of what you are posting and whether you want to get employment in the future. Employers routinely check facebook pages these days, so you need to be strategic and selective about what you post on social media.
So depending on the context - is this for the public to view? Is it for a special group? Say a special interest group? Is it a group for three or four close friends? Is it a PTSD group? Is it a rape support group? Is it a child sexual abuse group? Is it a special group that you have made of people who are supporting each other for a particular interest/issue/fundraising/political movement/rape awareness? Is it for a facebook page about a certain medical condition? It is it for your friends? Is it for your family? Then what is appropriate to post to those people depends on your real life relationships, it could be very intrusive and make you further isolated to post about family child sexual abuse - to part of the family that has not dealt with this issue in your family.
You can post on your own timeline so only you can see , in this case you can post whatever you want.
If you are posting to the general public then I would say that these would be entirely inappropriate to post. You are making yourself a target. You are revealing your vulnerability. You are are setting yourself up for social isolation and defriending if you post your neediness and problems, emotional fluctuations, medical conditions and low mood. This is what forums like this, or therapy is for. It comes across as attention seeking behaviour. It comes across as narcissistic and that you don' know what is appropriate social boundaries are. You will be perceived as a real nutter and someone who is very selfish, because you don't know what people are dealing with in their lives, and people, on the whole, don't go on social media for a therapy session.
It depends what you want
@SheilaKathy. Do you want people to avoid you in droves? Or do you want people to interact with you on social media? People will listen once about a medical condition in real life and then they will avoid people in social situations who repeatedly harp on about them. The same goes for social media except you don't get the body language cues and the physical distancing that happens in real life.
It is not appropriate to share the above categories with the general public, unless you are resolved in your issues, you are not trying to get your emotional needs met by social media for a sense of family, friends and community. Say for instance a Vet who wants to bring to the public attention about how veterans are treated or some human rights issue in a war situation. But that is very different from sharing no holds barred PTSD Vietnam Veteran stuff. Not appropriate. And when people get well again they have to deal with the stigma of sharing all that stuff in public. Also being seen as not being able to be appropriate in general society.
I share (very rarely) and very general things on facebook - social commentary, funny things, political commentary but not the funny cats as they have had too much limelight.
If you are clinically depressed, talk about that to an appropriate professional, don't put that on social media. You can never see the future, and once it is out there you can't get it back.
If you want to isolate yourself from friends and family, then share all of the above. You will be known as a real downer. But that is your choice if you want to.
If you want people to avoid you and basically click on your posts - "Hide from my Timeline"- then post all of the above content.
You can put requests for prayers and tag the people you know who are religious - but not people like me who will withdraw, by hiding that post and posts like it from my timeline, if I get requests for prayers. I am not religious. I don't want that clogging up my facebook page.
I don't want to read ongoing missives about people's problems. I do respond to people who have the occasional bad or bad experience in their life. But not their emotional ups and downs daily. That is not appropriate. That is for support groups or therapy.
Randomly commenting on rape experiences and child sexual abuse experiences to the public is entirely inappropriate, to my way of thinking. And if you do it to the public - well you don't know who is reading and how close or far away from you they are. You can set yourself up to be retraumatised.
Medical conditions - maybe something once -very briefly, but that it is. If you wanted to post about your mammogram, then perhaps join a breast cancer support group on social media and post there, those people will understand. Fear of medical procedures (and I truly feel for you on this one, as I was there last year,) is not good to post on social media. A thread on the PTSD Forums sure, but not on social media.
Looking for therapy from social media is not a good idea. Looking for support from social media, not a a good idea.
We have to meet our own emotional needs. We have to not come for a victim or needy place when interacting with other people.
I have had a rough time these last few months, but I didn't tell my friend about that when I saw her yesterday as she has been in hospital and going through it - so I don't add to her stress levels. I do what I can but I don't dump my stuff, well I did allude to one thing., however it is my stuff.
I am responsible for my own life and my own stuff, it is not appropriate to post it on social media.
You have had a volatile relationship with your family
@SheilaKathy so I wouldn't post any of the above to your family. Make it simple and short. Positive and uplifting. You don't want to fracture or stress your relationships. You don't want to reinforce negative views that people have of you. If you consistently seem appropriate and not stressing people out, then you are building towards a different relationship in the future. Perhaps ask if I post this on social media will it move me in a beneficial direction in the next five years for the people I am connected up to? If it is negative or from the above list, the answer is most likely not.
A lot of people who have mentally ill people in their families feel like the mentally ill person is punishing them when they constantly do social media about their struggles. Sometimes people do it from a place of wanting to be rescued and it doesn't work out that well for anyone. And really is that how you want to interact with people? From a place of pain and struggle? Wouldn't your time be better spent doing some other real life activities with your life? Doing random acts of kindness? Getting a really satisfying hobby? Getting a job? Finding your passion? What you focus on - well you create more of that for your future.
You have so much to offer
@SheilaKathy, I feel kind of sad that you have posted this thread - it seems as an attempt to get support to post whatever you feel like on social media? I have seen you grow and change so much in the last year or so, I feel concerned as you seemed to have missed the point of your own recovery - to go out there and enjoy life and be part of life. I know you have restrictions, but surely, wouldn't most things be better than posting the above list on social media? It is like you have missed your own successes.
