(no subject)
Mar. 13th, 2008 07:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dreamer_easyI get furious with fangirls who think mental illness and self-harm are a joke, or immature attention-seeking silliness, or a lazy excuse not to get a job. Some of these ignorami popped up on the latest *&%*% anon meme to inflict Doctor Who fandom. Now, the behaviour of mads, including me, can be hugely frustrating for others. And just being a nutter doesn't make it all right to hurt other people. But crappy Internet behaviour is hardly the exclusive province of the mentally ill. Besides, there are a zillion ways to simply avoid someone who annoys you online.
Given fandom's demographics - girls, gays, geeks - I worry that we're a high-risk group for mental illness and self-harm, and that the ignorance is doing real damage.
I dunno what to do about this except to keep blogging about my own experiences, and stick my oar in when I see someone spouting rubbish. Anyway, here's a link to a thing in the paper about bipolar disorder, which thank gods I don't have.
Given fandom's demographics - girls, gays, geeks - I worry that we're a high-risk group for mental illness and self-harm, and that the ignorance is doing real damage.
I dunno what to do about this except to keep blogging about my own experiences, and stick my oar in when I see someone spouting rubbish. Anyway, here's a link to a thing in the paper about bipolar disorder, which thank gods I don't have.
