________  ________  ________
  2019-09-19                                   /        \/        \/    /   \
                                              /       __/         /_       _/
  I wanna talk about R U OK?  day and why I  /        _/         /         /
don't like it but a quick disclaimer  first:  \_______/_\___/____/\___/____/_
I've struggled  with  my  mental  health  my    /        \/        \/    /   \
whole life but I  don't make  any claims  to   /        _/         /_       _/
own depression or to own anxiety, everyone's  /-        /        _/         /
lived  experience is  going to be  different  \________/\________/\___/____/
and I don't speak for anyone but myself. Ok?
Ok.

  This is just my 0.0000020 BTC.

  I remember  when  it first cropped up  on Twitter and then became a "thing"
and even back then it was frustrating to me, I know the basic  premise is that
it prompts people to have conversations with people and ask "R U OK?", this is
my primary issue with it.

  Firstly, the idea that you can visually identify someone who is struggling,
who has depression,  who is possibly suicidal  just makes  me  cringe,  I have
spent a lifetime learning to  hide this shit, practicing appearing normal, and
I guarantee I'm not a unique case.  The answer is no, I'm not OK, I never have
been, never  will be, but you couldn't tell it by looking  at me, you couldn't
tell  even  by having  a conversation with me,  and  the worse I  do feel  the
stronger that deflection gets. From the outside looking in, my worst days look
like my strongest days.

  Secondly, it  encourages people  who are  not  necessarily equipped to have
those conversations  to start conversations  with vulnerable people  which  is
peak modern activism,  a  bull  in  a  china shop,  crashing around  for  self
gratification and ass pats. Thankfully most people miss this point and you see
lots of passive "you can talk  to  us if you like" presentations which defeats
the purpose but spares the people who would be harmed by some random person in
their school or office calling them out for "looking depressed".

  Lastly, like most things, people forget about it as soon as it's not  waved
in their face.  So they  get up  in arms about  mental health, depression  and
suicide for  the eight  or nine hours, once a  year, then  immediately  forget
about it and then everything gets swept back under the rug.

  You can't be mad at people for wanting to help, that's not what I'm saying,
but in my opinion R U OK? Day is a very misguided way to go about it. Maybe it
started off better, I don't know,  but when I see people getting in my face to
hand me a flier, people stopping me, tearing me out of my bubble to talk to me
about  R U OK? Day - all ironically decked  out in  R U OK?  tshirts - it just
fucks me off. They don't understand the potential harm they're doing to people
who do suffer from anxiety or depression where that is a trigger to them.

  A bull in a china shop.

  Anyway, just venting gas I guess. Slater.

  Edit: Here's some additional reading for you, should you be curious.

  "Today is RU OK? Day. Take it from me: it's not helping"
     http://archive.fo/1S6Qz

  "Why people suffering from mental health issues struggle with R U OK? Day"
     http://archive.fo/ScqFY

  "No, I'm not OK: the isolation of R U OK? Day"
     http://archive.fo/Te5GF

  "Why I'm Not OK With RUOK Day"
     http://archive.fo/iSp51



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