Where it would never reach anyone else and ignorance about the condition would keep prevailing.
I’m disappointed by the closing. The poster wasn’t asking for help, wasn’t asking for tips, wasn’t giving tips, didn’t advocate self-cutting… I fail to see the harm.
While we’re sharing so openly, I have cut myself in the past. It’s a few years ago now, though.
Hon, I’m not pitting anyone or calling anyone names. I’m just pointing out that a thread that pushes so many hot buttons, as it does yours, doesn’t belong in IMHO or MPSIMS. I’m not even sure it belongs here, because of the abuse that could potentially be heaped on people who suffer from SI. But do you really believe that information obtained from someone who has such a strong emotional attachment to the issue can be considered reliable? At most, you will be able to understand that person’s thought processes. But that’s only one person’s reasoning. As I said upthread, there are probably as many motivating factors for SI as there are methods. The person you or others may know with this problem could have a totally different reason for why they injure themselves. Trying to approach a psychological problem with the wrong tools is almost as bad as ignoring it. Passing off information that could be similar (best case) or flat out 180° in the other direction wrong is a recipe for disaster.
And on preview, Revenant Threshold, no one is sweeping the subject under the rug. Just saying that maybe this isn’t the appropriate place to discuss it. As there are way too many miscommunications and too much armchair psychology (WAGs) that could be applied to the subject.
Why, because it isn’t on this specific message board?
So how about GD, then? Plenty of hot-button issues get talked about there. Or does one person’s having it be a hot-button issue remove it from consideration for MPSIMS/IMHO? I don’t see your rationale here, basically.
Do you think the “How does depression feel” thread was any different in that regard?
And many of them share common factors. This is information I’ve gained by talking to people who engage in SI. It’s completely accurate to say that each person’s reasons are ultimately unique to that person, but it’s also accurate to say that people can share factors and experiences, just as with other issues that have been discussed on this board.
And the closure of the thread is serving to further ignorance of the issue.
And assuming that’s the case, it’s also the case for a number of threads the OP cited. Those weren’t closed. So…?
Specific? Is an office a message board now?
It’s not? This is a site dedicated to fighting ignorance. As others have pointed out, an “ask the person with OCD” thread would likely not be closed.
I think one of the problems here is that people are putting physical injury on a much higher level of “damage” than mental injury. If the subject were OCD or depression, that obvious level of mental damage/problems would be an acceptable thread topic, but it’s only with cutters, with whom mental problems are also followed by physical injury, that have to be walked around carefully.
There could indeed, but you could say the same for any thread. Hell, you could say that about an “ask the gay guy*” thread; just because it might attract people trying to help doesn’t mean that advice is going to be taken, or even treated seriously.
*I’m not saying any advice on how not to be gay would be valid, only that it could be posted.
No, but who’s to say there isn’t an online community for people who suffer from SI? Have you looked? As it turns out, there appear to be many, many forums in which these problems can be discussed.
…have I claimed otherwise? I suggest you read what I actually wrote and what I actually responded to.
No, it isn’t. As it turns out, practicing psychology without a license is ignorance. If you’re going to fly the “fighting ignorance” flag, please at least use it appropriately.
I don’t put either on a higher level of damage. I believe that when it comes to SI, one is the byproduct of the other. And by completely misinterpreting my earlier posts, you have in fact proven my point.
Good thing I pointed that out then, isn’t it?
*I’m not saying any advice on how not to be gay would be valid, only that it could be posted.
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Gosh I hope not. 'Cause youse my friend and all. At the most, I’d only hope you’d sign me up for glurge-type newsletters and use the sad smiley. 
I was talking about those who’ve been apt to judge us fruit loops before. I’m sure there’s someone we both know who I’m talking about. 
Oh, I understand what you’re saying, but you’d be amazed at the threads that push buttons that are supposedly safe. Anyone want to talk about the merits of Daniel Craig as the new Bond or whether or not Barry (the other Bond) was a steroid abuser? I mean, we all know it’s in the ‘eye’ of the beholder, er, poster.
Oh, much agreed on that. Any attempting to relate information about topics like this leaves folks up to being labeled all sorts of things. But I’d venture a guess that we all are, at the least, aware that’s a possibility. Anytime I talk about my mental illness on here, I understand I’m opening myself up to that. It’s the risk I choose to take though, if anything I can contribute might help someone else.
But sometimes that’s all that is necessary. Just knowing you’re not alone.
All true indeed. However, I don’t think one person (or hell, even a whole message board full) explaining what they do, or what does or doesn’t work for them, crouched in the confines of an opinion, is anything more than that. It certainly isn’t being touted as a tool, but rather an anecdote. Or that’s the way I saw all that, because there definitely wasn’t any of that annoying “My beliefs are the ONLY way to go business! Everyone else is an idiot and wrong!”… instead, people shared experiences, asked questions and talked. Nothing more involved.
Lastly, the closing of the thread, while regrettable, futile and pitiful, wasn’t my reason for adding my voice to the dissent. No, it was the comments made in the parting shot. I can imagine that if TubaDiva was as truly concerned with Luna’s mental health/stability as her faux sympathy implied, I’m sure she wouldn’t have deemed it necessary to add a slam of ‘attention whoring’ to her verdict of Luna’s motives. That, to me, came across as cruel, power tripping and ultimately patting one’s self on the back for being so fucking superior. It reeked, in other words. And I can’t imagine why you’d project your bad attitude on to someone else, but that’s what it looks like she did.
Which ultimately means, she’ll never own up to it and everyone knows the rest of the story.
As is practicing medicine; which is why “please diagnose my problem” threads are banned. This was not a “please diagnose my problem” thread; any attempts to diagnose would be the fault of the poster, not of the OP.
Actually, practicing any discipline without knowlege of the subject is ignorance (it’s just that for medicine and psychology, it’s also illegal). Should OPs with an incorrect assumption about the nature of physics have threads closed?
One is the byproduct of the other, I agree. I don’t see how anyone could think otherwise. What i’m saying is that to me, you seem to be saying that a lot of damage could be done to cutters if they’re given poor advice. The same could be said for any thread involving psychological issues; yet this thread has been closed, whilst others have not or would not be. The only difference (as I see it) between a thread about cutting and one about depression is that cutting involves mental and physical damage, whilst depression only involves mental damage. Thus i’m suggesting people are considering physical damage to be much worse than mental damage. Is that an unreasonable conclusion?
So no more “ask the…” threads then, in your opinion? That’s a shame.
I did. You said “Where it would never reach anyone else and ignorance about the condition would keep prevailing.” As if, were we not to discuss it here and the people who posted took this up with licensed therapists, the subject would remain shrouded in mystery and never see the light of day, lo, consigned to ingorance forever.
sigh
As I said earlier; this is an extremely volatile subject. People who are very close to it are likely to become easily offended if anyone steps over their personal barriers about it. I don’t feel that armchair psychology and creating a comfortable sense that “it’s okay” is fighting ignorance. And while it’s important for people who suffer from this condition to not feel isolated and have a safe place where they can vent, I do understand why it was felt that this is not the place. I was not trying to offend anyone who identifies with SI. But I think possibly, Priceguy, you are seeing offense where none is meant. I certainly don’t wish to fight with you, as I can see both sides of this argument. But I don’t find it incomprehensible that thread was closed.
Thanks very much for your kind and thoughtful advice, but I wasn’t shouting to make a point. I was shouting because I was pissed off. Emotional. Not clinically detached, but frustrated and angry that what seems like an obvious and clear point to me is apparently completely obfuscated for others. Perhaps my personal experiences on this matter are making it hard for me to remain calm about it, but the fact remains that there are many, many, many forums on the internet and in real life for learning about and talking about self-injury. Nothing has been “swept under the rug”.
As for help being asked for or given, I didn’t say it was. The person I was responding to claimed, in addition to the idea that self-injury is not a sign of mental illness, that talking about this non-problem might be helpful in some way I don’t fully understand, since if it’s not a problem it doesn’t need help, but whatever.
If it were never discussed outside the office in which JohnBlkWld felt the discussion should be enclosed, ignorance would be the order of the day. Discussing it openly on a message board (and I feel this one is eminently suited for the purpose) spreads knowledge.
Fair enough. I apologise; I should have recognised it was emotionally charged rather than just someone trying to hammer home their point.
Well, I personally would consider self-injury a sign of mental image if it’s a compulsion, so I don’t agree with the person you were responding to. I do think talking about it can help, though, whether to allow the person concerned to not feel isolated or unable to talk about their condition, or even just by allowing people who don’t know much about it learn.
I don’t know…is said OP using physics to hurt himself?
No, yours is not an unreasonable conclusion. And no, I’m not saying only that damage could be done to cutters if given poor advice. I’m also saying “If you know someone who cuts, it isn’t necessarily a good thing to take what you read in that thread as a given.” Because there are so many variables. And who knows? Maybe not everyone in that thread was 100% forthcoming. Not accusing anyone of lying, but possibly withholding some small detail. Not everyone discloses every detail about themselves in any case; why should this be different? Were someone to take that information and attempt to apply it to an IRL relationship with someone who suffers from SI, there’s a high likelihood it could blow up in their faces. Mishell said:
That scares the crap out of me. I read this as: This person is taking biased information from an anonymous source as clinical data. It may not even be relevant to why her father cut himself. But she’s applied it as such. Do you see why I consider that cause for concern?
The issue of the subject being a problem or non-problem in the opinion of poster does not take away from the fact that the thread was very informative. That’s the sort of thing one would expect from a ‘Ask the ____’ thread, but whatever. :rolleyes:
I said nothing of the sort. Read my one and only post to this thread again.
What I said was that conversation about problems should not be shut down. You want to go that route, then the ONLY outlet people with problems have is a psychiatrist. They can’t talk about it with friends, or family, or a teacher, because the only correct answer is “STFU, you’re sick and you should only speak of this to a licensed therapist.” Which may as well be “You’re a sick fuck and I don’t want to hear any more about your disgusting problem.” for all the good it’s going to do someone.
What’s worse, talking with a friend honestly and openly, or having NOBODY to talk to?
In this case, the OP isn’t using psychology to hurt themselves; the analogy IMHO would be more along the lines of “is someone giving poor physics advice that might hurt someone, or could they get the wrong idea from the thread and so hurt themselves”. In the first case, it would be them who’d be in the wrong, and the punishment would be either a pile-on from other posters in the case of bad advice or a warning/suspension/ban from mods for giving bad advice that could injure someone.
I think so. Are you saying that it’s not only people giving potentially harmful advice that troubles you, but also that people may take any stories/advice and apply it inappropriatly? That’s a good point. But again, that’s not the fault of the OP, but of the reader. And it’s by spreading knowledge of the condition in this way that such incorrect beliefs can be challenged. For example, it’s quite possible that some people may have had a skewed idea of SI beforehand, but thanks to the thread may see things in a different way. I’m not saying they’d see it as an authoritative cite (after all, the person with the condition isn’t always in the best position to talk about it), but as a personal story which may make them think again about their own thoughts on the matter. Perhaps even create a motivation to seek out further knowledge for themselves.
I think that closing the thread was hasty and ill-judged. To me it was intelligent, sensible, sensitive and informative, and certainly didn’t smack of attention-whoring, one-upmanship, or a “how to” guide: if anyone feels the desire to cut themselves, they certainly aren’t going to need a guide on how not to do it, and I doubt anyone reading the thread is going to come away wondering why they’ve never tried cutting themselves before and knowing now where to lay their hands on a sharp knife. I’d like to think that the membership here is adult enough to handle a discussion of such a subject as cutting - or anorexia, or bulimia, or drug addiction - maturely.
In the past I’ve read and contributed to threads on clinical depression, panic attacks and anxiety disorder, and I think that the membership here has a good record of handling such topics with care: I’ve always found them helpful, informative, and supportive, and I’d like to think that sharing my own experiences could help others to understand the topics better. I don’t view the closed thread in a different light. I’ll close with a question. I’m a drug addict. I’m addicted to prescription tranquilisers, and have been for some years. If I started, in good faith, an “Ask The Addict” thread, would that be locked too?