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Person with PTSD here. I agree with so much of what you've written.

Trauma memes are part of a larger problem in which laypeople start support groups - IRL and online - without any professional training or licensing of any kind. At first, peer support sounds like a great thing. You think, what's the harm? Who doesn't want to meet people with the same kinds of experiences? But you soon find out that putting your mental health into the hands of laypeople is a very risky proposition. I have found this to be the case in such lay-led groups as 12-step groups (in which I've been told to go off my psych meds), abuse survivor groups (in which I've been told that my anger is a Bad Thing), and grief support groups (in which I've been told that I will grieve for the rest of my life). On top of that, you have survivor support groups on Facebook, in which people constantly reinforce their trauma and victimization. None of it is healthy or productive.

Leaving lay-led groups and social media has done wonders for my mental health. I will only put my trauma issues into the hands of a licensed professional, and no one else.

One thing I want to push back on a bit is the meme about enmeshment. That one rings very true to my experience, and I understand what it's saying. Of course, I learned about enmeshment from therapists and psychiatrists, not from online memes. But it resonated with me.

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That Bryant McGill quotes sounds like a prescription to stay the hell off Twatter, Instagram and all other social media. The real world is hard enough for a lot of people; the online world is worse in almost every way.

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I feel with depression and anxiety as well. I feel like there's something else going on too, and it has to do with this pathology of performing everything. It's never enough to work out your problems privately; you have to shout them from the rooftops on social media all the time.

I wish I knew how to say this without sounding like a right-wing pundit, but it feels like victimhood is very "in" right now. People perform it and get tons of likes and validation online for it, but does the core problem of what's ailing them ever get any better? Sure doesn't look like it.

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As a practicing PhD therapist, I support this fully. Symptoms of trauma are complex and multi determined. Each person has a unique history, personality, family constellation and physical self.

How these interact to produce the symptoms is the issue. Not the symptoms themselves.

Until we have the needed M4A, it will continue to be difficult for many people to access qualified help. That is what drives desperate people into the clutches of these unscrupulous quacks.

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Wow! I agree with you. Those aren't helpful at all. Thanks for the enlightenment this morning. I think there is too much "your truth" and not enough of THE truth going around. Therapy is a tool, not a lifestyle.

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As someone who deals with depression and anxiety, memes like this drive me up the wall. I think for some people, like you mentioned, there's a desire to help people. However, even if the intent is good, there are ramifications for pop therapy like this. That said, 100% agree on the enmeshment trauma post. What in the literal crap?

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"Trauma and PTSD are immensely complicated, and the quality of conversation about them on social media and in digital media generally is jargon-heavy, information-poor, and generally deeply irresponsible."

Exactly like the conversations on literally everything else on social media. Social media is not a forum for true discussion and debate, it's a forum for sharing funny cat pictures for likes so you get little hits of dopamine that increase your engagement with these platforms so they get more advertising revenue. Deleting facebook, instagram, and twitter was one of the best decisions I've ever made.

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One thing I've tried to teach my kids is that any statement short enough to fit onto a bumper sticker or a meme image is probably badly oversimplified at best, and more likely just BS.

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