being open about mh issues via facebook?

Sorry might be a dumb question but what is mh...?

This might be an over generalization, but idt that it is. Nearly everyone I know has a close loved one who has a mood disorder or mental health issue. We all deal with it somewhere in our lives. Chances are, they won't judge bc they have someone with issues in their life that you just never knew about.

(ps. if they judge you over something you can't control, they aren't very good friends anyway...)

I would advise you not to. If you have close friends you'd like to share this with do it in person, NOT over Facebook. People share way too much on FB that doesn't need to be aired to the public. You're already afraid you'll be judged for it so why set yourself up for it. Unfortunately, a good majority of people aren't as nice as we'd like them to be.

^ Yup

i'm very open about my mental health issues. if someone is put off by that, i try to make them feel more comfortable by discussing their issues with it. i have an acquaintance that has made mention that she thinks no one should take psychiatric medication. i let her know that if she ever wanted to talk about reasons why that kind of medication helps, i was here to discuss it. thats really all you can do.

if you are still in a fragile place, i would suggest you dont be open with everyone, just a select few people you feel comfortable with. maybe just a few good friends to start. people can be cruel, and you may not be ready to deal with that cruelty.

if you want to talk further, or ask questions, i'm here anytime, friend me or pm me any time.

eta, didnt catch that this was about face book, no, do not share anything personal on face book, the cruelty i mentioned, thats where i'm talking about.

If they judge you or say means thins to you, delete and block them asap. That means they aren't your true friends.

why do you need to discuss your mental health issues with people anyway? If they're your close friends, they probably know and you can discuss things directly with them.

Some people just feel the need to share way too much information. There are many people that I know but don't have a friendship with or a relationship with who still feel the need to tell me very personal things about themselves like they have mental health issues, are getting divorced, are attracted to non-sexed aliens, etc. Just because I act friendly to you doesn't mean I need to know everything about you down to the smallest most personal detail.

I wouldnt put that up there...true friends take YEARS to develop and I personally think that you would be setting yourself up for disaster doing that. Imagine a girl you dont like and she feels the same as you is a friend with one of your friends...and while chatting to you on FB she sees something regarding you and your MH...that would be so used against you. There are other ways of communication besides social media and I would work with those.

Facebook is NOT the place for that sort of discussion. The information could be around for your lifetime and future employers especially are getting more savvy at looking for this sort of information.

Don't put out there what you don't what the whole world to know about -- and remember about. Be cautioned that it may never go away, even if you hit delete, thanks to backups and other security measures.

Facebook will allow you to create lists of people to see certain updates, so what you say about your mental health can be completely public or selectively public. I don't know where you live, but in Canada a workplace must give accomodation to mental health issues, but I wouldn't necessarily rely on this, or understanding from coworkers.

I think coming out about your mental health is extremely courageous. It's hard to do this when there is still so little understanding of how some of us struggle, very hard. But it will certainly make things better for others who feel they have to keep it secret.

I hope it goes well for you!

Separate from the privacy issues that I think you need to work out first (I posted above), i think you have to decide what your purpose is. Are you just looking to be the real 'you' and just want to be truthful in your posts - maybe not discussing them so much or educating others about it? Or are you trying to educate or bring awareness? Somewhere in between? If you take the mental health aspect out of it and think about someone who once or twice a month says something like "stupid traffic, I'm going to be late to my interview" vs someone who is on the traffic advisory board and is trying to get 100k signatures on a petition and posts 10 links a day to support their cause.

I personally think your facebook account is for YOU, and if you want to say "I'm bummed my *insert MH issue here* reared it's ugly head today when I tried to do *insert some event here*" then by all means say it - its you, its your reality.

On the other hand, while facebook can bring awareness to issues, I do not appreciate when I have friends that post 20 things every day about their 'cause' - if I'm that interested I'll contact them, I don't need my feed spammed.

Bottom line, you seem to be drawn to the idea of being more open with your friends, and I think that is always a good thing, it is in the long run what is best for your health. You just need to take some precautions because we are talking about the big bad web here.

(sorry if this is poorly written/said - at work trying to sneak this and keep getting interupted and losing my train of thought)

(Warning: Comes off as mean at first but is a part of my emphasizing, sorry lol)
I advice not. Most of us get irritated by it constantly spamming our Facebook wall with unneeded drama.

Sound absolutely rude and heartless?

Yes! Because its pointless like Facebook is.

Facebook should be a fun social avenue for sharing pictures, funny moments, stupid gifs, and events or rants. It should not be about you exposing yourself and putting your dirty laundry all over the internet. Don't replace your in-person or private conservations with your Facebook status.

It will come off as attention seeking and pitty. You don't want that to happen!! And your friends won't want to judge you either but it's only natural.

I'd rather share stuff over private message, text, in person, or a phone call. Even email! That way you know you are safe and you are getting real needed attention and support.

You could ask over a status as a reach out to have someone talk to you in private but I wouldn't go into details. Even about how sick you are or personal relationship problems. It's just a bad idea.

Sorry don't mean to come off as harsh!! I just wanted to share my thoughts and bring home the point about the consequences of sharing too much over social networking sites.