You are 100% correct on this front. I was entirely in the mindset of “no one has been killed” as in “no one has ever actually been shot at a gaming conference, even though we threatened to do so if X person spoke.”

And you are also correct that the overt or subtle ways we try and blame the victim are completely disgusting. It doesn’t matter whether you have anxiety — or literally anything else — it’s unacceptable and not the fault of the person who had to be pushed to that brink.

I find myself repeating “I’m a human being” more often online these days. Just yesterday, in a seemingly innocuous thread within the online community I call home, I found out another poster hates me. He came out with a shocking amount of vitriol, made a point to say it’s not because of my views on politics or feminism, said I was the least favorite person within the community — and I heard from a friend that he’s also said things out loud with the same level of fervent disgust.

I have no idea why.

And I’m not ashamed to say it scares the fuck out of me.