Choosing When to be Vulnerable
Why I no longer talk about my bad days online.
When I was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in the 6th grade, I was relieved to finally have a diagnosis. After months and months of intrusive thoughts coming out of nowhere and doing compulsions even after being threatened with punishments, my parents finally took me to see a therapist. When she told me that the thoughts I had were super normal for my mental illness, I wanted to shout to the rooftops that I wasn’t crazy. It made me want to teach everyone about OCD.
I thought I would be a therapist one day or write a book about my experiences. I wanted people to know that they weren’t alone because I knew what it was like to be so very lonely.
I’m not the only one. There’s a movement on social media to be more vulnerable when you post. A forum called The Mighty is constantly growing to give a space for people with mental and physical illness to talk about their issues and read about others that are just like them.
I recently read an article on Buzzfeed News about my generation, millennials, who are increasingly feeling burned out by the world. Then they go…
