Tag Archives: cyberbullying

“Grow A Thicker Skin” (Cyber-bullying, etc.)

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I’ve read many stories lately about young people committing suicide.  I’m sure that many of them have undiagnosed BPD.  Some of the comments are just dreadful!  Obviously, they have no idea what these people were going through, or else they just don’t care.  They say things like they should just “grow a thicker skin.”  These comment are very insensitive and totally unhelpful.

Many of these kids were cyber-bullied.  Many commenters blamed the parents and said they should just take their computers and internet away.  I believe that they definitely need moderation, but blaming the parents isn’t the solution.  These kids are going to go online anyway.  They can go to a friend’s house.

I’ve even heard people blaming the victim!  Asking “Why didn’t she just get off that site?”  It’s not that easy.  Teens are very vulnerable.  Teen girls especially feel the need to fit in with their peers.  If everyone else is using this site and they’re not, they’ll feel so left out.  I’m not saying that’s not an option, I’m just trying to explain to people who don’t understand.

People don’t need to just “grow a thicker skin” anyways.  Without highly sensitive people, we would have no writers, no poets, no painters.  We sensitive people are very empathetic to the needs of others.  We are caring.  We are doctors, we are nurses, we are counsellors.  We like to make people laugh and bring a smile to their faces, so that they can forget about the pain that they might be going through, because we’ve been there ourselves.  Many of us are still going through it.  It is because we understand pain and suffering that we feel the need to comfort others and relieve their suffering.

What people suffering from mental illness need; whether from depression, cyber-bullying, etc.; is compassion, erased stigma and misconceptions, awareness.

Please help me MAKE BPD STIGMA-FREE!