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Check on your friends, friends. I had an experience similar to Brittany Higgins (10 years ago) and for me this week the discourse has been utterly *bruising*. I cannot escape it. There are heaps of people out there for whom this week will have been similarly triggering. 1/5
You may not know it bc it's not something people talk about & they might especially not want to talk about it now. But hearing such troubling responses about experiences similar to yours is really, really hard. Hearing it for days on end is brutal. 2/5
And "triggering" doesn't have to involve intense 'Nam-style flashbacks. It could just be the utter inability to focus, not sleeping well, feeling cranky, withdrawing socially. But if you know someone who might be feeling this way, shoot them a message and say hi. 3/5
Give them an outlet to vent a little if they want it. Let them distract themselves with something nice. Let them just say it's been a rough week. Because I assure you, it has been a *really rough week* for a lot of people. 4/5
PS maybe also think before retweeting terrible takes even if it's to excoriate said takes. This applies doubly so to the Gaynor tweet. Calling it out for how repulsive it is still means we gotta read the tweet and no one benefits from that. 5/5
Also thank you so much to all the wonderful people who have messaged and absolute love and solidarity to the ones also going through stuff. I'm in a good place, mentally. If you're not, don't hold it in, talk to someone, be kind to yourself, you deserve it.
And one last thing while I have your attention - I know Trigger Warnings are used with empathy and care but they're not a free pass for whatever upsetting stuff you're about to write or share. Please still think about what you're writing or sharing & how to present it, thanks xx
