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Social media and BPD

AfricanQueen86New Contributor11 Nov 2019, 3:10 pm AEDT

Social media and BPD

I have recently had a relapse in my BPD symptoms.

One of the areas I struggle with is social media. I find that it causes me extreme anxiety and mood swings when the response (or lack thereof) is not what I wanted on my posts. Usually I share music and art, and occasionally I'll voice my opinion or relay an anecdote.

I used to not care what anyone thought of my music / art posts, but now when I don't get any response or the number of responses I want I feel severely depressed and suicidal. I know it is irrational, but I can't help feeling this way.

I like social media because it helps me stay in touch with friends. (I emigrated a couple of years ago.) If it weren't for that I would have deactivated my account.

Does anybody else struggle with this?

4 replies

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In response to: Social media and BPD

Unknown userMember11 Nov 2019, 5:27 pm AEDT

Re: Social media and BPD

Hi @AfricanQueen86,

I'm one of the moderators. Welcome to the forums, I hope you find it a really welcoming and supportive place

I am sorry to hear you have been struggling recently, it sounds like you are really aware of how social media and responses or a lack of response can trigger you in your mood. It is great you have brought this up here to receive support. Also this could be a really useful discussion for so many members. I wonder how social media or similar things happening on the forums can impact people and how people manage this?

I'm glad you have reached out on the forums, I also wanted to let you know that if you find your mood or suicidal thoughts get triggered on the forums, please know you can reach out to one of the 24 hours services below:

Lifeline: 13 11 14 or Crisis Chat

Suicide call back service: 1300 659 467 or online counselling

Samaritans: 135 247

And if you like you can introduce yourself on the Introduce yourself here thread

Welcome to the forums again,

Tortoiseshell

In response to: Social media and BPD

TeejSenior Contributor11 Nov 2019, 9:43 pm AEDT

Re: Social media and BPD

Hi @AfricanQueen86 .

welcome to the forum 😊

I don’t participate in social media really but I know the feeling you are talking about and the anxiety and panic when I haven’t got a response from something in real life and on the forum. I’m a little better at managing it now than I was. The fear of getting something wrong, not being good enough or standing out for my beliefs would bring on suicide ideation. It is a bit of a default for me if things don’t go as I thought.

Im trying to overcome this by working out my values and standing by them and also working out what I needed from posting or discussing something. It really helped me (most of the time but not always) to find some space. Understanding why I was doing something and then making a choice regardless of the consequences has helped but it has taken me so long to move from the very hyped up, over sensitive, dysregulated emotional response that I’d feel and was/is disproportionate to the trigger (posting/discussion and waiting for reactions/responses ).

Im not sure if this would help you but thought I’d share my experiences. I’m still a work in progress with it. Best of luck dealing with this. 🙏🤞🏼

In response to: Social media and BPD

ScribblesContributor12 Nov 2019, 6:06 am AEDT

Re: Social media and BPD

Hi @AfricanQueen86

Yes I can relate to this. I don't post anything personal on Facebook that is going on in my private life. If I do post something, it's something general like reposting art or post from a public figure that I support. I also have my active status on messenger turned off as I was becoming obsessed with seeing who is online even though I'm not talking to any of them.

In response to: Social media and BPD

TinselSenior Contributor12 Nov 2019, 3:32 pm AEDT

Re: Social media and BPD

Hi @AfricanQueen86

Yes!

Social Media is definitely something I struggle with.

Seeing all the things others are doing just leads to me feeling lonely and pathetic.

One year I deactivated Facebook, but realised that I wanted to be connected with some small businesses that operate through there, plus the marketplace.

So I re- activated my account, and unfollowed

Just about everyone, except a very few loved ones, and subscribed to pages and groups that make me smile such as Dodo and other various interest groups.

Sometimes I post something funny or inspirational, never about me or my family.

I find this really helped.

I hope you can find a way to use fb that doesn't trigger your issues x

💖

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