I don’t like these kind of posts, but I want to clarify something important after a conversation (and getting blocked) earlier on Twitter.
When I write any blog post, I try to focus on facts more than personal opinion, which isn’t always liked by everyone, but it is the way how I am as a person. The stupid part is actually that I do this for a part because of one of the reasons why I wrote my blog post Friday. I’ve problems related to anxiety and have officially a selective mutism diagnosis, which has long remained untreated, into my adulthood. This subject has come back in several of my blog posts before today, with 2 blog posts specifically focused on selective mutism. The other subject that keeps returning is autism spectrum disorder, this due to having been diagnosed with this condition as well. My autism stems from the former Kanner’s syndrome, also known either classic autism or just autism.
Although I have anxiety issues, I am always open to crititism in relation to the things I’ve written. Simply put, I make mistakes and don’t deny that I do. To prevent these kind of mistakes, I’ve been consulting with especially psychologists and psychiatrists for my blog posts related to mental health conditions. However, also with neurologists for neurology-related posts, such as my recent ME/CFS blog post. Admittingly, there’s the fact that I didn’t consult with all types of medical professionals for this condition, but there’s also a lot in relation to this condition that remains unknown. Regardless, if anyone would make me aware of a mistake, I would attempt to fix this.
However, when you crititize a blog post for sharing information that you disagree with, please do so through sources that are credible. In relation to my blog post Friday, examples of sources I would regard credible are:
- Selective Mutism Association
- Selective Mutism Anxiety & Related Disorders Treatment Center
- NHS
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
- American Psychological Association (APA)
- Selective Mutism Information & Research Association (SMIRA)
But obviously there are others. Regardless of which source you use, I do believe in actually sourcing information from credible sources, not just opinions. And the subjects I choose to write about, there are enough sources to use. Besides, I could always even help provide information from sources like the DSM-5-TR® directly if anyone wants me to do so. I’ve my own copy, as I would literally not even have written about mental health subjects if I didn’t have a copy. And some information shared on this blog are literal carbon copies of texts in the DSM.
Besides, the subjects in relation to mental health I write about, they always have a personal reasons attached to it. Beyond my post yesterday, I could give some other examples. The post before about ME/CFS, I wrote it because of my eldest daughter. Her own blog can be used to confirm this fact. And there’s the post about childhood incontinence, which I had a lot of doubts of even sharing, but I did do so as at least one of my children still has difficulties in this regard, which was further clarified in my post yesterday as it’s related to the sensory processing disorder that shows in his/her/their form of autism spectrum disorder. The personal connection ensures I take the utmost effort to provide a factual post. Still, I’m not perfect, so don’t expect perfect posts…
And that’s something I want to clarify as well. When I don’t share things, like I did just now in regards to which of my children it would apply to, that’s because I do regard privacy as important, especially online. When I choose to write about a personal subject that could be controversial or stigmatized, like is the case with incontinence, it’s because I believe awareness is needed, including for the one that causes my personal attachment to the subject. However, this doesn’t change the fact that I do believe privacy matters and I should protect from possible stigma or controversy, especially when it comes to any of my children.
Furthermore, my openness about mental health subjects is due to the extreme amounts of stigma there still is in general. I was born into a country where there has been massive amounts of stigma surrounding, and discrimination towards, people with disabilities and special needs. If you have a diagnosis, you try to hide it. And that’s still the case right now for many. A Ukrainian friend, who’s a mother of 5 children, shared an autism-focused Facebook post about 2 years ago, only to be faced with a lot of negative comments. More than anything, I wish this to be over. However, admittingly, that’s exactly why I make certain comments in my posts that aren’t truly required to be made, but do focus on this exact cause. A notable example is how I keep returning to my point of autism spectrum disorder needing to be made in several diagnoses again, and not the spectrum-focus that is causing too often people to regard all on the spectrum as just a singular way they have seen, often in the media.
Anyhow, my point of writing this is to say that I’m not perfect, I make mistakes, and you’re obviously more than welcome to tell me when I do so. However, don’t do through statements like “I disagree” and nothing more. Or even worse, through anger and hatred. Both of these ways make me only less inclined to change anything. But when it’s done in a calm and kind way, I will certainly do so. Even remove certain statements that might be understood the wrong way. After all, I did actually do this before, as some can even atest to. But at the end of the day, I do believe doing so through facts, not through opinions. After all, when I provide opinions, these opinions are usually my own as this is my blog. Everyone has a right of opinion. You shouldn’t forget that just as much this applies to you, this also does apply to me…
