@Dreamy Recovery-focused doesn't mean 'always positive' or 'put a positive spin on every post', it's about keeping you and the community safe.
I am hearing that you think it might help to express yourself, so couple options are:
- You could let the community know that you are having a vent - chuck it into spoiler tags if you are concerned that what you're sharing may feel a bit dark.
- Something that often gets picked up is rumination - for me the difference between a vent and rumination is that one makes me feel lighter, the other sends me further down the spiral. It's harder for us to know which is which since we aren't in our members' heads! So it can help to externalise particularly dark thoughts - e.g. instead of "I'm just so worthless and might as well give up", we can try "I am feeling a sense of worthlessness, and it makes me want to give up."
- Let the community know you're safe, and what steps you're taking to keep safe - e.g. "I am venting some feelings, then I might take a walk to see how I feel. If I still feel like this in half an hour I will reach out to a crisis line" or something like that.
We're here for you hun 💜
