There are a number of reasons why I have posted for the last year under the alias Untreatable Online and for the most part they make a lot of sense. By keeping my “real” identity hidden I do not have to worry about entering a situation where I have to all of a sudden have to defend what I have written on this particular blog. The thought of walking into my mental health doctors office and having him say “On your blog you said ….” for if that was the case I would need to be rather careful on what I write here or take the risk of the doctor taking something that I have written out of context and over reacting.
One of the main reasons is for my own well being and keeping my paranoia level at a minimum for I go through periods where I believe that people are treating me different and are looking for a reason to put me in the loony bin. Now most of this is a situation that I create in my own mind which tends to pass rather quickly but knowing that everyone who reads untreatable online knows my “real” identity does not sit very well with me for whatever the reason. This blog has almost been deleted a handful of times in the last year and the main reason being is my paranoia level that I am going to have to pay for untreatable online.
The other part is Untreatable Online is about my mental health life and I believe it shows the human side of mental illness but at the same time it is not about me but my mental illness and no they are not the same thing. Chances are I am being paranoid but I know that this blog is not going anywhere anytime soon (I just payed for another year for the domain name rights) the question right now is how much of the real me do I want to expose. Take care
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Do what works for you and heck with what anyone else thinks of it.
Your experience largely mimics my own. As a Lutheran pastor, I believe that my ability to serve is greatly enhanced by my illness. At the same time, there are many within the church and without who will never understand that, and will prejudge me as a result.
-DMR
I’m with Immi on this one. This is your space, you do what you want with it and if that means keeping your anonymity, then so be it.
Thanks again for all the support and advice. I guess it is pretty evident at this point what direction I decided to take. For at least right now it feels like I made the right decision. Take care