This has been a post/vent(?) I've been dwelling on making for over a year now and i hope it doesn't come off as mean. I love you all and such, this is me just sharing a concern of mine.
I just wanna say I really like bugblr, but sometimes the way people talk about phobias on this side of tumblr makes me wanna shrink away forever. I have a phobia (thats not about bugs) and when im on bugblr, sometimes theres some reasonable posts on dealing with fear (sympathetic, not forceful, reasonable boundaries) and sometimes theres posts that are like "if you have a bad phobia about bugs, thats not my problem, go get exposure therapy already". and i understand youre frustrated about conservation issues and people dismissing your interests (me too!) but the apathy toward people with anxiety disorders is kind of nerve-wracking. just "go get exposure therapy" is really the most plaguing, awful advice people spring on you when you have a phobia and its a humongous ask. its also kinda dismissive about the human behind all this. its not as easy as it seems.
I understand, again, why you wanna defend your interest, but this can be done with reasonable boundaries + blocking + deescalating. as opposed to constantly reminding us that our phobias make us extremely difficult to be around and we should just go fix ourselves already. also a good majority of ppl adding annoying shit to your posts probably dont have a phobia. part of having a phobia is going to extreme levels to avoid the object/situation. fear ≠ phobia.
im sorry if you have a bad experience with someone that has a phobia, but i think we should avoid blaming a vulnerable group of people for every bad experience we have. education and sympathy are key! not just regarding learning about bugs, but also about understanding people!
okay that's all, i just get anxious seeing some of the more distressing rhetoric around phobias in this space that I otherwise love. lets all hold hands now.
