I think the critical responses and straight talking, and lots of this, is essential in recovery because we can get so stuck in our fixations it takes some real force to loosen it.
If I am allowed a little bit of critique though... one thing that sometimes makes me uncomfortable is that sometimes the "push back" (or any form of mass reaction) can get quite unequal in that some posters receive a lot of it (like it happened this past weekend) and others mostly more mellow and accepting comments. I have been around long enough to confidently say this does not always (or even often) depend on the content of the OP or the poster's history even (if they have much). Sometimes it's more like storms that somehow gather, come and go here on SR, and sometimes I think the responders trigger each-other. And in these cases, I feel it can go beyond the scope of the thread, the essential content of the OP's situation, and sometimes starts dissecting and twisting words the OP is clearly not ready to benefit from. There is also the thing that sometimes the same person posts increasingly aggressive comments that can lose the original line of reasoning and purpose. For some people, this kind of approach can be highly effective I think, but not everyone and not at every stage of where they are at. This can trigger the OP to block themselves from everything instead of becoming receptive and considering the messages more deeply, and while even this can be helpful sometimes I believe (eg. someone will retreat and reflect), it's not always the case and not easily predictable.
I know there is no simple, or probably no solution to make all this more even and unbiased though -- pretty much the same kinds of things happen all the time also IRL, in many areas of social life and interaction. Just perhaps something to keep in mind.
Hope you feel better soon, Dee
