Originally Posted by
Aellyce 
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
Your level of interpretation is based largely on numbers and the intentions of other people. You posit a group dynamic of mutually-triggering responses that become increasingly aggressive. You dismiss the "content of the OP or the poster's history" as being irrelevant when the mutually-triggering dynamic you describe asserts itself, as though all content were equal, and it's only the tone of the responses that differ. If you've ever visited the Weekenders' Thread or pretty much any other thread here on SR, many if not most of the responses can be accurately described as mutually-triggering. How can conversation or any other form of verbal interaction, whether online or IRL, be otherwise?
You don't need to be around for very long to have learned that OPs that carry obvious denial receive many more responses than others. We've all been there, witnessed it many times in ourselves and others, and react or respond not only to its emergence in a particular thread, but to its often destructive nature. You're aware that we've seen the vary same thing when the OP asks about or comments that he or she is planning on moderating his or her drinking.
When the OP is contemplating, planning, or already involved in dangerous behavior that can or will lead to a more complete kind of destruction, then attention is warranted, not only for the OP, but for those who respond. I'd only be shocked if this were not the case. In large numbers and sometimes with something of an edge. It's not the time to whisper when someone is involved in or planning to get involved in potentially destructive behavior which, again, refers back to the very content of the OP, and often to the OP's history.
As for your perception of responders "twisting" the OP's words...Well, I don't see this as anything near an epidemic; a rarity in fact, with the twister being ignored, dismissed or marginalized when he or she does not acknowledge the twisting on their own. The alleged perpetrators aren't necessarily up to no good. I've nothing else to say about it except that multiple responses to a single comment or body of comments is bound to lead to at least a minimum level of confusion or distortion, but I don't see evil in the event.