I love your essays (subscribed!) but want to point out something I have seen as a child/adult psychiatrist in private practice: OCD around what people *might have* done and whether it is online.
These people worry that they made a comment, offended someone, were racist/sexist/you name it. Therefore they constrain themselves in every IRL interaction to avoid possibly triggering this unpleasant thought process.
Some have actual ocd and some just traits but those people definitely don’t feel past censoring yourself at this point. Almost the opposite.
I love your essays (subscribed!) but want to point out something I have seen as a child/adult psychiatrist in private practice: OCD around what people *might have* done and whether it is online.
These people worry that they made a comment, offended someone, were racist/sexist/you name it. Therefore they constrain themselves in every IRL interaction to avoid possibly triggering this unpleasant thought process.
Some have actual ocd and some just traits but those people definitely don’t feel past censoring yourself at this point. Almost the opposite.
This makes a lot of sense, and I'd be fascinated to learn more about how conditions like OCD can manifest online!