Author contact details: Katie Mackie 📩 mackies.moments@gmail.com

mackiesmoments

ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀᴅ ᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ꜱᴏᴄɪᴀʟ ᴍᴇᴅɪᴀ ɪꜱ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀʀɪꜱᴏɴ. People are constantly analysing others either in a positive way or very often in a negative way.

It can start with a simple “𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩” which can In turn become a “𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨” mindset which isn’t healthy for anyone. Or it can even manifest in bitterness to seeing others in a good place.

What I hate and have been seeing increasingly more and more online and within skin conditions communities is 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣.

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠.

Comparative suffering happens when individuals try to make sense of their own pain/ skin by comparing it to other people’s. We all do this to a certain extent. The benefit, of course, is it helps us to establish perspective.𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙘𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨.

What I want to remind you is that what seems minimal to you can be massive for others. The tiniest patch of eczema can make people feel suicidal that’s not even an over-exaggeration. Physical uncontrollable changes are massive triggers for anxiety due to the loss of control sufferers feel.

𝙄𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙨𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤 !

Others see people suffering with what they see to be worse than theirs and try to diminish their own feelings. Sadly emotions don’t go away just because we don’t see them as valid enough compared to others’ suffering.

𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚’𝙨 𝙣𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣. 𝙎𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙚𝙙, 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙩.

I want to remind you, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙.. 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙩 / 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣. Yes, other people’s skin may be worse but perspective is our own and if a small flare feels like a huge flare that’s okay, feel the feelings and work toward focussing your energy on healing rather than comparison.

BIG LOVE,