Blindboy Boatclub reveals his novel way for dealing with internet trolls

Brought to you by LYONS Tea supporting Pieta House.

"If someone is being incredibly nasty online, that’s not a happy person."

Following on from the success of our #JOElive: Mental Health series of talks in May, we teamed up with LYONS Tea supporting Pieta House to bring you #TimeToTalk. In a hugely successful event in the Royal College of Physicians on Monday night, speakers such as Blindboy Boatclub, Minister of State for Mental Health Helen McEntee, CEO of Pieta House Brian Higgins, Psychotherapist Colman Noctor and many more spoke about the current situation of mental health in Ireland. https://twitter.com/lyons_tea/status/785558301832544256 One issue that was raised during the discussion was the subject of social media, internet trolls and the effects that they can have on people suffering from mental health difficulties. The increasing trend of people evaluating themselves based on the likes, shares, comments etc that they receive on social media and how this can be harmful to people's mental health was also addressed, with Blindboy Boatclub stating:

"If your regard for yourself depends upon external condition, you will then evaluate yourself based on those same things and that’s a recipe for bad mental health."

But it's not just self-evaluation on social media that's a problem, internet trolls and cyber-bullying can also be detrimental to a person's mental health. But Blindboy revealed his unique attitude to dealing with trolls online which makes an awful lot of sense when you think about it.

"If I could just give you one little point on trolls. I find an interesting way to approach trolls is actually to try and have compassion for them. Seriously, if someone is being incredibly nasty online, that’s not a happy person. Even though they might be at home having a giggle, that’s not a happy person because that’s not rational, happy, human behaviour. "A happy human is someone that is able to express compassion, a troll is someone who is in quite a bit of pain, but they might not be aware of it. First of all, a troll has created an identity of absolute hatred that they portray themselves as, I think as a means for them to not feel anything. "The trolling that I have to deal with is if I put up a piece of work, I get people being particularly nasty about it. Fair enough, some people may think what I'm doing is a piece of shit and that’s fine, for them, it is objectively a piece of shit. "But some people are incredibly nasty and when I see a troll being incredibly nasty, that says to me, that’s how nasty that person is to themselves when they try to do something, that’s what it is. So by allowing myself to have compassion for that person being nasty, I then don’t take that negative energy on and it doesn’t effect my boundaries and I can grow a bit as a person."

https://twitter.com/JOEdotie/status/785865270757916672 LYONS Tea has been at the centre of conversations in Irish households for generations. Many a problem has been shared over a cup of their tea. That's why LYONS is delighted to support Pieta House to raise awareness for the services they provide and to get the nation talking about mental health issues. Pieta House offers free help and support for people experiencing suicidal ideation, suicidal bereavement or engaging in self-harm.