Yes, I’ve read her other posts and I have enjoyed many of them. Good lord this thing has taken on a drama of epic proportions!!!!

This is not an attack on Katie. This is a point-counterpoint on an issue that I feel is important and needed to be shared with others to avoid offending others UNINTENTIONALLY. Yes, I absolutely believe Katie did not INTEND to offend, hurt, or be cruel in any way. I get it. It was satire, that IN MY OPINION crossed a line (which is why I responded to it!!!).

Please help me understand how I warped any of the words written in the original post. Let’s put this in context too…Katie was also put in an unfair position as a writer by having her title changed. That’s not right, and honestly, that’s what started 90% of this. The post said she had a degree in Psychology and the content of the post was making fun of her coworkers and suggesting (jokingly..I get it) that they use the DSM-IV (the manual for diagnosing mental illness) to diagnose them. I equate that to someone who provides therapy to mentally handicapped people and using the r*$tard word. In the context of the title, that is how I viewed the post.

A good friend of mine made a great comment recently and I believe it applies here: Intention is the reality to the person giving the information; perception is the reality to the person receiving the information.

I’m glad you saw that I did not purposely put Katie’s name out there to hurt her. If I had to do it all over, I would have 1) contacted Katie personally first to explain my thoughts/get her reaction, 2)not posted her name even though it was posted under BC already, and 3) made perfectly clear that I do not know Katie well enough to make a character judgment…and that I was only referring to the impact of this one post.

With regard to you saying I was analyzing Katie…I don’t believe I did…I asked a rhetorical question “What would Jung say about that?” I was asking additional questions not to diagnose…but to stimulate reflection.

If I really had no respect for Katie do you think I would have offered my help with assessments and trying to bridge the communication gap she was experiencing with her coworkers?

Finally, No…I have never used the word “crazy” when I was referring to someone with a true (or perceived mental illness) or in the same paragraph as the DSM-IV. Yes, I have used the word “crazy” (though I prefer Bonkers) in a neutral way about things. For example, I am crazy tired right now…and my dog is crazy about Dingo bones. See the difference?

Katie- I am personally apologizing to you for this whole thing getting out of hand. I get your original post when I imagine your intent. I don’t have to like what you wrote, but I believe you are a good person trying to entertain your friends/readers. Can we bury the hatchet on this thing and agree that we both miscommunicated our intentions?

Mental health is not a joke. Millions of people are afflicted with serious illnesses and stories like yours, Breanne, truly are sobering. As someone with mental health issues myself, it can often get tiresome to see and hear people continually misunderstand how truly miserable life is and how helpless you feel when you are suffering. Close-minded, ignorant people drive me crazy.

Katie is not one of those people. I know Katie, and she is one of the smartest, funniest, down-to-earth people I know. She is not ignorant or cruel. Making Katie out to be some villian who hates those suffering from mental illness is taking a glib, sarcastic post and warping it unrecognizable.

Sometimes not everyone gets humor and satire. I had a teacher who told me, “it’s not really satire unless half the people don’t understand it.” Think “A Modest Proposal” by Swift– tons of people were horrified that a man of the church was advocating eating babies (but I think he might have been joking in his essay– call it a hunch).

To be fair, in your post you appear to be psycho-analyzing and diagnosing Katie, a girl you have never met and only read one post of, hinting that things she sees in others are flaws about herself. But wait– am I wrong, or was your post was critical of misusing psychology?

We live in a world today where mental health issues are disturbingly prevalent. It is a tragedy. But Breanne, haven’t you ever called someone “crazy” and not meant it as an attack on all those suffering from mental health issues? It’s easy to get worked up when you yourself have suffered (trust me, I have been there many a time), but don’t you think it’s possible that this talented writer possibly had a bad day and vented, and some found it not in good taste? I urge you to look at other her other posts, where you will see Katie is a talented, articulate, smart girl who is offering her observations and thoughts into the eworld with only the best of intentions.

The last thought I had: I feel that it was inappopriate of you, Breanne, to mention Katie by first and last name when she does not post it on her blog. You know the life of things on the internet. I can’t see why you felt that was necessary — in fact, it seems like a deliberately cruel trick to needle a young writer who made a mistake. Shame on you.

@ Laurie: I don’t have a platform. I don’t take blogging seriously, and I do not take myself seriously. So it’s just ridiculous that anyone else would take me seriously.

I deleted the post because it was never meant to be taken as a professional opinion.

I think this post is levelheaded and fair. Your passion resonates in your ‘writing voice’ and we love you for it.

This post reminds us why your blog is so important in the HR & business communities. A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing, and Katie is an example of how an otherwise intelligent woman with a point of view and a platform can get it so wrong.

Keep writing, don’t stop, and continue to use your critical eye to dissect through the nonsense out there.

- Laurie

You probably have a whole different perspective from the HR world. There are some pretty serious HR implications to her words. The danger of blogging, I suppose.

I didn’t leave a comment on Katie’s post because I felt I couldn’t do so without making it look like this: !@#$%^&*. I feel a little calmer now. Perhaps I will post my own reaction on my blog, or maybe not. I’m still debating with myself.