Yeah, she might have had a lot of eye-rolls and "Oh, well THEN..." as if she deserved no credit for her achievement. It's really a mixed bag - everyone clamours to know *how did you do it?!!* but if you don't give them an easy answer, they lose interest. And if you DO give them a straightforward answer like getting…

Wow, she really became part of the problem with adopting those clichéd tips and dishing them out to other people. :-/ It's when skinny-since-childhood people do the "just start jogging!", "just watch what you eat!", "just get off your ass!" bullshit that heavier people feel shamed into secret-eating and the like. (I…

They are experts at what they do. Even social services and law enforcement can be hoodwinked by them - all of society is deceived by them on an ongoing basis. It's not as if you were intimate with this man, so you have nothing to feel regretful over.

No, you made a fair point; I admit that my initial reaction was pretty hysterical. It's nauseating to imagine a handful of predators, let alone tens of thousands of them attempting to victimise a single girl; that number was shocking to see, especially since the whole population of my city (Dublin) is only around…

Well, not hearing about the bad stuff doesn't make it go away... and I do consider it something of a responsibility to stay informed about the things that are happening to other people. It's the least I can do, really; it helps me feel more compassionate and grateful for the good things I have.

I covered that extensively.

The video is upsetting, but ultimately it's uplifting to know that there are people taking pro-active measures to protect children. One of the cool aspects is that they got the "girl" to ask the predators basic questions and they used that information to track them down via their Facebook and other social media…

Definitely that too! It can be so scary to hear things like that because you start to wonder what everyone might be hiding. But those thoughts will drive you insane... you have to comparmentalise the bad stories and just hope (even if it amounts to denial) that the people close to you are utterly Good. On the plus…

:( That's so unnerving - especially when someone uses their position or power and/or fame to gain access to children (Jerry Sandusky, Jimmy Savile, Gary Glitter et al).

Really and truly. There's been a metric ton of depressing stuff in the headlines today, but this Skype story is the kind of thing that's going on all around us - we just don't hear about it as often. Let's focus on this and tune out the rest, whenever possible.

You spelled "phallic-see" wrong. ;) This is definitely a heavily penis-leaning issue, and claiming otherwise is a waste of time. Luckily I know enough good men in my life that I have the ability to realise that not all men are like this, just as I'm able to process the fact that some women are, too.

I try not to think about it in those terms because it would make me so fearful of men (which is already a concern due to past traumatic experiences of my own), but yeah. It definitely seems that way. :(

I just don't know... maybe some of them were curious or something and lacked the insight to realise what a horrible idea it is to act on that curiosity. :-/ There are probably a huge number of variants when it comes to conditions like these; maybe some of those people would never have taken any action beyond their…

Seriously. It makes such good sense, especially if the person is begging to have it done because they know they're a danger to others. "First do no harm" should apply to potential victims rather than the patient, in that case.

If I may extend some advice (albeit not as a mother but was someone with a niece and two nephews that I'm extremely close to, and having suffered huge anxiety about this topic over the years):

I'm sure it's already happening...

This sums up my feelings nicely.

I think of it as being a mental illness not unlike any other. I've had suicidal depression since I was 10 years old, and it wasn't my fault... but then again, I worked tooth and nail on myself in an attempt to save myself from that darkness. (It will be a life-long process, but I'm doing great right now). There are…

That's reassuring, actually. Thanks for sharing that.

Yeah, I think there are definitely different versions of this disorder. And for those that don't *get it*, it's easy for them to explain it away by saying "I'm just expressing love". Some of the perpetrators may have been abused themselves, so it's like they were broken before they could even begin to develop a…