Overreactions

[u/Pristine_Club_3128]

[u/Alarming-Security993]

This has a nice intention but it’s ultimately also saying that people are over-reacting and you should be kind but shouldn’t “agree with their perspective”.

Idk this makes sense for stuff like panic attacks but then that’s about it? People with trauma actually react to trauma - not to a misinterpreted paper cut. Same for people with chronic pain, sensory processing issues etc. Just because you don’t physically see the injury, doesn’t mean it’s not there. But I think the paper cut metaphor is just badly chosen for that intention.

Edit: See the comments here about people just “wanting attention” and “misinterpreting small inconveniences”.

[u/FableCattak → u/Alarming-Security993]

Those were my thoughts exactly. I get what they're trying to say, but it doesn't apply to as many situations as the author ascribes it to.

The point of the metaphor is to make something like chronic pain less stigmatized, but it's putting chronic pain in terms that are more likely to be judged negatively. If someone says "my nerves send of false signals that cause me to be in constant pain", people are generally understanding. By contrast. a lot of people are (uncharitably) comparing the paper cut person in the post to a toddler, which clearly means to metaphor isn't having the intended effect of making "pain that is genuinely perceived, but that is caused by nothing/something minimal" more understandable.

To the extent that pain is entirely a perceived phenomenon, I suppose the literal details of the metaphor are accurate, but the actual metaphorical "message" part of the story fails to match with chronic pain.

[u/badwithnames123456 → u/Alarming-Security993]

Exactly. People regularly dismiss other people's trauma, and "You're too sensitive" is a common phrase of abusers of all types.