Give others benefit of doubt, says Mia Freedman

MIA Freedman was diagnosed with high-functioning anxiety six years ago, but believes she has lived with the mental illness her whole life.

The Mamamia founder said at the time anxiety was not spoken about as much as other mental illnesses.

“When I tentatively started mentioning it I realised there were so many people I knew who had anxiety,” she said.

“There is a phrase that I live by in that there is someone out there with a wound in the identical shape of your words.

“That to me means by speaking about your vulnerability and struggles, you can really help someone going through the same thing.”

Ms Freedman was in Toowoomba yesterday to talk about fame and mental health at Unleash the Beast.

The journalist and blogger has often been at the centre of attacks from online trolls over her work and opinions.

“Of course it gets to you, anyone who says otherwise is lying,” she said.

“We’re at a point that whenever there is a pile on of outrage, not all cases but certainly ones I’ve been involved with, there is such a gap between my intention and how something has been perceived. In that gap is where the outrage lands.

“What we’ve lost in society is giving the people the benefit of the doubt and the space to make mistakes and learn from them. If we give people the benefit of the doubt to say they made that mistake and had a different intention, I think we’d be a better society for it.”