Compassion Alert

it would be super helpful if you added applicable trigger warnings in your tips when you submit a url, such as trigger warnings for self harm, eating disorders, gore, etc. It would just help the alerts get out faster and such. Thank you! 
~ Madden  

A year ago today, I started this blog, and since then, so much has happened. I have seen super-strong friendships form, hope restored, healing begin, and many lives saved. This has been a crazy, awesome adventure. I have been so blessed to meet many of the responders and those who have been on alert, to hear your stories, and to work alongside you. You are honestly some of the most selfless people I have ever met, and I can’t tell you what a privilege it is to walk this road with you. One of the coolest things about Compassion Alert is that I’ve seen thousands of people from all walks of life set aside their differences and join together for the common cause of helping others. The diversity and sense of community among the responders is absolutely amazing.

Several people have asked me how we’re going to celebrate Compassion Alert’s birthday, and after talking it over with some of you, I think it would be awesome if everyone who wants to would make a video sharing their story about Compassion Alert. Whether you were on alert yourself, are a responder, or both, we want to hear your story and how Compassion Alert has affected you in the last year! Film it, upload it (to tumblr or youtube), and submit it to this blog before August 11. I can’t wait to hear all your stories! (By the way, if your story includes triggering content, please state in the beginning of it if there is possibly-triggering ED, SI or suicidal content. We want to keep each other safe!)

There’s no way this project would exist and be flourishing without all of you, so a huge thank you to everyone who has in some way contributed to it in the past year. I love you guys so incredibly much. Your compassion is beautiful!!

xoxo,
Madden 

I was just sitting here thinking about how much I appreciate all you do with this blog and how cool it is to see everyone work together to help others who are going through a rough time. Your health is just as important as that of anyone on alert, so please don’t forget to take some time for yourself, especially if you feel stressed by responding to alerts. Honestly, the last thing I want to do is cause you guys any harm, so don’t feel bad if you need to just navigate away from the blog and watch a movie or skip around outside or whatever you need to healthfully de-stress. 

Compassion Alert’s first birthday is coming up (August 7th) and I get crazy emotional thinking about all that has happened with this whole ministry in the past year. You guys are all so incredibly compassionate, and it’s a beautiful thing to see. I can’t be online to personally counsel as many people as I would like anymore (what with college, work, health, and everything else I have going on), but I want you to know that I love every single one of you lots and lots, that I love getting to meet you guys, and that I thank God every day for allowing me the opportunity to work with aweometastical individuals such as yourself.

I also want to remind you that even when you don’t feel like it, you are loved a completely crazy amount, and if you need someone to remind you of that, you can always submit your own url here (seriously, don’t feel bad to ask!), annnnd if you need prayer (for anything at all), you can submit a request here and I and a bunch of other people will be happy to pray for you. I love you guys! Have an awesome day and may God bless you. <3

xoxo,
Madden 

P.S. A huge shout-out to my lovely mods, who are doing a fantastic job of helping keep things afloat while I take some time to focus on my health! You guys are amazing! :D

“Just a courtesy update: She deleted her Tumblr, but practicing-for-hell, whom planned to commit today, changed her mind. She is getting help for her depression. I know this because she and I are still in contact :) Thank you for running that alert-I think it made a huge difference :)”

aaaaand

“Hey there. I just noticed my url on your blog. I presume you posted it while I was in hospital, and I just really want to thank you so, so much for everything you do. Hospital was really hard for me, and the messages I received kept me motivated, so thank you. What you do is incredible, and I hope that I will soon be stable enough to support you again x”

Even if you don’t hear back from some people, y’all are changing lives with your love. You guys are awesome! 
~ Madden 

P.S. Please don’t reblog this post. Thank you!

As I think we all know, many of the blogs posted on Compassion Alert have some rather triggering content posted on them. Would it be helpful to you if we started posting the urls to all triggering blogs so that they directed straight to the ask box? That way, you could leave kind messages without having to look at so much triggering content. I’ve already begun to do this with some blogs that are particularly graphic, but I’m wondering if I should make it standard protocol.
Please note that this would not get rid of all triggers. We would continue to mark alerts with the trigger warnings in case you wanted to navigate away from the ask page to get a better idea of what you should say to someone, etc., and some blogs have triggering images as their user picture, which is visible even on the ask page. This would just be a way to lessen the chances of you seeing things that could cause you to be triggered. Let me know below; what do you guys think of this idea?

If you sent in a tip awhile ago and it’s not been posted, tumblr probably ate it and it never reached me. That’s not my fault and I don’t deserve vicious messages because of it. I’m currently running the blog completely by myself while on a strict schedule to get healthy and with limited computer time, so please know I’m doing the best I can. I have a lot of issues I need to sort out for myself, but I care about every one of you; please don’t respond to my love with hate because I can’t get everything done exactly when or how everyone would like me to… and especially if tumblr was just being dumb and didn’t deliver your message. Trust me, if I had my way, this blog would be staffed pretty much around the clock so alerts always got out right away. I’m working on getting there, I promise. 

~ Madden 

I’m sorry for the delays in posting this past week or so. I’ve been having having technical difficulties, problems finding as much time as I need to attend to things on here, issues getting mods to cover the blog when I can’t be on to post, and - judging by all the hate mail in my personal inbox about alerts not getting posted for which I never received tips - tumblr has been eating some of your messages. On top of that, I no longer have a laptop, because it decided to die completely, so I have to use a desktop computer which is only available to me at certain times of the day and runs slowly.

I am also a college student who is doing school through the summer, as well as working and trying to get a lot healthier, which means I can no longer stay up all night as I used to (plus, again with the desktop computer, which I’m not supposed to be using at all odd hours of the night).

These may sound like excuses, but I have been accused by more than one person for ‘not caring enough’ to rush out alerts the moment they arrive in the inbox, so I’d really just like you all to know that I have legitimate reasons for not being able to be on top of everything as well as I, and evidently others, would like.

I apologize for any inconvenience caused by my inability to be online as much as I used to, and I promise you that I am doing everything in my power to get a few more people on board with this so it will run smoothly. I love you guys and appreciate all you do on here more than I can ever say. Have a safe night! 

xoxo,
Madden <3 

I really, really love you guys. No joke. Sometimes it just crosses my mind and I’m like, “Dude. The Compassion Alert Responders are such freaking fantastic people; I can’t even believe it.” Just saying. I’ve met so many amazing people through this, and I hope to meet many more of you. Don’t be afraid to come talk to me! I love getting to know y’all! 

~ Madden 

• You are easily frustrated with people.
• You think it’s okay to belittle or bully someone about their emotions, calling them selfish, stupid, or anything of that nature, telling them to ‘get over it’, etc. 
• You are going to try and offer advice that you are not authorized to give (giving medical advice, attempting to diagnose people, etc.).
• You are going to send any type of hate mail or negative comments.
• You are unstable yourself and should therefore not be dealing with the stress of others.

This blog was not created to be an advice blog. This blog exists so the tumblr community can show love to those in pain, particularly those who are suicidal. It is not a form of treatment or a way to help everyone play the part of a therapist. I cannot control the actions of the followers, who are the ones that respond to these alerts, but some of you have been causing trouble when you respond. If you fit any of the above descriptions, then you may want to re-evaluate your motives for following this blog and possibly consider unfollowing. Thank you.
~ Madden