SL the best therapy

[Nostoll]

SL is the best therapy,I have to say it;it may save lifes and cure souls.Practicing social interaction in a safe, non-threatening, gaming environment helps people reduce anxiety and gain the confidence and skills they need to attempt more social interactions in their daily lives,provide users the opportunity to practice engaging in realistic social situations like job interviews, confrontations with neighbors or even dates -- scenarios that are often vexing for individuals with an autism spectrum or anxiety disorder.You know it is an alternate reality, but you feel the same emotions you would feel in the actual situation you are practicing.

One last thing to say SL saved my life :matte-motes-big-grin:

 



[Dresden]

I agree the you, until which point that this sort if crap rears it's ugly head... link.  Can you help the person to which I have pointed?

...Dres

[Conifer Dada]

I think Second Life is wonderful - I've been here over 9 years so I must think that, mustn't I !  It does have its moments of frustration too, of course, but for me it has been an overwhelmingly positive experience.

However I don't think SL has that much of an impact on my real life.  Spending a lot of time in SL has meant watching less TV and reading fewer books.  Creating things in SL has probably meant I've done less real life artwork.  But this is just a choice about how one spends leisure time.  I suppose years of SL must have had some sort of influence on my RL but I'm not conscious of what that is.  

 

[irihapeti]

good on you Nostoll (:

sometimes we need someone to come along and remind us about what is good in life

thanks (:

 

[Alwin Alcott]

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Nostoll wrote:

Practicing social interaction in a safe, non-threatening, gaming environment helps people reduce anxiety and gain the confidence and skills they need to attempt more social interactions in their daily lives,provide users the opportunity to practice engaging in realistic social situations like job interviews, confrontations with neighbors or even dates -- scenarios that are often vexing for individuals with an autism spectrum or anxiety disorder.

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A safe non trheatening .....wow you must have been at sim on a stick from Open Sim, ór never left your own parcel while it's locked for others.

Look at the forums how many people are hurt, diapointed griefed, stalked.... and so on and so on.... SL is as real life... but magnified, more intense and close to your real feeling. It can't be safe or non threatening. ( and it's no gaming environment... go play candy crush if you want to be safe)

[Dresden]

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Alwin Alcott wrote:

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Nostoll wrote:

Practicing social interaction in a safe, non-threatening, gaming environment helps people reduce anxiety and gain the confidence and skills they need to attempt more social interactions in their daily lives,provide users the opportunity to practice engaging in realistic social situations like job interviews, confrontations with neighbors or even dates -- scenarios that are often vexing for individuals with an autism spectrum or anxiety disorder.

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A safe non trheatening .....wow you must have been at sim on a stick from Open Sim, ór never left your own parcel while it's locked for others.

Look at the forums how many people are hurt, diapointed griefed, stalked.... and so on and so on.... SL is as real life... but magnified, more intense and close to your real feeling. It can't be safe or non threatening. ( and it's no gaming environment... go play candy crush if you want to be safe)

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Are you kidding me?  How dare you even suggest that what some people might be subjected to in SL is in any way comparative to what some people go through in RL... much less "magnified, more intense".  Yeah, people can certainly get their feelings hurt in SL, but can they be beat up, kidnapped, raped, murdered...?

Sure people can inflict emotional and even monetary harm to people through SL but it simply doesn't compare to that which they could physically do in RL.  As far as I'm concerned, insinuating that what happens in SL is worse that what occurs in RL, is about as ignorant as ignorant can be.

...Dres

[Alwin Alcott]

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Dresden wrote:

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  How dare you even suggest .....

...Dres

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If you had take a little efford to read , it is not about  rape or any other physical thing but intersocial contacts...  and in that SL is absolutely NO safe place.

But never mind, you'r far superior above me. I can't even remember how i dared to write what i said.

 

[Kelli May]

Some positives and negatives on this.

For social anxiety, SL is a good layer of insulation from the worries. If it triggers an anxiety attack, the people around can't perceive most of the symptoms. If I start to blush or stammer, I can still be the wittiest person in the room (or try) through a keyboard. If I need to leave, a quick AFK or BRB is perfectly acceptable to most people. If the symptoms are less visible, they are less threatening. Less threatening means less to worry about. Less to worry about, fewer attacks. Fewer attacks, more confidence. The vicious circle becomes a virtuous one, and the confidence can be something that carries through to RL.

For me, the kinds of things griefers do aren't the kind of things that trigger anxiety. Even if they are, I can eject, block, AR, TP away or just exit, depending on the situation. The investment in doing something in SL is much less, too. I've not travelled to another city (something I'd have to do for some kinds of socialising), or got specially dressed up (other than my avatar) or paid out a lot of money. If an anxiety attack spoils it... meh. I can make a cuppa, take five and try again.

On the downside, this can encourage avoidant strategies in RL. You have to realise that the same things that work in SL just aren't available in RL. Sounds obvious, but it's very easy to get used to running from tough situations. The aim is to use the relative safety to get used to those situations, not to get used to fleeing them.

The other problem is having SL become a replacement for a social life. More avoidance, only this time avoiding RL in favour of the easier SL. With that can come the risk of addiction and greater isolation from RL.

In the end SL is designed as entertainment, not therapy. I'm sure it helps some people. It's probably helped me more than it's harmed me. I can't believe it's the "best therapy" but it has its therapeutic value.

[Nostoll]

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Dresden wrote:

I agree the you, until which point that this sort if crap rears it's ugly head...

link

.  Can you help the person to which I have pointed?

...Dres

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Nothing is perfect,but It depends in your point of viewe,if you look at the positive side and take everything easy the worst situation will be the best experiance,i will laugh at any thing which try to infect feelings or hurts them

[Nostoll]

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Alwin Alcott wrote:

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Dresden wrote:

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  How dare you even suggest .....

...Dres

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If you had take a little efford to read , it is not about  rape or any other physical thing but intersocial contacts...  and in that SL is absolutely NO safe place.

But never mind, you'r far superior above me. I can't even remember how i dared to write what i said.

 

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SL is a safe place because it doesn't infect you personnaly,when a person is talking to you,this person is talking to your avatar,it's like play in theater,you are just an actore with a role name,even if it is related to your RL but it's separeted,you have the beautiful option to mute and derender, nothing can hurt you in RL,the only one who hurts you is yourself it depends on your way to look at situation just ignore and laugh at ignorants,and we enjoy our play with the bad and the good to take the best experiance

[Dresden]

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Alwin Alcott wrote:

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Dresden wrote:

---

  How dare you even suggest .....

...Dres

---

If you had take a little efford to read , it is not about  rape or any other physical thing but intersocial contacts...  and in that SL is absolutely NO safe place.

But never mind, you'r far superior above me. I can't even remember how i dared to write what i said.

 

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I apologize, Alwin.  Not only was my reply to you overly reactionary but it really wasn't even pertinent to what you had written.  I was clearly not in my right frame of mind when I wrote it.

...Dres

[Madelaine McMasters]

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Nostoll wrote:

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Alwin Alcott wrote:

---

Dresden wrote:

---

  How dare you even suggest .....

...Dres

---

If you had take a little efford to read , it is not about  rape or any other physical thing but intersocial contacts...  and in that SL is absolutely NO safe place.

But never mind, you'r far superior above me. I can't even remember how i dared to write what i said.

 

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SL is a safe place because it doesn't infect you personnaly,when a person is talking to you,this person is talking to your avatar,it's like play in theater,you are just an actore with a role name,even if it is related to your RL but it's separeted,you have the beautiful option to mute and derender, nothing can hurt you in RL,the only one who hurts you is yourself it depends on your way to look at situation just ignore and laugh at ignorants,and we enjoy our play with the bad and the good

to take the best experiance

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That's not always true, Nostoll.

Some people are deeply hurt by others here. And it's not only SL that puts people at risk. There are quite a few stories of social network harassment resulting in suicide. Not everybody is as emotionally stable as those who tough it out here year after year. And even some of those "emotional rocks" have tales of woe to tell. Many of us would not be here if the relationships we built didn't affect us personally.

Yes, SL eliminates the threat of physical violence, but we are bodies... and minds. It is fair to draw a distinction between physical and emotional abuse, but the latter can happen almost anywhere.

And finally, I try to avoid laughing at "ignorants". All too often I discover I'm one of them.