Mental health does it affect relationships/friendships?

[Zeotetra]

Saw this link and after listening to the conversation, made me wonder could this be why some of us find it trickier to build relationships/friendships?

https://screening.mhanational.org/content/i-dont-feel-i-belong-anywhere

 

We all are weird and special 🤓

Edited September 10, 2020 by Zeotetra

[Talligurl]

"Belonging and connecting with others requires being open about who you are and allowing a level of vulnerability and trust."

And many of us to some extent come to SL as an escape from RL, and bring trust issues with us. It is these issues at least in part that lead to our need of an escape. So we get here and have a hard time trusting, and that lack of trust makes it hard to create meaningful friendships, so many of the same issues we deal with in RL, that we come here to escape, follow us here. I never really thought about it that way before but I think it's true.

[Lusus Saule]

2 hours ago, Talligurl said:

"Belonging and connecting with others requires being open about who you are and allowing a level of vulnerability and trust."

And many of us to some extent come to SL as an escape from RL, and bring trust issues with us. It is these issues at least in part that lead to our need of an escape. So we get here and have a hard time trusting, and that lack of trust makes it hard to create meaningful friendships, so many of the same issues we deal with in RL, that we come here to escape, follow us here. I never really thought about it that way before but I think it's true.

I've found many people who may have mental health issues in RL, see Second Life as a huge benefit. It can be a social setting that they would otherwise be unable to experience, and a way of personal expression without feeling as vulnerable. For some it can be a means of leaving behind some of the mental health issues they live with in RL. I can however think of a few people I have met in SL whose behaviour has been quite challenging.

 

Edited September 11, 2020 by Lusus Saule

[Zeotetra]

13 hours ago, Talligurl said:

So we get here and have a hard time trusting

Trusting someone completely is never easy even in rl we really do not know how vulnerable someone is on the other side!

Would we be 100% certain to trust everyone in sl not really just like in rl too but perhaps it is easier, because knowing someone in sl is not necessarily knowing them in person.
Might get an idea of who they are but not all just like a ripped up book.

 

10 hours ago, Lusus Saule said:

It can be a social setting that they would otherwise be unable to experience, and a way of personal expression without feeling as vulnerable. For some it can be a means of leaving behind some of the mental health issues they live with in RL

This is where they might not even discuss what they go through, there is that stigma where some would just say that individual is crazy, who is to say that person is dealing with e.g. bipolar we can't be sure we can just be a good individual and support the best we can!

[So Whimsy]

Depends on the mental illness and the person to be honest.