Mental health and SL

i was a member of since its first week of creation, but it has changed so much over the years alienating a lot of us that now it's sort of a magnet of support that does actually give support any longer.

I really appreciate your comments Biana, and was wondering how you felt these support groups had changed, and what particularly has made you feel alienated from them?

Well they have changed by growing too large and in an attempt to control the size, they created a chain of command, so to say, that governs the group chat, and often reorganizes the way the group did things when it had a smaller user base.

Support for Healing, before i left around July/August 2008, had made it impossible to ask for help in the main chat by having all these "security" people bark at you how the group chat was no longer for public use or support and rudely directed you to some other group chat, and after one gets that barked at by them you usually do not feel like going to some other group chat to voice that you need help since you have just been knocked down/rejected already.

Support groups need to stay supportive, not splinter into sub-groups, where one cannot be heard because the majority of the users are in the main group. In fact, many of the people doing support probably should not be doing so because I have run into a couple who have a very poor attitude in dealing with people who are in a state of distress (which does not mean hysterical, but definitely means seeking help/on the verge of tears, etc... ). I've literally seen verbal fights break out in the Support For Healing chat when people asked for help and were told to join another group and to stop chatting the main SFH group - pretty thoughtless and definitely hurtful to those seeking help.

Not only do support groups need the numbers/people (since we all help each other when possible), it also needs stability and an obvious means by which to seek out/pursue help when you are in SL - since that is all many of us have at the moment, and the means of seeking out support needs to grow with the group from initial conception, not be reorganized and re-structured in a way that alienates the members of the group who were there before the organization completely revamped itself.

What would be great if there was a Suicide Hot-Line center in Second Life. That would be supreme actually. Specifically one that follows the rules, like not asking for data that could lead authorities to you. Last time i called a the National Suicide Prevention center they asked for soooooo much information that i hung up...leaving me in worse shape than when i called. Luckily for me there are some people in SL that can and do actually help.

Some times people just need someone to talk to, and any support group in SL needs to offer this without obstacles beyond needing to have someone online to actually speak with. Counseling is not what is being asked for, but an ear, encouragement, caring, and kindness...with those elements we can often emerge from distress, safely, and somewhat more sane.