Support Groups for RL Issues in SL: Yes or No?

Seeing that Second Life allows a certain degree of anonymity, and also a free and open expression I am surprised people have not formed more support groups to meet regularly within Second Life.

There could be objections to this, but one could say in a way people get emotional support all the time for RL issues in Second Life. They talk to their friends in Second Life about their problems in their First Life, etc.

People in Second Life are less likely to care as far as the embarrassment part about RL issues than people in RL so the issue of embarrassment is not as big.


I think the rules of etiquette concerning support groups in Second Life would be that no one can give professional advice, but just share advice, stories, and emotional support from their own experience or recommend books, programs, and resources that are reputable to others with similar issues.

These groups need not be any more organized than discussion groups necessarily.

So what do all of you think?

I think as SL grows, more of everything will grow with it, and that includes Support Groups. So hopefully there will be more with time and of course all it takes is someone taking the initiative to get one going.

That said, here is my opinion on why we don't have more right now (and until SL takes over the internet 20 years from now, we won't have nearly as many as RL does).

One reason is that for many SL is an escape from the RL issues. If someone has a support group in RL they may not also want one in SL because they are trying to not think about those issues for a while. Since a support group does focus on a particular issue, there are probably many out there that could benefit from a group, but who really just don't want to think about their problems while in SL. I think this will change in the next 20 years when SL is more like the internet and people will turn to SL for a variety of things beyond just entertainment and creativity.

Another reason I am sure has some factor is a fear of griefing from other SLers. I'd wager there are some "underground" support groups in SL that are not listed publicly and are joined by word of mouth only. The theory behind this being that just as you spoke of anonymity as a good thing, it can also be a bad thing. People joining groups only to mess with others who are in true need. I think this will change some as new tools are introduced to the SL platform that will allow for more self-protection for groups.

Just my thoughts on this issue!

I've enjoyed bringing a lot of my baggage to SL and unloading it. It's made me a better person. This watermelon thing didn't always used to be fun and games... (you could imagine a darker origin sort of like some of the early beginnings of characters in comic books)

I find I've taken a really lateral approach to this, but it's worked amazingly well for me, and maybe it can help others too, so that's why I like to spill it all out. I just can't contain my excitement. Some may not understand at first, but that's okeydoke—neither do I at times, and we're all finding our way.

What's particularly fascinating to me here are all the different perspectives that get mangled up. I once came across a healthcare specialist who seemed like he was starting to freak because all these Resis were doin' spazzy gestures in the WA, like all GAHRGARHRHRHHHHHHHHH! and he thought they were reflecting offline seizures of epilepsy. He found it startling this was a way that some people entertain each other, but didn't appear to be offended.

I attended one such support group if you wanna call it that... it was about an hour long and an in-world professional held the event. It was rather freeing to know that others had the same problems and that not everyone... like me could get the solutions. I think it will happen more and more often.

my 2 cents
Z

The Internet already teams with a seemingly endless variety of groups - support and otherwise. Just take a look at Yahoo! groups, for instance, and you will find a way to talk endlessly about whatever issues happen to be in your life - from poodle grooming to suicide prevention. I think SL takes a different approach altogether - a place to leave those issues in RL and create a life that is free of them. And being free of those issues, even in a virtual environment, can make a world of difference all the way around. Just as people drag their RL baggage into SL, its also possible to drag your NON-baggage back to RL. Having discovered how to live without it in one environment can surely help you to live without it all around. Isn't SL about having all the resources you could ever possibly want to create the person and the life you would live if you had infinite resources available? And then also having a group of friends that agree with that creation and contribute to it? What better "support group" than that?

Yeah I had some real issues with poodle grooming a while back... Been speaking to my phsych about it...

I would like to join a group for those addicted to Second Life.

Seriously though, I would join a group to talk about my issues, if I felt like it were a secure atmosphere to do it in. In which case, I would do a lot of observing before speaking.

I think you would do best to remember the first rule of Fight Club.

Athel,

We have been doing this for a few months now

supportforhealing island was set up to mirror work we are doing on our website to help those with depression, mental illness or emotional issues in RL.

We now have twice weekly depression support meetings on the island which are attended by between 5 and 15 members, The Support For Healing SL group has 118 members including some senior Linden friends.

We are not a professional group but the voulnteer 'staff' all have personal experience in depression or mental illnesses. We steer people towards the best possible professional help, do research and most of all provide an environment where people can discuss their problems with those that understand and remove any feeling of isolation. My personal background is as a sufferer of depression and anxiety disorders over a period of 30 years.

We are looking to start a meditation group in the next week or so and also looking to help those with social anxiety/phobia.

If anyone has any (serious) suggestions for ways we can help the community further or wants any further info, please drop me a line.