| Welcome to Europeia! So what the heck is Europeia anyways? Can I join? So, I came here representing another region? I do not want to become a citizen. Where should I go? What offices are there for people to be elected into? What is there for me to do in Europeia? That answers most of my immediate questions. What if I have any more? |
| NS Gameplay and Mental Illness; Opinion/Human Interest | |
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| Topic Started: Dec 23 2015, 04:57 AM (147 Views) | |
| Sopo | Dec 23 2015, 04:57 AM Post #1 |
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Lord High Chancellor Emeritus
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![]() Opinion/Human Interest - "NS Gameplay and Mental Illness" Written by Belschaft Originally published for the NS World Fair (link) Note from the Editor: The following piece was written by Belschaft for the recent NS World Fair. He provides an insightful account of the relationship between mental illness and the NS Gameplay community, including accounts of his own personal struggles. Please keep in mind when reading the sensitive nature of the topic. I know we have had players in Europeia in the past who have dealt with mental illness, and I also know that our community has not always been as supportive of these players as it should. I hope Belschaft's piece will let Europeians living with mental illness know that they are not alone. Furthermore, I hope each member of our community will strive to make Europeia a welcoming and supportive place for those with mental illness. ~Sopo, ENN Opinions Editor I've been playing NationStates since 2008, and have been involved in NSGP since the start of 2011. In that time I've met many players who suffer from some form of mental illness, and a large number of them have suffered negative in game impacts as a result. I’m one of those players; I was first diagnosed with mental illness in 2011 following a major incident of clinical depression leading to a failed suicide attempt. The vast majority of people who suffer from mental illness do so in private, hiding their illness from those around them; in extreme cases hiding it from friends and family. They do so for a variety of reasons, but the most common one is fear of stigma; individuals suffering from mental illness face negative social consequences as a direct result, unlike any other person fighting a chronic illness. This is not only in terms of personal impact in terms of ostracism, harassment and abuse, but also more serious professional impacts; mental illness is a more severe barrier to employment than physical disability, and many sufferers find it necessary to hide their illness from employers. The best comparison which can be made between the stigma faced by those suffering from mental illness and a physical illness is that faced by carriers of HIV/AIDS in the 1980’s and early 1990’s; the disease was first referred to as GRID, or Gay-Related Immune Deficiency, and diagnosis would commonly lead to devastating personal and professional consequences. Whilst the stigma relating to sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV/AIDS in particular, has now largely faded in the western world mental illness still caries heavy stigma. This is highly problematic, not only in terms of the direct negative consequences but also in regards to the consequences attempts to avoid it produce. Failure to disclose illness, and attempts to hide the symptoms, not only prevents the individual suffering from receiving effective treatment but denies them a key element in regards to any illness, but one of unique importance with mental illness; a supportive, safe environment in which to recover, and healthy relationships with individuals who are sufficiently well informed to note relapses and provide the much needed support. Due to the emotional elements common to all forms of mental illness, the existence of such an environment is often more crucial to a patients recovery and long term health than any professional care or treatment they may be receiving. This is of particular importance to online communities like NationStates for one simple reason; escapism. The number of people participating in online communities who suffer from mental illness is abnormally high, individuals who have difficulty interacting in normal social situations – for example, the mentally ill – find relief and succour in an environment where the lack of personal contact allows them to form personal relationships that they could not otherwise develop. The ability to hide their illness, and to thus pose as “normal” is particularly attractive to people who commonly face stigma in their lives. Whilst this would appear to be a positive thing if taken at face value – providing a chance to interact with others normally to people who would otherwise lack it – it is in fact highly dangerous. Whilst these “normal”, non stigmatic interactions may seem to meet the criteria of a supportive, safe environment which can provide the needed emotional support and personal interaction to combat mental illness they do not; the very attraction they have to those seeking to avoid stigma, the ability to hide their illness, means that they cannot provide genuinely effective support. It is impossible to spot the symptoms of illness, or provide the support needed to combat them, if an individual is hiding them; in an online community doing so is highly effective. You may be interacting with an individual who is seriously, critically ill on a daily basis and have no idea; you may be their principle form of emotional support, and yet unable to provide exactly what they need to remain healthy. There are numerous cases in NSGP where players have suffered severe mental breakdowns, leading to crisis situations, with no one being aware of the problem prior to the incident. The irony of the situation is that the very reason why online communities cannot provide the emotional support needed to players suffering from mental illness is their own, reasonable, attempts to maintain anonymity and escape stigma; by hiding their illness, they prevent growth in awareness of the issue and provide the illusion of isolation to other sufferers. If awareness of the problems associated with mental illness was greater then online communities would be better able to provide a nurturing, safe environment where people could be open about their illness without facing stigma – it is ignorance, rather than malice, that produces hostile communities and individuals in the vast majority of cases. I have met only a handful of individuals in NSGP who I would describe as being genuinely malicious and hostile in regards to mental illness, with the most players being supportive once aware and informed of the problems I face. If more players were open and honest about their health problems then awareness would be much greater and stigma lesser, and there would be limited reason to hide mental illness; this is, of course, a catch-22 situation. For NSGP to become a safe, supportive environment players with mental illness must be willing to be open about it; for players to be willing to be open about it, it must become a safe, supportive environment. When I first pitched this lecture to the NSWF organisation committee I had hoped to be able to include the accounts and experiences of other players suffering from mental illness; however, those I approached consistently declined, wishing to keep their health problems secret. I myself changed my mind about writing this lecture several times, ultimately leading to my lecture being listed as something else – at the time the committee released the schedule I had backed out from this topic, and I only committed to writing this on the day. The reason why I choose to focus on the relationship between NSGP and mental illness, rather than NationStates in general and mental illness, is due to the fact that NSGP is a particularly toxic and personal area of NS. The fact that NSGP is toxic is so well known that it has quite literally become a joke, but this toxicity has the potential to be seriously dangerous when combined with undisclosed mental illness; incidents and attitudes that would normally be a mere irritancy for other players can directly lead to a crisis situation when emotionally unstable and vulnerable players are involved. In 2012 I, and a number of other players, inadvertently caused a mental breakdown in another player. Our actions were entirely normal for NSGP, and were not intentionally malicious – in any other situation they would have not caused any real life consequences, or caused a crisis situation to develop. In this case, when we were interacting with a player suffering from mental illness they added sufficient extra stress to pre-existing problems that they caused an anxiety attack and led to an attempted suicide. Whilst the player in question was ultimately fine, the entire incident could have been avoided had NSGP been a sufficiently supportive environment that we were aware of the problems. It is not the duty or responsibility of players in NSGP to look after the health of others – nor am I arguing that it should be. Nor should my discussion of this issue be taken as a criticism of anyone. On the whole NSGP is not a bad place, and as I have said above I have found most people to be supportive once aware and informed. The log bellow is an example of a crisis situation which occurred to me in 2013, and is indicative of a community that is not intentionally malicious or harmful;[/font] Spoiler: click to toggle In that incident I had, due to reasons entirely unrelated to NS, taken an overdose of prescription medication and unable to locate my phone or house keys had attempted to get someone on IRC to call an ambulance for me; according to accounts of the incident I received later (I woke up with no memory of going on IRC, and was shocked when I found the log) someone did, though by the time they arrived I had fallen unconscious and they did not force entry. Obviously I survived the incident; I have chosen to share the log, despite the personal nature of it, because of what it shows. The players who I interacted with during the incident were uniformly sympathetic and understanding, and attempted to help me. Similarly, during the 2012 incident I and others involved attempted to provide help to the player in question, and successfully located them and ensured they were safe. NS, and NSGP, have the makings of a community than can be supportive and nurturing of those of us who suffer from mental illness, and all that is needed for it to become one is for those of us fighting mental illness to be open with those around us. The stigma that we face is primarily passive and self imposed; it is not active hostility and ostracism, but ignorance due to our own lack of honesty. I chose to write this lecture, despite the significant emotional stress it has caused me, because I am part of the problem; I have, for a variety of reasons, chosen to hide from my illness and hide my illness as much as possible. As I have emphasised, what is needed is openness and transparency; for people to feel comfortable disclosing their illness, so that they can receive the emotional support and understanding they need. It is my hope that by sacrificing my anonymity I can encourage positive debate of the issue and greater awareness, so that other players will feel comfortable in seeking the support they need, assured that they are in an environment that will not stigmatise them. Edited by Sopo, Dec 23 2015, 04:30 PM.
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![]() The Right Honorable Sopo Associate Administrator for Discord - High Priest of Nethel - Lord High Chancellor Emeritus More Info
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| Anumia | Dec 23 2015, 11:43 AM Post #2 |
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Anumia Novo Spiritus
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Oh, well done Belschaft. Well done. |
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| hyanygo | Dec 23 2015, 11:49 AM Post #3 |
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Give me a shout if you want to meet up
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| Belschaft | Dec 23 2015, 11:56 AM Post #4 |
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Thanks guys ![]() I'm good Hy, but I may be coming to a University near you soon. |
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| hyanygo | Dec 23 2015, 12:28 PM Post #5 |
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London or Cambridge? I'm in London now. |
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| Common-Sense Politics | Dec 23 2015, 03:47 PM Post #6 |
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Incapable of Bullshit
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This is such an important piece. As someone who has dealt with depression and anxiety for almost my entire tenure in NS, it's nice to know you're not alone and it's okay to talk about it. |
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The Venerable Imperator Common-Sense Politics, ER ESE EBS EOB EC ES OR1-4 Father to McEntire Chancellory Decorations Presidential Decorations Resume References
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| Belschaft | Dec 23 2015, 05:45 PM Post #7 |
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London; I'm heading back to Uni to do an undergrad degree in Politics & IR. Still need to actually finish my UCAS application before the 15 Jan deadline for KCL, UCL, LSE, etc... |
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| Shin | Dec 23 2015, 06:40 PM Post #8 |
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Making the whole world smile
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An excellent piece. |
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| hyanygo | Dec 23 2015, 06:43 PM Post #9 |
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bluergch Kings. You can safely say no to that. |
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| Belschaft | Dec 23 2015, 11:00 PM Post #10 |
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I'm probably leaning towards UCL as my first preference; LSE is strongest for the subjects, but I don't like the corporate environment. |
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| Sloosh | Dec 23 2015, 11:44 PM Post #11 |
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Self-Aware Silly Putty
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This was really awesome to read. As a newcomer to the game and someone who suffers from depression and anxiety, I appreciate this piece a lot. |
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| Mousebumples | Dec 24 2015, 03:44 AM Post #12 |
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If you give this mouse a cookie, she'll probably ask for some cheese.
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Every now and again we get a thread on the NS forum with someone saying that they are suicidal. Given the trolls that about on the anonymous forums, we generally need to close and move those threads so that the user in question isn't bombarded with responses or TGs with suggestions that are in poor taste. However, we have compiled this list of resources in NSG. I'm fortunate enough that I haven't had these mental health issues myself, but I have to wonder if it would be helpful for a regional community (such as Europeia, hypothetically) to offer similar resources links ... somewhere. Or, if there's something else that - as a community - we should do to provide support for our regionmates that may be going through difficult times. (And, of course, if there are resources that you think should be added to the above link, feel free to mention that as well.) Thanks for sharing, Bels. |
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| Lethen | Dec 24 2015, 03:41 PM Post #13 |
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Remember when I was famous? Neither do I.
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I think its definitely something we should look into including somewhere around the forums, Mouse. |
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me, basically (click) A letter to a friend By the Prophetical Blessing of Nethel, Supreme Chancellor of the Republic of Europeia and the states within, Destined Overseer of His rightful yet forgotten realms of Estalcia and Old Europe and Crystal Falls, Defender of the Faith and New Jersey, and Heir to the concept of Sarcasm | |
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| Sloosh | Dec 24 2015, 05:29 PM Post #14 |
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Self-Aware Silly Putty
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Agreed, I like that idea a lot. Definitely something to look into. |
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