4 ms·

Man. I feel like I got blasted with a word salad here. To me the main value of this piece is to raise awareness that the internet is serving as a kind of incuba

by b6 9y ago

Man. I feel like I got blasted with a word salad here. To me the main value of this piece is to raise awareness that the internet is serving as a kind of incubator for mental illness just as it does for, well, everything else. I often see it in action because a lot of my YouTube subscriptions are to people who are almost certainly schizophrenic. The videos they post have very little to offer a normal person. I think most of the people who show up to watch and comment are also mentally ill. Someone may post a video claiming that the NSA is monitoring their thoughts via satellites and then receive 10 comments about "yeah, it's happening to me too" and "it's not via satellites, it's from black helicopters" and "it's not the NSA, it's Satan", etc. If you've not run into this before, I think it would be eye-opening to spend an hour or two watching videos related to "targeted individual", "gang stalking", "voice to skull", "v2k", "remote neural monitoring", etc.

Baeocystin 9y ago
Honest question: why do you subscribe/follow these individuals? What do you get out their inchoate worldview?
- b6 9y ago
  When I was much younger, I found it funny. But then I learned about it, and it stopped being funny and became worrisome and frightening. An extremely debilitating disease that can strike anyone for no apparent reason, that makes you and your loved ones miserable, with no cure, that causes you to deny you are sick and actively resist treatment. What I find most frightening about the possibility of developing schizophrenia is, nobody can talk you out of it. Your best friend and most trusted advisor could plead with you, and you'd probably see them as part of the evil empire. And I just don't like it when we write people off. I can't treat people like ghosts. If I were schizophrenic and frantically uploading nonsensical "proof" to YouTube every day, I think I'd want someone to take 30 seconds to say something like "hey, buddy, sorry you're having a hard time, but I don't see any RF orgies being beamed to you. Have you talked to a doctor?"
  - Baeocystin 9y ago
    I admire your compassion for your fellow human being. I mean that sincerely. I also have a word of warning: >"hey, buddy, sorry you're having a hard time, but I don't see any RF orgies being beamed to you. Have you talked to a doctor?" Is a potentially dangerous thing to say to the genuinely ill. Like you said, no one can talk someone out of it, just like you can't talk a diabetic out of an insulin crisis. It is a physical ailment. While most schizophrenics are not violent, some are, and the ones that are can be deadly so. One of my high school teachers, who was a wonderful, warm woman, was recently murdered by her schizophrenic son during one of his episodes. He had never been violent before, but his breaks from reality were getting worse, and one day, that was enough. Just be careful of your own self, too, when offering a hand of help.

by b6 9y ago

Baeocystin 9y ago

Honest question: why do you subscribe/follow these individuals? What do you get out their inchoate worldview?

b6 9y ago
When I was much younger, I found it funny. But then I learned about it, and it stopped being funny and became worrisome and frightening. An extremely debilitating disease that can strike anyone for no apparent reason, that makes you and your loved ones miserable, with no cure, that causes you to deny you are sick and actively resist treatment. What I find most frightening about the possibility of developing schizophrenia is, nobody can talk you out of it. Your best friend and most trusted advisor could plead with you, and you'd probably see them as part of the evil empire. And I just don't like it when we write people off. I can't treat people like ghosts. If I were schizophrenic and frantically uploading nonsensical "proof" to YouTube every day, I think I'd want someone to take 30 seconds to say something like "hey, buddy, sorry you're having a hard time, but I don't see any RF orgies being beamed to you. Have you talked to a doctor?"
- Baeocystin 9y ago
  I admire your compassion for your fellow human being. I mean that sincerely. I also have a word of warning: >"hey, buddy, sorry you're having a hard time, but I don't see any RF orgies being beamed to you. Have you talked to a doctor?" Is a potentially dangerous thing to say to the genuinely ill. Like you said, no one can talk someone out of it, just like you can't talk a diabetic out of an insulin crisis. It is a physical ailment. While most schizophrenics are not violent, some are, and the ones that are can be deadly so. One of my high school teachers, who was a wonderful, warm woman, was recently murdered by her schizophrenic son during one of his episodes. He had never been violent before, but his breaks from reality were getting worse, and one day, that was enough. Just be careful of your own self, too, when offering a hand of help.