4 ms·

The problem is called co-rumination. It's engaged in more often by adolescent girls than adolescent boys, and far more often in adolescent girls it leads to anx

The problem is called co-rumination. It's engaged in more often by adolescent girls than adolescent boys, and far more often in adolescent girls it leads to anxiety and depression. They bond over the sharing of (and obsession with) one another's problems and often, through a mimetic process, take on one another's problems. Social media is a superhighway for this kind of communication, and exacerbates the pathological tendencies of it. Notice how the intervention of taking away the young lady's phone was a crucial first step in her recovery.

jstarfish 4y ago
> They bond over the sharing of (and obsession with) one another's problems and often, through a mimetic process, take on one another's problems. Nice to be able to put a name to this phenomenon. From my own observations, I suspect this is less a bonding ritual and more a competitive one. The responding party establishes common ground but usually tries to outdo the initiator-- "I have the same thing, but mine's worse."
- AnimalMuppet 4y ago
  There's a name for that too - the "Suffering Olympics".
  - ChainOfFools 4y ago
    And that is itself a subtype of a more general syndrome, which depending on how you approach it is either "go there ism" or "been there ism." And it amounts to this: "I've been somewhere you haven't been, ( over some domain in which we both have a reputational interest), and therefore I am the default authority in this domain. Since I've been there and you haven't this authority can't be challenged." The "go there ism' version is the same model applied prescriptively, " I'm capable of going to, and withstanding the strain of, a place of such extraordinary suffering/bravery/ compassion/violence, that you cannot go without my help/'teaching'/strength etc." Trying to challenge the validity of either of these positions inevitably leads to accusations of trying to attack the person personally, which then goes to somewhere between "I'm tired of having this conversation" and a gunshot, depending on who you're dealing with. It's how people who actively disavow social hierarchies establish social hierarchies.
kurupt213 4y ago
So it’s like a form of munchausen?
- mariodiana 4y ago
  Yeah, I'm no psychologist, but I thought the same thing. It seems related.

jstarfish 4y ago

> They bond over the sharing of (and obsession with) one another's problems and often, through a mimetic process, take on one another's problems. Nice to be able to put a name to this phenomenon. From my own observations, I suspect this is less a bonding ritual and more a competitive one. The responding party establishes common ground but usually tries to outdo the initiator-- "I have the same thing, but mine's worse."

AnimalMuppet 4y ago
There's a name for that too - the "Suffering Olympics".
- ChainOfFools 4y ago
  And that is itself a subtype of a more general syndrome, which depending on how you approach it is either "go there ism" or "been there ism." And it amounts to this: "I've been somewhere you haven't been, ( over some domain in which we both have a reputational interest), and therefore I am the default authority in this domain. Since I've been there and you haven't this authority can't be challenged." The "go there ism' version is the same model applied prescriptively, " I'm capable of going to, and withstanding the strain of, a place of such extraordinary suffering/bravery/ compassion/violence, that you cannot go without my help/'teaching'/strength etc." Trying to challenge the validity of either of these positions inevitably leads to accusations of trying to attack the person personally, which then goes to somewhere between "I'm tired of having this conversation" and a gunshot, depending on who you're dealing with. It's how people who actively disavow social hierarchies establish social hierarchies.

kurupt213 4y ago

So it’s like a form of munchausen?

mariodiana 4y ago
Yeah, I'm no psychologist, but I thought the same thing. It seems related.