Slender Man--emerging religious crazy

[FundieFarmer]

Very interesting. Does there tend to be an ebb and flow in what you see in practice? My experience with psychology is limited to my abnormal psychology practicum and what we learned in class, so we didn't learn about much of this.

[DeFrauder]

Yes, agreed that this phenomenon isn't a sign of mental illness or exclusive to kids with mental illness. It's been my experience that what I see inpatient is an exaggerated microcosm of teen culture in general. One thing I've noticed is that the teens I run across are both aware that not everything on the internet is true and willing to suspend that particular belief when something is countercultural enough.

It is always about the counter-cultural, isn't it? There is a lot of musing about this in the debate on "brainwashing". The current consensus is that brainwashing does not exist and that people are rational participants in their suspension of belief. When people join new religious movements, for example, it seems to be for some functional reason---a rejection of mainstream values, a desire to break away from over-involved, over-protective parents, a way to quell their feelings of normlessness (anomie), and even just an opportunity to belong to a group. Whatever belief in Slender Man is--it is counter cultural, it is a way to separate oneself from the values of one's parents, and perhaps most importantly, Slender Man's proxies or minions or whatever they are, are a specialized group of insiders that share a belief in something.

I know someone who practices neo-Paganism as her religion. She is fairly normal and does not seem to be suffering from delusions of any other kind, but she recently told me how she still communicates with her childhood friend, who is a large dragon. This dragon has been her protector from a young age and has slept in her closet. He uses magic to reduce his size when it is time to be in the closet, but when outside the closet he is large. They go on rambling walks through the forest together and talk.

Does she REALLY believe this? I mean REALLY, REALLY believe this? I am not sure, but my hunch is that she is simply choosing to believe this. She has a functional reason for believing it, or she is making it up. I do know that other people involved in neo-Paganism and Wicca have similar stories they tell. Are they collectively deluded? I am pretty sure not. I do think that they have some reason for believing these things and for promoting the idea to each other that they believe these things.

I better watch out before I drop everything and start an anthropological study of Slender Man :-P

[DeFrauder]

You're absolutely right they can be exhausting...but once they get tired of exhausting themselves and recognizing that they have a personality disorder they can work to improve, they can be really great folks. One of my frequent fliers I think is at that point where she is tired of living All Drama, All The Time and I'm hoping she uses her outpatient DBT therapy to make some significant changes. She has incredible potential to succeed and she is one of my favorites.

Is it really possible for someone with a serious personality disorder (like histrionic or BPD) to get better? I have a histrionic relative in her late 60s---and even after being told she is suffering from a personality disorder and is hurting people and herself (not criminally) she refuses to accept any sort of therapy or recognize that people are trying to help her, not hurt her. Does degree of severity matter?

[DeFrauder]

I find that phenomenon frightening, especially given the wide range of possibilities of what might be interpreted as countercultural.

As an aside, the more I learn about propaganda/marketing, the more I conclude that pretty much all of us in the marketing-steeped world has one degree or another of delusion, and I suspect that there is a large gray area overlapping between the "normal" population and those with real mental illness. Considering the very hard times that I think are coming, in terms of economic contraction, I find that really ominous, since I don't expect people who are strongly deluded by marketing to adjust well to the coming changes.

Interesting point.

I agree that there seems to be a "mass delusion" about the inevitable financial meltdown and its consequences. The delusion does not all come in the same flavor, either.

I remember a lot of churches were preaching during the real estate bubble (and after) that Jesus was returning very soon and that the best course of action was to spend, spend spend and borrow, borrow borrow to spend more. It was only patriotic and since Jesus has already packed his suitcase there isn't much reason to get worried about household debt.

Then for the seculars, there is the other variety. The "Math Republicans do to make themselves feel better". (No offence meant toward Republicans). There is a constant message through the media that we need to just keep going. That everything is fine and the good times will be back. They are just around the corner. Here buy this stock.

I don't know what the future holds, but I know if interest rates go up again (and they can't get any lower), there will be blood in the streets before long. I believe that everyone needs to take a moment to think about when their current mortgage is due and what their payments will be if rates return to something like a mere 10%.

People are generally rational, but dependent on the information they have access to. I think some people are delusional about potential or existing economic woes simply based on what knowledge they have, or because they are just simply choosing to be deluded as a coping mechanism.

[Phoebe]

Is it really possible for someone with a serious personality disorder (like histrionic or BPD) to get better? I have a histrionic relative in her late 60s---and even after being told she is suffering from a personality disorder and is hurting people and herself (not criminally) she refuses to accept any sort of therapy or recognize that people are trying to help her, not hurt her. Does degree of severity matter?

I imagine degree of severity plays a huge part in things. From what I understand, it IS possible for those with a personality disorder to get better -- as long as the person is WILLING to work on their issues and remains involved in therapy. From what I've read, it's more likely to occur with BPD than with other Axis II disorders; people with narcissistic personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and obsessive compulsive personality disorder generally don't believe anything is wrong with them, it's literally the rest of the world that's wrong about THEM.

[Phoebe]

Very interesting. Does there tend to be an ebb and flow in what you see in practice? My experience with psychology is limited to my abnormal psychology practicum and what we learned in class, so we didn't learn about much of this.

Keep in mind I primarily work with children and adolescents, and usually work solely with teens -- the original trend-followers.

Yes, in regards to the types of issues my patients have, there are definite trends. Right now the big ones are Slender Man/creepypasta bullcrap, alternative sexualities/sexual identities, and self-harm via the ice-salt challenge (involves using salt to make ice cold enough to burn skin and tissue). A couple of years ago, the big things were cutting, the choking game, suicide pacts, and bisexuality. Right now bisexuality is almost the norm among my teens! A few years before that, alternate religions and goth subculture were the big issues.

At this point, I'm making bets with myself to see when furries become The Next Big Thing.

[DeFrauder]

Noooo not furries!

I suppose as a rebellion type thing that wearing fur suits and fantasizing about being different animals is better than thinking one is a minion of Slender Man and getting all stabby.

My guess would be a coming increase in teens coming out as trans.

[Phoebe]

Noooo not furries!

I suppose as a rebellion type thing that wearing fur suits and fantasizing about being different animals is better than thinking one is a minion of Slender Man and getting all stabby.

My guess would be a coming increase in teens coming out as trans.

Already starting to see it. Being bi or gay is (kind of) passe, more and more parents are accepting of their children's bisexuality or homosexuality. Being trans is still very taboo as far as parents are concerned, but popular enough in the media that being trans is the new "edge of socially acceptable" if that makes sense. We had our first transgender patient last year, and we're up to 3 this year.

[DeFrauder]

Already starting to see it. Being bi or gay is (kind of) passe, more and more parents are accepting of their children's bisexuality or homosexuality. Being trans is still very taboo as far as parents are concerned, but popular enough in the media that being trans is the new "edge of socially acceptable" if that makes sense. We had our first transgender patient last year, and we're up to 3 this year.

I would imagine that all the media attention to trans issues and the increased acceptance of transpeople has created an environment where "coming out" is a safer move than ever before. Also, all the discussion about it is probably helping transpeople to define what they are feeling and why.

I hope that no one is doing it for attention or the sake of rebellion---like they might do with Slender Man obsession. Transitioning is a big deal.

[FundieFarmer]

Keep in mind I primarily work with children and adolescents, and usually work solely with teens -- the original trend-followers.

Yes, in regards to the types of issues my patients have, there are definite trends. Right now the big ones are Slender Man/creepypasta bullcrap, alternative sexualities/sexual identities, and self-harm via the ice-salt challenge (involves using salt to make ice cold enough to burn skin and tissue). A couple of years ago, the big things were cutting, the choking game, suicide pacts, and bisexuality. Right now bisexuality is almost the norm among my teens! A few years before that, alternate religions and goth subculture were the big issues.

At this point, I'm making bets with myself to see when furries become The Next Big Thing.

I suppose this will date me, but back when I was in middle and high school, the cool thing was just to be depressed with parents who didn't understand you. I literally mean that it was cool to have problems like that, but I guess that's what you get in an insular subculture of a very competitive private school where the most successful kids market themselves to adults as perfect and to peers as wild & fucked up. It was very de rigeur to see a psychologist, but only because you were depressed or addicted to mom's Xanax. Anything further was

:pink-shock:. Very interesting how things change.

What in the wide world is a furry??

[Evilbad]

I think that people who latch on to things like Slenderman are generally more likely to latch on to anything that makes them feel accepted and feeds their potential mental illness.

It's just so weird to me, I watched and read the forum that created Slenderman, it's just bizarre to me that it's blown up like this.

[Eighth-of-eleven]

I was relieved after the first few years working with more manipulative axis 2 patients to move into a population of more severely mentally ill axis 1 patients. Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective, mood disorders.Less drama. I was working with an older population however in the prison system, not adolescents.

Edited for riffles and hitting the wrong keys on my silly phone ;-)