Cartoon of The Day: Using The Force

 

 

 Taken at the RFL Sunbeamer team meeting. Kylee looked like she was levitating a carrot at one point. As the day before was May the Fifth (be with you), perhaps she was trying to use Jedi powers on it. 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

Announcement: Virtual Ability's 12th Annual Mental Health Symposium

 

Virtual Ability Presents
the 12th Annual Mental Health Symposium
“Self-Identity and Mental Health”
Friday, May 12, 2023
Sojourner Auditorium,
Virtual Ability Island
In Second Life

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/53/172/23

The 12th annual Mental Health Symposium will take place in Virtual Ability’s Sojourner Auditorium, on Virtual Ability island on Friday, May 12, 2023. There is no charge to attend.

The theme of this year’s Conference is “Self-Identity and Mental Health.” We believe that personal identification can have a major impact on mental health, and we want to stress the importance of a healthy sense of personal identity to good mental health.

The Symposium will take place in the virtual world of Second Life, at the Sojourner Auditorium on Virtual Ability island. The SLURL for the auditorium is: Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability Island. (You can create a free Second Life account through Virtual Ability’s Sign-Up Portal, entering at the beginning of our New Resident Orientation Course. You can then post the auditorium’s SLURL into Nearby Chat, click the green underlined link, and teleport to the auditorium.)

Virtual Ability hosts this annual Symposium to share information about mental health and mental disabilities with the general population. Within our cross-disability community we have members who deal with a variety of mental health issues. Not only is this an opportunity for our community members to learn more about topics related to mental health from experts they probably would not have a chance to meet otherwise, it allows the general public to attend a professional conference at no cost.

 For a full schedule of the conference, Click Here: https://virtualability.org/mental-health-symposia/mental-health-symposium-2023/

 

Mental Health Month at Health Island

Gemma Cleanslate was with Gentle Heron when she led a tour group through Health Island. Besides advising and helping residents with their physical health, it does the same with their mental well-being. This is particularly the case this month as May is Mental Health Month. And in these days of so many people in lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic, a number of them could use some help to deal with frazzled nerves. Gemma followed Gentle as she told the group about the exhibition and the "Mental Health Un-Conference."

Read Gemma's article in Places.

Fearless Nation PTSD Support Virtual Community

Second Life can help people in many ways. One way it can is allowing people to reach out to a person or persons for help. For those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, one group they can contact is Fearless Nation. The Newser recently met up with it's director Anya Iborm who had much to say about the group. She also had a request, volunteers for a study on PTSD,

Read the story in People.

Mental Health Fair

On Quan Lavender's blog I found out about a "Mental Health Fair." Today is the final day of the event, but one can still pick up some information about mental illnesses there.

The event is at Alpha Centauri (223/102/1401). You can read more about it (here).

Press Release: PTSD Discussion at the SL10B

PTSD Recovery in Second Life
NeuroPsychology & Virtual Worlds for Trauma Care

THURSDAY - 20th JUNE - 2013
12 PM SLT (PST)

Presented by Anya Ibor, RL's Colleen M. Crary, M.A. (Forensic Psychology).

PTSD is a complex, hard-to-treat condition plagued with stigma, misdisgnosis, and a credibility problem with the general public. Join PTSD expert Colleen crary (Anya Ibor in SL) for a 1-hour presentation and discussion of why PTSD happens, how it alters brain structure, and what we can do do help those with psychological trauma recover and blend back into their communities.
Brief presentation followed by audience Q&A.

What is PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder?
Why do some people get it?
How does it happen?
What happens to the brain and other organ systems under stress?

See you at the event's most engaging discussion!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/SL10B%20Astonish/52/40/23


A legal 501c3 nonprofit organization based in Maine, USA
Presents Its Virtual Program: The Acorn2Oak PTSD Recovery Community.

For more information, check the website at http://www.acorn-to-oak.org , email the group at corn2oak@outlook.com , contact Spirit Pleides inworld, or check out the group's inworld location at Acorn2Oak (139, 115, 22)

Press Release: Mental Health Symposium at Virtual Ability

Last year, the Virtual Ability Mental Health Symposium talked about overcoming the stigma of mental illness. This year we ask this question, "Do You See ME?"  Our focus is on mental health care - remembering the person in our interactions rather than the illness - and we'll explore different aspects of mental health care treatment. Please join us Saturday, April 27, between 7am and 5pm for a wide variety of speakers and topics.

You can check out speaker bios and extended information about the individual sessions on our blog:
http://blog.virtualability.org/2013/04/virtual-ability-mental-health-symposium_21.html
Notecards for individual sessions are embedded at the bottom of this card.

Saturday April 27
**7am SLT- Jayme Nelson, RN, MS (SL- Jayme Xaris)- "Will you Treat ME?  Funding mental health care treatment - now and under the Affordable Health Care Act"- Sojourner Auditorium
**8:30am SLT- renda Bryan (SL- Brena Benoir)- "Meet Your Counselor: An Avatar"- Sojourner Auditorium
**10am SLT- Deborah Houston-Schrenzel (SL- Brede McDonnell)- "Sudden Violent Loss: Its Impact on Every Member of the Community"- Sojourner Auditorium
**11:30am SLT- "Poetry and Mental Health"- selections read by Eliza Madrigal, Zen Arado, Szavannah Resident- Healthinfo Island
**1pm SLT- Lissena Resident introduces the "Whole Brain Health Fair"- Sojourner Auditorium
**2:30pm SLT- Kara Bennett, Ph. D. (SL- Dancers Yao)- "Exploring New Ways of Evaluating Mental Capacity of Seniors"- Sojourner Auditorium
**4pm SLT- Richard Roth (SL- Farm Gartenberg)- "Herbal Medicine and Mental Health"- Healthinfo Island

The Sojourner Auditorium, Virtual Ability Island

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/54/170/23

Image from Virtual Ability's Facebook page. 

Virtual Hallucinations

Gentle Heron recently gave a few tours of a virtual facility called "Virtual Hallucinations," an exhibition designed to teach residents about Schizophrenia. With it's voices, the exhibit was unique and informative. But some might find it a little too disturbing to experience.

Read more in Places.

Press Release: Virtual Hallucinations

Discover what it is like to live with Schizophrenia. This clinic was built so people who do not have schizophrenia can experience a bit what life is like for those who do have this form of mental illness. It was built by professors and honors students from the University of California, Davis.

You can go on your own, or we can go as a small group at one of these times:
FRI Oct 12, noon SLT
SAT Oct 13, 4pm SLT
SUN Oct 14 10am SLT

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sedig/27/44/22

Also, Bryn Oh at Sunday Oct 14 11 AM will give a tour of her "Virginia Along" exhibit about a nearly blind elderly woman with Schizophrenia.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Immersiva/19/128/21