Tranquility Health Care

Last month, Kimiko Kanagowa (FoxytheJamie Resident) raised the question of where to find help for mental wellness in Second Life. A few months ago, the Newser wrote about one place that's been known for a while: Survivors of Suicide. But are there other groups? The answer is yes. Among them is the Tranquility Health Care clinic in Sorens. Kimiko met up with the founder, Steffi Sugabum, to talk about the group.

Read more in People.

Help For Mental Wellness in Second Life.

After a hiatus, Kimiko Kanagowa (FoxytheJamie Resident) is back with the paper. What he wanted to bring up was the issue of mental health. Mental illness can be mild to severe. And people do not always simply "get over it" by themselves, but often need some help. So he raised the question: Are there places in Second Life where someone can get help for mental wellness? The answer is yes.

Read FoxytheJamie's article in Extra.

Survivors of Suicide

We all feel down at times. But some of us have real problems falling into and staying in dark moods. Depression can be crippling, and can lead to a final end: suicide. Suicide is a major form of death, with tens of thousands in America and almost a million worldwide taking their own lives despite it being against practically every major religion and philosophy. Fortunately, there are numerous organizations and groups devoted to helping those at risk. In Second Life, one such group is the "Survivors of Suicide." It has moved on to help anyone or friends of someone with depression, but it was created for those who either attempted suicide, those at risk of it, or friends and family of them. The Newser recently sat down with the current head of the group, Sebastien Bouevier, and he talked about Survivors of Suicide and what it does.

Read the story in People.

Rana Dexler of Survivors of Suicide

Depression isn't just simply "the blues," but a real illness. In Second Life, one can find support groups for this and other forms of mental illness. "Survivors of Suicide" despite the name isn't just for those who attempted the act or their friends and families, but for those who have or are recovering from mental conditions, as well as those whom know someone who is. Deaflegacy recently talked to one of  the group's staff, Rana Dexler. She had a few things to say about the organization.

Read Deaflegacy's article in People.

Commentary: Suicide and Second Life

DrFran's latest article was brought on by another one. Earlier this month, Nydia Tunsten wrote an emotional commentary about dealing with Second Life friend threatening to do himself in. DrFran as it turns out has dealt with matters of mental health in real life. With her experience in mind, she wrote a response.

Read DrFran's article in People.

Commentary: Suicide

Late last week, Nydia Tungsten and a few others were shocked to get pictures from a mutual friend threatening to kill themself. Once the dust settled, Nydia put a few thoughts to pen, and didn't hold back very much. Here's what she had to say on the matter.

Read Nydia's words 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: 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. 

Bryn Oh's "Virginia Alone" to Close

In her blog, Second Life artist Bryn Oh announced her popular exhibition "Virginia Alone" would soon be closing. She is working on a new exhibit, and In order to finish and build it on her Immersiva sim she has to make room available. So to make room for the new, the older "Virginia" house will be removed.

I am working on a new build called Imogen and the Pigeons which requires me to delete Virginia Alone as I have just about run out of prims. I am going to leave it up until December 1st. Time flies and I still have a few more projects I would like to accomplish on Immersiva. ...  I would like to thank everyone who sent kind messages to Virgina through me. When I went to visit her she was really touched that people from around the world, whom she didn't know, would send her good wishes.



"Virginia Alone" was made in June, and since then has gotten rave reviews from the critics, and thousands of visits from residents. The exhibit is about a lone, blind, elderly lady in her house dealing with bouts of schizophrenia, knowing something's wrong with her but not exactly what. Health advocates have talked about the exhibition as well as art critics, saying it's helped remind residents of mental illness.

The exhibit is scheduled to close on December 1st. Until then, one can see it at Immersiva (21, 127, 21).

Source: Bryn Oh

The Post That Should Not Be Ignored

Facebook has been an interesting way for friends and I to keep in touch, those in and out of Second Life. And in some cases, a chance to stay in contact with friends taking a break from the Grid, though games and an occasional shared joke.

Because of it’s volume, we occasionally hear about Facebook posts in the news. A few weeks ago a student left a short suicide note as a post before jumping off a bridge. It was certainly strange. One seldom if ever believes any post that shows up on your page will be anything like that.


So imagine the surprise when I logged on, and find that one of my Facebook/Second Life friends posted, “Goodbye. Please forgive me, I love you all.”

The post was hours old. Fortunately, she had a number of friends, at least one whom she entrusted her address. It was this friend whom within minutes of the post dialed 911 and alerted her city’s emergency services. They found her, overdosed, but caught it in time, and rushed her to the hospital. She was safe.

This isn’t the first time someone I knew brought up suicide. Once in real life and once in Second Life, a friend talked about doing away with himself. People whom have often leave warning signs, such as this. And what one should do is take such talk seriously, talk to them, and get them to change their minds. For someone in Second Life, with whom contacting real life help might not be an option, one can get in contact with a therapist or a group therapy group. Even if the friend won’t see them, one can talk to the therapist for advice (Industria Dowler was the one I contacted for advice on my friend). It can take a while to get a depressed friend to turn around, but it can be done.

For now, I can be thankful my friend was found in time, and is now in safe hands.

Bixyl Shuftan