I have been thinking about this for a while and I wonder if studies have been done. This thought was inspired by the thread earlier in the week about the girl who wants to be an amputee and the thread today where everyone was upset about Lit. chat rooms.
What role does the internet play in encouraging people with dangerous obsessions to maintain their lifestyle rather than seeking help? Studies have shown over and over again that if you put two co-dependents (lets say an alcoholic and a nurturer) in a room with 500 other clinically functional people, they will gravitate towards each other. Call it synergy...whatever.
In the past, someone with a specialist fetish like amputation or sexual strangulation or <insert practice that a reasonable person on the street would consider somewhat dysfunctional> would have had difficulty finding partners or a group of supporters to encourage their desires. Now, with the internet, the opportunity to acess like minded people has magnified. These on-line communities can support and encourage the person into believing their lifestyle choices conform to some sort of healthy norm.
Name any beyond the norm practice you can think of and there is an on line community which supports it. Does anyone know of r/t or chat friends who are maintaining a less than happy lifestyle because on line friends encourage them to continue a practice/addiction rather than seek help?
What role does the internet play in encouraging people with dangerous obsessions to maintain their lifestyle rather than seeking help? Studies have shown over and over again that if you put two co-dependents (lets say an alcoholic and a nurturer) in a room with 500 other clinically functional people, they will gravitate towards each other. Call it synergy...whatever.
In the past, someone with a specialist fetish like amputation or sexual strangulation or <insert practice that a reasonable person on the street would consider somewhat dysfunctional> would have had difficulty finding partners or a group of supporters to encourage their desires. Now, with the internet, the opportunity to acess like minded people has magnified. These on-line communities can support and encourage the person into believing their lifestyle choices conform to some sort of healthy norm.
Name any beyond the norm practice you can think of and there is an on line community which supports it. Does anyone know of r/t or chat friends who are maintaining a less than happy lifestyle because on line friends encourage them to continue a practice/addiction rather than seek help?
