Chat in Real Time,
Treat Each other Kindly
04/19/99
| Leonard Holmes, Ph.D. http://mentalhealth.about.com |
Chat is a synchronous Online modality – one that allows people to interact in real time. I remember when I first joined CompuServe in the early 1980s. They charged by the minute, so I was very careful in my use of their "CB Simulator." Here, just like on a citizen's band radio, you could choose a 'handle' and talk to whoever was there at the time.
I don't know how long CompuServe kept the 'CB Simulator' metaphor, but the name that stuck for this medium is "chat." The chat room has been used for serious discussions of mental issues by therapists, and for casual chat by users who may have been diagnosed with a mental illness, or who just want someone to talk to. It is currently less active than rooms on sites that focus on a particular disorder.
John Suler has written extensively about the psychology of chat communities. As more and more of the population goes online, chat communities begin to resemble real life communities. In the real world we have people who are stellar citizens and we have people who like to raise hell and create problems. Is it surprising that we find the same thing in chat communities?
Online communities resemble real-world communities in different ways. Here, like in the real world, disagreements can erupt into intense conflict. A chat room can be also a legitimate source of support for someone struggling with a mental illness. It should not be their only source of support. Real world face-to-face support, along with psychotherapy and/or medications, is also needed to fully recover.
It is probably not a good idea to spend several hours every day in a chat room. In this case the chat room is probably displacing other relationships in your life. One finding of the controversial HomeNet study was that people tend to displace real world relationships with online relationships as they spend more time Online. Online relationships can be genuine deep relationships, but they lack some of the healing aspects of real world face-to-face relationships.
Be kind to each other in online chat rooms - visit them in moderation - and you will be helping each other get better.
Read more about chat rooms across the Internet
| Leonard Holmes, Ph.D. http://mentalhealth.about.com |