Posted by Mental Health Professional on July 19, 2000 at 23:45:57:
In Reply to: An unexpected observation posted by Snickers on July 19, 2000 at 22:22:13:
> "In spite of the fact that our society determines "normalcy," the majority of players of Carrion Fields unquestionably display alarmingly abnormal behavior patterns." You must be easily alarmed, Snick, if you find mud-behavior "alarmingly abnormal." You seem to be basing your observations on a Freudian view of mental health. Namely, that health is defined in terms of "optimal" rather than "functional." Freud (or, more acccurately, the Freudian school of thought) thought, basically, that we were all fucked up, it's just a matter of degree. Conveniently, this left us all in need of a psychotherapist. A more modern view of mental health defines "neurosis" (a really antiquated term, Snick, you should crack open a book before you write) in terms of functionality. In order for you to be clinically diagnosable for most disorders or episodes you must have significantly non-functioning occupational or social impairment. (Criminal behavior falls under social, academic under occupational for you delinquents or students or delinquent students out there.) How does this apply to CF? I'll tell you how, Bubba. While I think the rate of mental illness *might* be slightly higher in the CF population than in the general population, by no means can a generalization be made about the very act of mudding or the mud population as a whole. Furthermore, even the timid suggestion that morbidity rates among mudders might be higher is sheer conjecture. I know for a fact that some of us have suffered non-functionality: the loss of a job, a spouse, an academic career, or attempted suicide. How this rate of occurence compares with the base rate in the population, I've no idea. But you are *not* non-functional if you are a lonely computer nerd with only a couple friends. You are not non-functional if you are still self-supporting or, for those of us under the age at which one is expected to be self-supporting, at the normal developmental stage on the path to self-sufficiency. In other words, you're not crazy. You're self-indulgent, maybe, but that's not a trait unique to mudders, either. "The act of connecting to Carrion Fields is a functional and voluntary choice to enter an intense neurotic episode triggered by what ever psychological or emotional reason." I'm not sure what you mean by "intense neurotic episode" but I would guess something far beyond ordinary experience. CF is not. There are hundreds (thousands?) of video games which more accurately and convincingly recreate violence and conditions of fantastic adversity. There are films and music albums which revolve around the same themes. You can debate the merit of these items if you wish, in terms of the impact they may or may not have on society, but the fact is that they are common in modern society. If, as you conceded above, normalcy is determined by what is common in society, then there is no element of CF which is abnormal. Having an active imagination doesn't make you a schizophrenic. Playing a game where you pretend to do very abnormal things doesn't make you neurotic. None of these things, in moderation, are indicative of "neurosis" or abnormality in any way. "The players voluntarily deviate from normalcy every day to escape." Well, no. The characters deviate from normalcy. And even if the players *did* deviate from normalcy, so what? I'd be a little more disturbed if we were all blank-eyed automatons clinging tightly to the mean of human behavior. Well, call out the National Guard, then!! Let's get them thar weirdos! I remain skeptical of this notion that our mental health *is* in some way significantly deviant from the mean. Hell, I'm skeptical of the concept of "normal." Difference is not deficiency, even if we are different, which I doubt.
"The consequences of these neurotic incidents: confusion; anxiety; frustration; disorientation."
"Ultimately, we, the players, are all neurotics. Our mental health is far from the norm..."