Virtual Ability's Mental Health Conference

 
by Gemma Cleanslate

It was a busy informative day over at Virtual Ability Island. The Mental Health Conference went very well. I am a greeter for events there and love meeting all the attendees. I don’t get to attend the all the presentations so am thankful they will be on the Virtual Ability Youtube website.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCecFbqrNpnAbfaEohz8HIhQ .

I was able to attend Claragonzalezsa Clara Gonzalez Sanguino’s presentation. She is the Anti-Stigma chair at the Complutense University of Madrid in Spain. Her talk was about their research on the effects of the Covid 19 on mental health and its contributing factors. There are so many factors to consider . Since Spain has had four surges there was an enormous amount of data for their study and it still continues. Questions and answers were most interesting. You can see it all on the website. People from many countries attended the event and stayed for all the presentations.

I was reminded to take a trip over to Health Island in the next region during a break where I have not been for a while.

 As I walked the island I remembered how much is really over here. It is well worth a visit if you have not visited.  I made a stop at the Health exhibits pavilion where the concentration this month is Mental Health . It changes every month. There are resources there for all sorts of issues. Stop by.

I visited the Path of Support also. This is an wonderful path to walk. Here you will find the names of groups in sl that are helpful to almost any possible issue one might have, mental or physical. I have brought people looking for  somewhere to vent  to someone who understands what they are talking about and perhaps offer help and support. 

Go see if you find a group you would like to join. Here is the entrance to the Island .  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/128/126/24

Later in the day I was able to attend another presentation. This one I found fascinating because it was about the impact of virtual worlds during the pandemic. Tom Bukowski, Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine and two graduate students, SandyZan and Ev Anthro (Evanthro),  using a research grant ventured into virtual worlds to search out information on the use of virtual worlds during this agonizing time. They did research in Second Life and New Horizons and Animal Crossing but used the time today to talk about  their work on data from “Animal Crossing”. Again, it was most interesting and the Q&A was fascinating.Some of the data definitely overlapped with what was happening in Second Life.  Check this out also on the website above.

 I am glad I was able to be there for part of it and will also watch the ones I missed. The whole day was a great success. One thing I gleaned from the day, especially Tom’s talk is how our virtual lives can help us survive the problems of the real world by being here in sl and send us back to the real world to be able to cope more easily. Many found solice , hope and friendship during these trying times .

Gemma Cleanslate
 

The 2017 Mental Health Symposium at Sojourner Auditorium

By Gemma Cleanslate

The  2017 Mental Health Symposium at Sojourner Auditorium  on Saturday drew a large audience. The topics were related to “ways to promote mental health for themselves and their families, how diet affects mental health, and how first responders and medical clinicians can improve their own mental health.”  

I’m sorry to say I  missed some of the presentations however the ones I attended were most interesting and informative. Many people do not realize amount of support that is available in Second Life for mental or emotional issues and also other health issues.  
 

There were tours offered to three sites where people could find out information about the ways in which Second Life can help and support someone inworld. I have been to all three before but visited to see the the tours.

Our first visit was to Ethnographia Region .  “This installation is a sort of "build biography" -- a story of discovery of a new self as a result of being in a virtual world, after having become disabled. The build is set up like an immersive gallery exhibit that you can walk through and interact with. It includes signs with pictures and captions, as well as objects and demonstrations that show some of the things that the story is talking about.”  The notecards represent how Second Life can be helpful in itself in helping a person to manage and enhance their identity in real life and SL. Jadyn Firehawk greeted every one and explained how the exhibit worked. This  exhibit is not to be missed by anyone who is curious about help in Second Life and by those who are interested in the regions in Second Life that are mental health related in any way,. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ethnographia/166/76/29

The second visit was to Virtual Hallucinations. Eme Capalini greeted us at the entrance and explained the site .  Wearing a hud into this exhibit will put you in the mind of someone suffering from schizophrenia and help one understand what goes on in this disease. “  About 1% of the population will develop schizophrenia during their lifetimes. It usually strikes in the late teens or early twenties, and is very debilitating." Visitors are warned to watch out for triggers but I recommend it to anyone who wants to become more aware of the issues with which one can suffer. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sedig/26/45/22

My third stop was at Inspiration Island. Wisdomseeker (Lissena Resident) addressed us at this site and gave us an over view of the island.  This is the home of Whole Brain Health. Here you can learn how to use this virtual world to “train your brain to function optimally over the life span”. There is so much here to explore and absorb. I plan to go back to see how it  all works.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife//142/234/38

 

The day was certainly full, inspirational and rewarding. I am glad I was able to attend at least part of the symposium. It took a great deal of work to put something like this together and Virtual Ability does it every year. Here I am sitting next to Gentle Heron who as President of Virtual Ability is very active in all the activities held here.

Gemma Cleanslate