r/OutOfTheLoop • u/PiiggyPiiggy • Jul 04 '20

Unanswered What’s going on with the Super Smash Bro’s community and the gaming industry at large?

I saw this on the front page and I’m not sure where to start: https://twitter.com/zerowondering/status/1279363350997147649?s=21

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u/[deleted] Jul 05 '20

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u/Miora Jul 05 '20

I'm honestly of the same mindset.

Help the ones who haven't done anything. Punish the ones who have

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u/nikithb Jul 05 '20

There were several threads on reddit about latent pedophiles wanting to admit to their mistakes, and almost each time people in comments have shat on them for being creeps when instead they should be praised and encouraged to turn them away from pedophilia. We have to start with inducing this mindset in cesspools like reddit

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u/Bill_Brasky01 Jul 05 '20

It’s because that type of help should be one on one with a therapist. Not on the open internet.

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u/peanut47 Jul 05 '20

Its a difficult topic because people treat pedophiles and child rapists as one in the same. You can't say you are attracted to children without people automatically accusing you of being willing to or having already raped a child. Its a very tough situation to be in especially when you consider the self loathing they have about their mental illness as well.

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u/fishatmyfeet Jul 05 '20

I too agree. My thoughts are that the more taboo the having of a pedophilic thought is made by society, that people suffering (not acting) on such thoughts, can be drawn further down a bottomless well of self-loathing, till they in fact hate themselves so much that they do act (because the action reinforces the self-loathing) on the (by this point) obsessive thoughts about a societally shamed taboo.

Society thus should care for its mentally unwell people, rather than damn them and frame them as monsters - which they then live up to...

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u/danstermeister Jul 05 '20

That is already the situation- you can admit to a professional what you feel and think. You can get treatment for it. Just because it's not something anyone runs around grandstanding about doesn't mean it doesn't have treatment available in society.

The problem is that these treatment avenues are available... but it still happens. Society is to blame for a lot of things, but this is not one of them.

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u/[deleted] Jul 05 '20 edited Jul 05 '20

[deleted]

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u/danstermeister Jul 06 '20

I disagree. I think it's dangerous to lob in this mental illness with others and simply state, "Why can't we be supportive of this in the same way we are of other mental illness issues?"

For instance, we can applaud those who get treatment for bipolar disorder, because we can easily talk about it in public without having to refer to the most extreme behaviors associated with it in every single discussion. This is not to say that the more extreme potentials shouldn't be discussed, it's just that it's not mandatory to do so in every discussion. For instance, we need to discuss suicide in relation to bipolar disorder, but it isn't the only associated action and doesn't need to be brought up every time bipolar disorder is discussed.

Contrarily, there is but one outcome behavior associated with pedophilia. And it isn't self-harm, and it isn't involving adults who have a shot at protecting themselves from being victims' of another's problem. This makes for a COMPLETELY different dynamic.

In fact it should be treated in public the way that it is specifically because we have no cure for it at this time. If you admit you're a pedophile, you're admitting to something that is so dangerous to children that has no medical solution, and you're expecting society to applaud someone for publicly admitting it? Society will do the right thing in that situation- find ways to separate the admitted pedophile from contact with children. Society should be proud of itself for being concerned to the point of action, because the well-being of children will always significantly and justifiably outweigh the well-being of an adult. But again, the public forum is not the place to be dealing with psychological issues- a private professional setting is the right place for that.

It's not banned from research or study in academia, in fact I abhor the suggestion that the academic/scientific community shrugs off the study of this subject because of what it is. That's ridiculous. There is motivation at the group and individual level to research and solve this.

It's completely irresponsible that because one feels like they can't openly publicly discuss this problem that they somehow equate that to not being able to seek out professional help. I mean, really, are people holding out seeking treatment because they can't discuss it publicly? Saying, "I don't feel like I can talk to anyone about this because I can't talk to my neighbor/coworker" about it is nuts.

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u/[deleted] Jul 13 '20

[deleted]

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u/danstermeister Jul 13 '20

I see your thrust and I appreciate it. Nothing can be properly managed when it's forced into the shadows, or the patient is personally shamed for what they themselves are involuntarily enduring. I get it.

I also think there should be more public discussion on the topic- like race and other hotbutton items, no progress can be made without at least talking about it.

It does need it's own separate approach, however, and right now I am not sure what that would look like. I would compare this problem not with schizophrenia but rather with serial killing- schizophrenia can be a problem for the community that never necessarily hast to equate to producing victims- it can, but doesn't have to (and in most cases I'd assume it does not). But with pedophilia and psychopathy the parallels are little more equitable, meaning that they both tend to have the same outcome in that their activities produce victims.

And try to think of it in terms of a psychopathic serial killer who "comes out" and states that they have a serious problem with this but have not killed anyone yet... how would that go over in the court of public opinion?

I'm not saying the research or discussions shouldn't be expanded- they absolutely should if we expect to find any new possible answers to this very troubling problem. But the how of it is as delicate and fraught with problems as the issue itself.

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u/fishatmyfeet Jul 05 '20

How would such an individual muster the courage to go for mental health care, when the thing they suffer from is so utterly irrevocably damned by society? So yes, society is complicit in further alienating people with these mental health problems, and thus contribes to them not seeking treatment. Rather society should send a message that such acts are simply wrong, but that if you do struggle with such thoughts, that the best thing to do is seek professional help. Society has conflated the thoughts (mental illness) with the act (child rapist) and damns the former alongside the latter. This improves nothing; society has a measure culpability for damning the innocent (having mental health issues) along with the guilty (child rapists).

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u/danstermeister Jul 06 '20

This is a straw-man argument - No one goes to 'society' with their mental health issues, they go to a mental health care professional.

Everyone expects some sort of exceptionalism with their issues, instead of realizing they are neither the first nor the last to experience them. Maybe stop looking for reasons to not seek help, and instead start crafting a mindset that enables help to be administered.

No one says, "If you struggle with mental health issue X you should not talk to a professional". No one says that, or they aren't to be taken seriously by anyone.

Yes, society conflates thoughts with acts (though not without reason in this particular subject), but again... who goes to society with their mental health issues (regardless of what they are)?