I attended a panel at Planet Comicon Kansas City that discussed mental health in nerd/geek culture. Having a master’s in counseling, I was intrigued by the prospect of this panel. I went in to find fairly packed room for this panel. I did notice that most of the attendees for the panel were in their teens and twenties.
Several of the attendees for the panel worked in mental health. It appeared the room was filled with counselors and social workers. I wasn’t the only attracted to the panel because of our hearts for mental health.
The panel focused on how to use our loves and fandoms for our mental health. A long discussed was had about the movies or shows that takes up to our happy and safe place. There are those geek shows and movies that calm us in time of turmoil and bring joy just by watching them again.
There are lessons to be learned from our fandoms on how to deal with our mental health. There are good examples and other examples of what not to do. Sometimes it is helpful to see others deal with great stress and anxiety.
There was a quote that stuck with me from this panel.
“There is a problem with viewing everything through rose colored glasses. Red flags appear to just be flags.”
Stay Geeky!
