I guess community is only something that appears when you are suffering from sz. Because now that I’m taking medicine it doesn’t seem like there is any community at all. It seems like in this country community is a network of health and social agencies, like police and stuff, which is publicly funded. There seems to be some sort of dynamic which makes me think of disorder physics that if you are a normal individual you live separate from community then if you become disorderly in any way then suddenly ‘community’ appears. This community takes the form of informants, witnesses, the police, services agents etc.
One of the major dichotomies learned in social sciences is the difference between individualist and collective societies. This society is individualistic in the sense that there is private ownership, individual achievement, and personal failures etc. The community is a separate bureaucratic machine that processes individuals that I guess are in need of a good processing. That is determined usually if their ability to own or achieve or follow rules is compromised.
I guess the irony is that due to sz I am an individualistic person in a number of ways, but the sz’s need for real community is obvious. I say that with the opinion that the community that currently exists is a paranoia inducing construction of alienation, whereas it could still be individualist but be composed of real connections between people and not a conglomeration of community agencies as it is currently comprised. I’m not saying this type of society causes sz, but it does induce a kind of paranoia and distrust towards others that is indistinct from psychotic paranoia. It happened to me that my distrust of the super friendly and altruistic community agents was medicalized when really there was no reason to trust or like these complete strangers at all.
In what way do people ever interact with a “community?” Because as far as I can tell, you’re either in school or working at a job. You meet people at those places and other than that you just coexist with your family. I don’t know of any community or anything like that, I don’t think that’s a concept that really exists in the United States.
This is a basic question that can get you deep in sociological thinking. It shouldn’t be that way. I think in a mentally friendly society, the community should be able to be directly observed, and not something that requires much theoretical analysis to conceive. Community should be your neighbors, they should be your friends, and you should be able to rely on them and them on you. That’s the hypothetical ideal. Instead the reality is we don’t know our neighbors, our friends are purely social ties where social is reduced to the very act of socializing, which we don’t do with everyone, and those ties become strained very easily if you become an inconvenience in any way or them to you. That’s just the beginning of tons of thought production you can have on the society we live in. Not a mentally friendly world.
I also distrusted my treatment team and blamed our societal structure when I was not doing well. There is probably a protective effect of collectivistic communities on sz and psychosis, but I don’t think they’re worth it. Collectivism can be pretty horrible in its own ways. I think if we changed our values and started working less we could probably achieve a better sense of community in individualistic societies though. But I’d not want to live in a less individualistic society.
I don’t necessarily want to be friends with my neighbors but if we are to live in the society that exists today its agents shouldn’t be invoking ‘community’ as a moral argument to compel an individual one way or another. I don’t want a community team, I don’t want a community treatment order, I don’t want to do anything for the community, it doesn’t exist and what exists of it is falsely contrived and condemnable.
The dictionary definition of community pretty much defines any group of people as a community. As a definition it is to lay a foundation for what community is. The purpose of my writing is to place literal implosive devices around the foundation of our concept of community and try to collapse it. Bringing in a unifying definition of community that is so general as to define virtually anything as community is like setting up a big tent over what I’m trying to knock down.
I’m not inclined to get into a big argument over it but by completely ignoring the very definition of something…you’re kind of mooting your own argument.
I’m not ignoring the definition of community. If you want to hold your ground that community can be anything based on a general definition, I wont push it. But my stance remains that the exact specific nature of community is more important.
I get where you’re coming from but the word “community” being thrown around everywhere is a very American thing. US culture is actually pretty collectivistic in some ways. We don’t even have a good translation of the word in my language, and we rarely talk about anything that could be called a community. We talk about work environments, a good society, etc, but not community. I’ve never considered this forum a community either.
I 100% believe SZ.com is a community. It gathers those who are alone with their MI a place to gather and connect.
The rules in place that make some feel upset is one of the most important thing to me. I would not be here if their were to be toxic conversations, debate and leading to argument over political/religious beliefs. It would not be a safe place nor a place that allows people to connect/enjoy the things that we have in common rather than the things we don’t.
I think it’s more a cultural thing for me, not a problem with this site.
I would never consider a website a community. As I said, we don’t have a good word for it and don’t really value it as much over here.
Also Canadian, Bristish, Irish, and Scottish in my experience. NOT so much a thing with the French, however. The French both in France and here in Canada tend to be more individualistic and make decisions based on how something affects themselves or their primary family unit. If they have a community, it is that they are quite unified in maintaining their language and culture in France and also here in the province of Quebec in Canada.
I understand that we don’t share the same concept of what defines a community.
In the past I was involved in the art community online. We were able to create, share ideas and work on projects together online, whether we lived a block away or 3000 miles away.