It’s hard to explain fandom. It’s more than liking something. We can watch a movie, maybe even love a movie, but there is a difference in many ways between finding a movie interesting and being a “fan” of it. Being a fan traditionally means that we feel very strongly about the product in question. We can “like” chocolate. But to be a fan of it, we have to live chocolate, advocate for it, make it a part of our lives.
We have to become one with the chocolate.
We may not see this so much with snacks, but we do see this with pop culture. We see devoted fans of Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter. We see passionate fans of BTS, Backstreet Boys, and Blackpink. We know that there are – or were – grown adults that were heavily invested in the teenage relationships of fictional characters in Twilight.
This is fandom.
Fandom is something psychological. So let’s talk about it from a psychological perspective. What even is fandom psychologically, and how does it work?
All About Fandom
When we talk about fandom from a psychological perspective, we’re really talking about how the human brain builds connections – not just to people we know in real life, but to ideas, stories, music, fictional characters, and even entire worlds that don’t physically exist.
Fandom feels powerful because it uses the same biological and neurological systems that evolved to help us bond with other humans and find meaning in social experiences.
At the core of fandom is the brain’s reward circuitry, particularly involving a chemical called dopamine. Dopamine is released when we experience pleasure, excitement, or anticipation. When we listen to a song we love, watch a long-awaited movie, or even think about a favorite character, dopamine surges in the brain.
Over time, these repeated bursts of dopamine create a strong emotional imprint, making the object of our fandom feel personally important to us.
Next: Emotional Memory
So now we know that fandom results from a chemical in the brain that makes us feel good. But that’s not what makes fandom really take hold. For that, we’re looking at emotional memory.
When an experience creates a strong feeling in the brain, it is stored in a way that is more vivid and “real” than neutral memories. Think about how people become incredibly invested in sports teams, for example. Typically, you’re invested in a sports team because you grew up in that general market and made real, meaningful memories there.
Even if you move away, you remain a fan of that initial sports team because that’s the one that has the more vivid memories. Even if you start to forget some of those specific memories over time, the logo, the cheers, the players, and more will all provide you with those feelings. That enhances your connection further.
Culture and Parasocial Connections
At this point, we can identify that some things create very strong feelings of joy. But still, that doesn’t entirely explain fandom on its own, especially because there are many things that we enjoy that do not have a fandom.
Another component of fandom comes from the sense of community and belonging.
Fandom itself has a culture, and culture creates a sense of community. Human beings are wired to seek a feeling of belonging. The shared culture/community of fandom, such as through band support, a story universe, and the way that certain types of products have permeated through culture gives one a sense of feeling like they belong and a way to enjoy the beliefs, traditions, and more that one experiences around it.
Fandom also creates a type of parasocial connection – a connection to people that we do not know, but we still feel strongly towards. Sometimes, this is the object of our fandom, like a sports team, single, or character in a movie. Other times, it’s the people around us that are also fans. We may feel closer to people that hold the same beliefs as us.
Either way, these are the same neural pathways that activate when we have close personal friends. Thus, our fandom makes us feel like we have people in our lives that we are deeply connected to – people that give us joy, even without a two way relationship.
Sense of Identity
Lastly, once embraced, fandom becomes a part of our identity. We tend to see ourselves through our fandom. This can have its benefits and weaknesses, but in a general sense, it continues to give us a sense of self that we can carry with us in other ways.
The Positive Side of Fandom
There can be a toxicity to fandom, which we’ll address in a moment, but fandom can also be very fulfilling and valuable in our lives. Fandom can:
Provide us with an *actual* community. While we spoke earlier about how fandom gives us a sense of being part of a community, shared fandom can create actual community, as people can bond over their similar feelings and beliefs and find comfort in seeing fandom in others.
Create positive feelings. When life does feel challenging, fandom can create positive feelings that people may otherwise struggle to find. Musical fandom, for example, can be uplifting and a great release when other things in a person’s life feel like a challenge.
Provide “social support.” Social support refers to feeling like there’s others that are there for you if you need them, whether or not they are actually there. At times, we can feel alone and without social support. Fandom can then help provide some level of social support to get us through these more challenging times.
Loving something enough to be a fan of it can be a very fulfilling experience. For example, fans of anime that dress up in cosplay costumes find incredible joy from looking like their favorite characters and attending events with others that are engaging in these behaviors as well. That’s something that can provide positive feelings for years.
Of course, fandom does have its downsides as well. Fandom can become escapism, where a person tries to live in the fantasy world at the expense of their responsibilities and lives in the real world. The parasocial relationships in fandom can also become too strong – a person can feel like character they’re a fan of loves them back, which in turn can create an emotional overinvestment.
Fandom can also potentially lead to emotional challenges like depression. For example, if a person’s fandom is a TV show, and the show is canceled, that can create a sadness and emptiness that may persist in other ways.
Finally, fandom can lead to gatekeeping and behavior and social conflicts. Because fandom can be an identity, some people find that they’re very vocal or defensive about this identity and how it relates to others.
Fandom and Mental Health
Fandom, in a sense, is neither good nor bad. It can have its benefits for people, and its weaknesses. It depends on how someone experiences that fandom and it affects their relationship with the world around them.
But one thing that is clear about fandom is that it is more than just liking something. There are very reasonable psychological reasons that people become “diehard fans,” and it’s important for everyone to recognize these reasons and understand why people experience them.
If you or someone you love is struggling with mental health issues, or fandom has taken too strong a role in a person’s life, reach out to Flourish Psychology, today.
Many of us have a deep desire to be in a long lasting, loving relationship. We imagine ourselves finding “the one” and envision our life changing for the better – a family, maybe kids, and the chance to grow old with a partner that will be with you each and every day.
Life doesn’t always work out that way.
Many people find themselves unable to find this relationship. They find themselves getting older, and feel like they are on a timeline to meet someone soon. They may feel pressure to find a mate fast so that they can have kids while it is still biologically possible, or they may see their friends getting married and wonder why they’re not in the same place.
There is nothing wrong with desiring a relationship. But, it may also be important to embrace single life, and to do so in a way where you *could* be single for the rest of your life even if you don’t *want* to be.
It Starts with Loving Yourself
When we give ourselves an arbitrary timeline to meet a mate and get married, we can easily run into one of many situations that can hurt our mental health and happiness. For example:
We can feel desperate to make a relationship work, even one that is toxic to our mental health.
We can lose self-esteem and self-confidence, or even develop depression and anxiety over not reaching these timelines.
We can lose ourselves, finding that time has passed and we haven’t accomplished other, personal goals as well.
If you give yourself an arbitrary timeline to meet and marry a partner, you can run into situations where you’ve lost a large chunk of your life seeking relationships, instead of engaging in other activities that would give your life more meaning. You can find that you’re focused on feeling sad or empty, ignoring the other many joys of the world around you.
Psychologically Coming to Terms with a Life of Singlehood
If you desire a relationship, then you shouldn’t give up on relationships. If you want a family, want kids, and want to find a partner you truly love, there is nothing wrong with that being one of your goals.
But it should also only be *one* of your goals. You should also learn to love yourself enough that you can learn to live single and still have a happy, fulfilling life. You should learn to find and engage in activities that provide you with positive, happy experiences, so that you can continue to enjoy life each and every day in the absence of a relationship. You can focus on finding a partner that you truly love, and not focus as much on pressure to get married because you feel like you need to be married by a specific age.
We only live one life. We deserve to enjoy it as much as possible. Getting married and starting a family is one way to enjoy it, but so is bowling, hiking, travel, learning a skill, spending time with friends, and so much more. We can desire and seek relationships, but we should also learn to enjoy the single life and live in such a way that, even in a situation where you remain single, you still embrace every day and the joys it can bring.
If you are struggling with being single, or you’re finding that you’re not where you want to be in your relationships, please reach out to Flourish Psychology today, and let’s talk about how we can make your life richer and more fulfilling while also addressing your relationship-related needs.
Within the mental health world, especially when we’re talking about eating disorders and body image issues, there is a lot of discussion about the effects of plastic surgery – not just plastic surgery itself, but also the way that society views plastic surgery and the effect that it has on the population as a whole.
Recently, a reporter from the Huffington Post reached out to Flourish Psychology to ask about this very topic. Dr. Sadi Fox, founder of Flourish Psychology, is one of the leading nationwide experts in Disordered Eating, was asked about her thoughts regarding plastic surgery.
As the term “AI” takes off, and more and more people choose to use these chatbots and related tools, it is becoming clear that unrestricted use of these tools is a problem.
We’re not just talking about ethics, plagiarism, or the economic impact. Chatbots, specifically, are proving time and time again to be problematic, especially for those struggling with severe mental health challenges. AI runs the risk of introducing problems or exacerbating existing conditions, and the interactions that someone has with it can cause significant harm.
About AI – What it Is
First, for clarity, “AI” does not yet exist. That is a marketing term. Current AI is actually an algorithm that uses a highly advanced predictive text to determine what the most likely word will be given their dataset. It is not capable of thought, reasoning, and certainly not emotions. Any sign of personality from within the program is coding designed to present information in a specific way.
This is important to understand because many people, even those without mental health conditions, feel like and think like they’re talking to computer “person” that is responding to their thoughts. The algorithm is designed to sound like a human being, but it is essentially just a 100x more advanced version of the predictive text on a person’s phone. It is not thinking and has no consciousness of any kind.
How AI Can Trigger Psychological Challenges
With that in mind, modern versions of AI Chatbots:
Sound like people, which makes it feel like you’re talking to a person.
Write with authority, so it makes it appear they “know” what they’re talking about.
Are marketed as if they’re artificial intelligence, rather than just a dataset algorithm.
Has no concept of right or wrong and cannot understand the user’s intent.
Can be intentionally/unintentionally programmed to respond in different ways.
Now, imagine a scenario where someone both doesn’t understand what AI is, and then also struggles with their mental health. It’s easy to see how this computer algorithm on the other end may cause issues that lead to further mental health challenges. For example:
Paranoia/Loss of Reality – Those that are struggling with issues related to paranoia or delusions may equate what chatbots say as either reality or hiding reality. Because these bots can be essentially told to answer questions in mysterious ways based on user prompts, it’s possible for individuals to misinterpret AI interactions as signs of a higher power, AI tracking, government interference, and more.
Depression – Most well known Chatbots are programmed to be careful around depression and suicide related topics, but this programming is tenuous. There are many examples of people sharing information with the chatbot with responses that are not sensitive to the person’s mental health. As these chatbots are unable to think, they are not always capable of determining whether the language output they provide could be interpreted as encouraging self-harm.
Personality Disorder Challenges – Chat algorithms do not always elicit consistent responses. As a result, someone that has abandonment issues (for example, a person with borderline personality disorder) may find that they expect their chat to react a certain way. If it does not, they can interpret that as rejection or abandonment.
It’s also possible for people’s usage of these AI Chatbots to be used to fuel their own mental health challenges further. For example, a person with health anxiety may search these chatbots for diagnoses and get incorrect answers. Or someone with body dysmorphia may seek out validation of their eating habits.
Guardrails to Manage Mental Health and AI
AI’s affect on society runs far deeper than chatbots. It can be used for Deepfakes. It can fuel eating disorders by creating impossible standards of beauty. It can be manipulative. There are also the economic and ethical reasons to be cautious around AI. Plus, the term itself “AI” is misleading enough to warrant concern.
But one other thing we are seeing that we need to monitor even more is the way that “AI” is affecting people that are going through mental health crises. As therapists, we may even have to be aware of clients using programs like ChatGPT in order to make sure that we can be proactive in monitoring for the effects on Chatbots on our patients, and encourage them to be more aware of the way they feel when using these services.
The 4th of July is over. For some, it was a time of celebration, where we got together with friends and family for fun, enjoyable experiences filled with food, people, and fireworks. For many others, however, it is a triggering time. It is a time where issues like the loud noises of fireworks can trigger immense anxiety, stress, and fear.
Fireworks are often a trigger for those struggling with PTSD, as the loud and surprising noises can all create issues from unresolved past experiences. That is why now is a good time to ask yourself whether or not it is time to start seeking treatment for your past traumas.
How Did You Feel on July 4th?
If you’ve experienced trauma in the past that you’ve struggled to deal with, and you found that you were especially on edge during July 4th as a result of loud noises, bright lights, or even crowds, it may be a sign that you could have post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. PTSD can trigger many issues, including:
Hypervigilance – This is where you feel on edge or unsafe in an environment that should otherwise feel safe.
Flashbacks – This is when memories from the past flash into your mind, especially during loud noises or when surrounded by crowds.
Extreme Stress – This would describe you feeling as though you’re under extreme stress during these July 4th experiences, despite no clear stressful activity.
Those with PTSD may also have trouble sleeping not only the night of July 4th, but the following days, or may experience emotional or even psychological detachment caused by feeling overstressed and overstimulated.
What is EMDR?
Studies have found that one of the reasons that trauma may be impacting people long after the event is because the stress of the event disrupts the normal processing response. In a way, it cause the event to be “stuck” and fragmented in the brain, which in turn causes people to relive the stress and be unable to move it to long term processing, where a person can start coping with it.
One of the most effective known solutions for this is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, or EMDR. The focus of EMDR is to help people re-process a traumatic event and move the traumatic event into long term memory so that it is then unable to trigger the same physiological and emotional distress.
EMDR is a unique process that helps people process events through eye movements, sounds, and other forms of stimulation to help them maneuver the event through the normal cognitive processing channels, in order to help them process it, reduce its intensity, and heal. It is very effective, and while it is not right for all patients, those that are candidates for EMDR find it to be one of the most effective tools available for overcoming trauma.
It is especially useful to consider EMDR right after something like July 4th – something that has triggered the emotions. Some believe this can make it easier to access them and process them, resulting in better overall outcomes.
Seeking Psychotherapy for Trauma After July 4th
If the Fourth of July caused you to experience psychological challenges related to trauma, let’s talk about it. Reach out to Flourish Psychology today and let’s talk about your struggles and how we can help you manage your trauma and experience a better July 4th next year.
Location: 300 Cadman Plaza West Floor 12 - Brooklyn, NY 11201
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