FSTDT Forums

Community => Society and History => Topic started by: Ranger_Joe on November 02, 2012, 01:27:50 pm

Title: Head Mates
Post by: Ranger_Joe on November 02, 2012, 01:27:50 pm
So it wasn't until today that I heard this term. From what I can gather, Head Mates are just a fancy term for Imaginary Friend. Except these people think that they're real. To me, they are making a mockery of people with schizoprenia. They are self dignosed and many of the characters are from games, books, or comics. I think this is completely bat shit ridiculous.

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/headmates <----- check it out. see for yourself. It's almost scary.

Has anyone else encountered this nonsense? Thoughts? Think it's as ridiculous as I do?
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: RinellaWasHere on November 02, 2012, 01:31:27 pm
Brother mine, you need to read the "Social Justice Adovactes Etc." thread. Headmates are but the tip of the iceberg in terms of Tumblr's batshittery.

Also, don't believe we've met. Hi, I'm David!
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: Ranger_Joe on November 02, 2012, 01:34:30 pm
That's actually where I first saw it. I figured I'd make this over here because I didn't want to derail the current convo in the thread, and I wanted some dedicated commentary regarding this bat shittery.

Hi David. I'm Joe. I've been around for ages, but recent turn of events kept me from actually being around for more than 30 seconds at a time.
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: Smurfette Principle on November 02, 2012, 02:06:35 pm
I have heard of headmates, being on Tumblr a lot. While some I think are a sign of legitimate mental illness (and yes, I know people where you read their posts about having headmates and and it's like ohgodgethelpgethelp) and others are experiencing iatrogenic symptoms on par with people who have dissociative identity disorder, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissociative_identity_disorder#Therapist_induced) I also think that liberally mixed in are Poes.
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: Ranger_Joe on November 02, 2012, 02:48:56 pm
For the love of all that is good, I hope they are poes...I really do. The whole thing seems attention whorish to me...Like, looky looky! I have weird things that make me special..Like these other 5000 people...I've been reading and I've noticed all of them are self diagnosed with various SERIOUS mental illnesses. For example, "The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with me, but I KNOW I'm bi-polar."

That's just a slap in the face to the folks that actually are, IMHO.
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: Radiation on November 02, 2012, 03:31:47 pm
For the love of all that is good, I hope they are poes...I really do. The whole thing seems attention whorish to me...Like, looky looky! I have weird things that make me special..Like these other 5000 people...I've been reading and I've noticed all of them are self diagnosed with various SERIOUS mental illnesses. For example, "The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with me, but I KNOW I'm bi-polar."

That's just a slap in the face to the folks that actually are, IMHO.

This is what kinda gets under my skin and gets me angry as well. I am actually, legitimately diagnosed with Bi-polar I, mixed with psychotic features and Asperger's Disorder as well as having General Anxiety Disorder. These are actually quite common in the populace but the people on tumblr (and probably elsewhere on the Internet) are just posing because they want to "feel special" whereas to me it feels almost like it's a mockery of some sort.

Also moving this thread to Society as it is more fitting there. We already have a ranty thread about these kinds of people.
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: Sleepy on November 02, 2012, 04:37:45 pm
Like I said before, I think at least some of it could be teens who are just having the standard identity crisis. Rather than going through a more common rebellious phase like I'm sure many of us have, they do this. I'm sure others have actual mental disorders, but the folks who are doing it purely for uniqueness can go fuck themselves. There are people who have legitimate mental disorders and doing such a thing merely mocks what they have to deal with.
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: myusername on November 02, 2012, 04:59:32 pm
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/headmates <----- check it out. see for yourself. It's almost scary.


Dear God that's a goldmine of stupid. And hilarity.
*grabs beer and runs off to Flame & burn thread*

There are people who have legitimate mental disorders and doing such a thing merely mocks what they have to deal with.

Pretty much. I can assure these people that, you know, mental health problems are not fun.
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: ironbite on November 02, 2012, 05:00:59 pm
Hey I have a planet of head mates...ALL OF THEM LINCOLN!
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: Radiation on November 02, 2012, 05:23:16 pm
Hey I have a planet of head mates...ALL OF THEM LINCOLN!

I have headmates too...an apple, a penguin and Bill Gates. Don't ask me how he can be in my head while he still alive.
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: Captain Jack Harkness on November 02, 2012, 05:42:14 pm
http://modernprimate.tumblr.com/post/27429069426/hey-boss-can-i-lay-on-your-keyboard-for-a

Quote
Okay, so what’s a headmate?

- It’s like a roommate for your head. People who identify as multiple systems generally have one or more headmates.

Is that the same as multiple personality disorder?

- Yeah, if you want to be a dick about it with your singlet privilege.

Oh dear sweet Jesus.  Apparently if you think they have something wrong with them like Multiple Personality Disorder, you're using "singlet privilege."
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: Distind on November 02, 2012, 06:01:43 pm
I think the short description of these guys is "Almost everything wrong with tumblr taken human form". If the support of abuse was a bit more consistent I could take the almost off.
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: Sylvana on November 05, 2012, 03:15:18 am
I think head-mates are more a confusion with regards to the person and their own inner monologs. If I look at how they describe their head-mate personae and influence it sounds like it is their inner monolog given a label and made to fit that label. I know that my own inner monolog can have different voices and emotional tones, but I still recognize that all of that is still just my brain doing its thing working through feelings and thoughts and emotions and recent stimuli. While I think people who claim to have head-mates have mistaken that and compartmentalized their inner monologs and dressed them up. Then whenever they think to themselves with a certain level of emotional tone they see it as their head-mate and that re-enforces their belief.

Given that dissociative identity disorder does not seem to have much evidence behind it, I am inclined to dismiss it as a possibility. Especially given how a fair number of these people have been for psychiatric evaluation and come back clean. Similarly, it does not match the symptoms of schizophrenia as that is more delusions of external stimuli instead of an internal personality. Of course I am not a mental health professional, however this is my impression and feeling about it.
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: TheL on November 05, 2012, 12:58:18 pm
Like I said before, I think at least some of it could be teens who are just having the standard identity crisis. Rather than going through a more common rebellious phase like I'm sure many of us have, they do this. I'm sure others have actual mental disorders, but the folks who are doing it purely for uniqueness can go fuck themselves. There are people who have legitimate mental disorders and doing such a thing merely mocks what they have to deal with.

This.  I'm pretty sure most of the posers with fake mental problems (as opposed to the genuinely mentally ill) are affluent teenagers who don't feel like they're unique enough so they have to make something up.  Combine this with the unfortunate euphemism of "special" to mean "mentally disordered or disabled," and you get the phenom where teens think that you have to have something wrong with you in order to be interesting.

It could also incorporate what Sylvana said.  We refer to "hearing voices inside your head" as a symptom of mental disorders ALL THE TIME.  But when you're thinking things, you perceive it...as your brain "talking" inside your head.
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: Alehksunos on November 06, 2012, 01:24:15 am
(http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n290/CSL1/Total%20Trash/02_18_07_60akaJESUSFUCKNONONONONO.gif)

This post from Serebrii will always have a special place in my heart. Thank you very much, Something Awful, for allowing me to experience this post.
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: Witchyjoshy on November 06, 2012, 01:50:51 am
I'm not quite sure what pokephilia has to do with headmates...
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: Alehksunos on November 06, 2012, 02:11:41 am
I'm not quite sure what pokephilia has to do with headmates...
Well, its her imaginary (boy)friend, and the discussion of this topic is... imaginary friends and also being unable to distinguish fantasy from reality, leading to a socially stunted lifestyle based on those so-called "friends." (And yes, this includes imaginary boyfriends and girlfriends too.)
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: Witchyjoshy on November 06, 2012, 02:26:57 am
Okeedokee, now that makes sense :D
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: TheL on November 07, 2012, 10:30:34 pm
Wait--this person has somehow managed to pick out ONE Linoone from all the other Linoone....and....ow, my brain!
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: Jack Mann on November 14, 2012, 01:32:24 am
When it comes to things going on inside the head, it's very easy to convince yourself they're real.  A lot of the posers have probably convinced themselves their "headmates" are real.  They're not insane, in the sense that there's something really wrong with their brain chemistry.  They're just so desperate to have something special about them that they come up with shit like this.

When I was in middle school, I had a friend who'd read too much Anne Rice and thought he was a vampire.  Same sort of shit.  The problem now is that they can find people who will reinforce their delusion and tell them they're perfectly right.
Title: Re: Head Mates
Post by: TheUnknown on November 18, 2012, 06:37:11 am
There was an interesting essay I read (you can find if you browse wtfsocialjustice long enough) written by someone with an actual disorder explaining why these multiple/headmate/otherkin communities on tumblr can be really dangerous to people with actual mental problems.  Basically, they (poes, speshul teens) surround these people (actually mentally ill, especially newcomers) with positive reinforcement and validate their delusions.  These communities will insist that there's nothing wrong with the person, that it's everyone else with the problem.  The OP said that this can convince an ill person that their delusions are reality and, due to being constantly surrounded by people reinforcing that idea, may never experience the moment of clarity needed for them to realize that they may need to seek help and treatment.  The OP said they started treatment before tumblr was ever a thing, but they're convinced that, had they been not diagnosed and not medicated at the time these tumblr communities became huge, they never would have sought the help they needed.