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Someone with "Master's Degree in Psychology" deliberately accusing and insulting me in game

BeastMoses··2 votes·1,670 views

I am going to post this as a discussion as there are way too many things to say, but long story short, I will give you a brief explanation of what happened in the game.

Skip to the dialogues if you do not wish to know the background story.

I locked in Nasus support because I was auto-filled and the only support champion I had was Janna, which I had no intention to play at any time (I've never played her before either). No one objected it which was good. I bought relic shield and started using my q to execute minions so that I get stacks and my ADC gets gold. Unfortunately, my ADC was pretty bad at the role and we lost lane quickly, despite the fact that we were able to get double kills on the enemy bot lane with my Wither ability.

When we lost the tower I started to stack by myself. Tristana was angry about this and started spam-pinging me, eventually leaving me alone and started farming mid. Meanwhile, our Garen was having none of it, and started being extra by flaming the crap out of me (without swearing). Eventually, he said something like "You don't care about anyone else you're just ruining other people's fun." This is where I became properly pissed.

I didn't answer aggressively, all I said was "I was diagnosed with depression 2 months ago, I don't care about any of you". The person that joined in with the flame (Tristana) apologized, but the other person who was playing Karma immediately says:

"Go kill yourself then"

Obviously, I was very disturbed by this reply, but I didn't say anything. Garen, however, kept on with his rant and started saying stuff like:

"Don't believe this kid he's not depressed" "He's just playing the victim" "he's just a kid who's pathetic" "if you're depressed it's not our problem deal with that yourself" "I work with students dealing with depression, he's not like that"

Yes, you guessed it. This was the man with "Master's degree in Psychology" as he claimed later in the game. After bashing me for another 5 minutes, saying the exact same things after the game, he left.

So, what's your verdict on this. Is he a Master at Psychology?

The truth is, I have no idea if I have depression or not. I have yet to have an official diagnosis. For the past few months, I have been quite down and perturbed, not constantly but this kind of feeling dominated most of my days, thus I cannot know for sure. I have lost most of my interests in things, and recently I have been noticing my quick decline in my strong interest in music (I am a music scholar in my private school). It has gone to a point where I am no longer afraid of death, and I do not care whether if I die or not. I can almost greet Death like an old friend, poetically enough. I often wake up exhausted, ironically enough, and have hardly any energy attending lessons. My teacher/tutor often asks me if I am ok, but I always reply 'yes' because I am unsure about my state, and I am unsure if he is able to help me or not.

Playing league is one of the only ways I am still able to be happy, especially playing it with my two friends. There I can feel content, that joy that I once felt three years ago. It sounds pathetic, but isn't that what I am?

21 Comments

disregardable3 votes

you trolled, admitted you didn't care, and got harassed. not sure why you got mad when you literally caused the entire interaction.

report the garen for hate speech and move on.

BeastMoses1 votes

[deleted]

disregardable1 votes

well I will say that my depression was the result of caring too much (rather than not caring). I cared too much about my flaws, my failures, my expectations, and what I imagined other peoples' expectations were. My fears paralyzed me. At one point, I burst into tears because I felt my 3 page essay was bad. It's funny in retrospect, but it shows how misaligned my emotions were.

I also cared too much about this game. I'd get upset over not stomping. I was one of those people that had hundreds of chat restrictions, because they didn't ban people for chat yet.

overall I'd say see a therapist, obviously. but also, I'd recommend a book, "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" by Dr. David Burns. Skip to chapter 3 if you get bored in the beginning. It made me feel better, and it may give you some insight into whether or not you have depression. There's a quiz.

BeastMoses1 votes

{quoted}

well I will say that my depression was the result of caring too much (rather than not caring). I cared too much about my flaws, my failures, my expectations, and what I imagined other peoples' expectations were. My fears paralyzed me. At one point, I burst into tears because I felt my 3 page essay was bad. It's funny in retrospect, but it shows how misaligned my emotions were.

I also cared too much about this game. I'd get upset over not stomping. I was one of those people that had hundreds of chat restrictions, because they didn't ban people for chat yet.

overall I'd say see a therapist, obviously. but also, I'd recommend a book, "Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy" by Dr. David Burns. Skip to chapter 3 if you get bored in the beginning. It made me feel better, and it may give you some insight into whether or not you have depression. There's a quiz.

Thanks for sharing your experience. He's actually on a Ted Talk. I will take a look.

usul12022 votes

I'm confused by the topic. Is your question "does he have a masters in psychology"? He might, might not. It's the internet, no one knows if you're a dog on the internet. Either way, no reason to flame someone, if he's being a shitwit I'd recommend muting him. No reason to let some senseless flame ruin your fun.

BeastMoses2 votes

You are right. I became curious because no flamer would entitle themselves so highly. Normally I wouldn't make a post just because someone is toxic.

usul12022 votes

Some people think their shit don't stink. That's their own problem, better off ignoring them.

R107 Games2 votes

I didn't get to comment on your reply on a different thread because that shits' been locked. And im afraid ill get banned for thread hijacking or spam if I reply here.[zombie-nunu-bummed]

usul12021 votes

Eh, this is a topic about an asshole claiming he has a masters in psychology, im an asshole linking science about psychology, thats on topic enough. Reposting the main part of my comment from a while back, since it adequately summed up each of the links:

This one's about how negative comments and insults in the workplace lead to physical altercations, a clear sign that they could cause minor things in league.

On the same topic, this article focuses on insults and such in the workplace that are abusive, but not directly meant to insult (i.e. General flaming), and shows imperically that it leads to worse work (free through Google scholar)

This one is similar to the above 2, but a dry-er read. However, their method was good and their data presentation is clean so in adding it.

If you check none of the other links, read this one. It is direct and on topic, and blatantly shows how rudeness and such negatively affects performance.

How anger due to aggression affects your brain in a scientific sense, resulting in impaired abilities.(free through Google scholar)

And finally, with a study size of well over 2000 people, this one looks at the direct negative behavioral effects that negative input causes.

I tried to link all of the paywalled ones through google scholar where they're visible for free, but if a link tries to paywall you then search the title on scholar.google.com. Or you can take them based on the summery, a few are rather lengthy, if i remember correctly.

Either way, the data shows that flame does effect performance in a negative manner, even in small bursts.

PS: if this is too off topic for mods please let me know so you don't have to lock OP's topic cause of our conversation.

R107 Games1 votes

Interesting links. I couldn't read the first 3 links because the site kept asking me to log on. But to respond to the rest, those are all referring to irl interactions, not online.

I definently know irl negativity can affect performance, but I don't know if it also holds true in an online environment.

usul12021 votes

As I added below, you can find them for free on Google scholar.

All interactions in this were verbal, no physical contact. How is that any different? The point is negative stimuli affecting gameplay.

R107 Games1 votes

{quoted}

All interactions in this were verbal, no physical contact.

So the verbal was irl instead of online?

How is that any different? The point is negative stimuli affecting gameplay.

Becuase irl and online interactions are different.

The way players communicate to one another in a video game is quite different to communicating in real life. It is generally limited by text, in-game actions, or voice chat

With text it is very easy to misinterpret something somebody says. Unlike conversation, people aren’t able to pick up on tone of voice. On top of that, whatever is written stays on the screen for someone to read over and over again to be re-interpreted as they please.

usul12021 votes

I believe most were verbal, I think one included slights and other negative environments, but that was more as general supporting evidence. It's been 3 months since I read them.

So, in a no-tone, extended viewing circumstance there would be more impact, would there not? Now, not only is a slight more likely to be perceived since sarcasm and joking tones cannot be effectively conveyed for the most part, but also the 1 slight (which the reports show has an effect) has extended presence.

I wouldn't use these as justification for banning stupid shit like one "you're trash ;)", but I do think that their conclusions on negative stimuli impacting performance are perfectly valid.

R107 Games1 votes

{quoted}

I believe most were verbal, I think one included slights and other negative environments, but that was more as general supporting evidence. It's been 3 months since I read them.

I know they were verbal, that wasn't the question i was asking. Was the verbal online or irl?

So, in a no-tone, extended viewing circumstance there would be more impact, would there not?

Yes, but that would mean the text would have impact in the first place. Text online generally doesn't mean anything because it is anonymous and from a stranger. It would definently have an impact if the text was from an irl friend or family member.

Now, not only is a slight more likely to be perceived since sarcasm and joking tones cannot be effectively conveyed for the most part, but also the 1 slight (which the reports show has an effect) has extended presence.

But anyone with a stable mental can ignore online text and not let it affect them.

usul12021 votes

its not as if the method changes at all. there is negative stimuli, people perform worse. the fact that it's text does not make 'you're trash, go uninstall' suddenly positive. The point of several of those links is that it doesn't have to be a big thing, and that sometimes the person does not even acknowledge that it has effected them, but in fact, it has decreased their performance.

Cyberbullying has most of the data on how text DOES effect people as well. Theres plenty of research on it in children, enough that I don't feel the need to link it here, but there's also research on it in the workplace. 10.7% of respondents, in this study, were 'affected by text', as adults in a professional environment. Dismissing the results because of the medium is absurd.

EvilDustMan1 votes

The mantra is important here. Mute, report, and move on. No, these people were assholes and shouldn't have done that, but you need to use the mantra.

They are sad individuals who probably have too much stress in their life or think it is their job to cut people down a peg. Don't engage, that way lies madness. But don't forget to mute. I have bipolar myself and dwelling on negative comments only makes things worse.

Clip those people right away, let the system take care of it, then forget they ever existed.

CrossBladeX1 votes

The thing is, not everybody wants to mute, report every single game it gets tiresome, and impossible, That's the ultimate truth of things. As well as it reducing your level and chances of communication with your team succeeding into rank Masters, or you open yourself up to getting banned by reporting others excessively, with this Justice system anything can happen.

Kei1431 votes

So ... he's a student wanting to graduate from the Masters of Psychology program, probably in his first year program and exaggerating his qualifications. I'm guessing he probably has no work experience.

If he didn't ask you anything about your feelings and family history, he didn't do any diagnosis to determine whether you are truly clinically depressed.

Of course, make sure you see a professional. A Psycologist can only do therapy, but a Psychiatrist can prescribe you medicine to get you better. It doesn't take that long to diagnose someone to depression, so make sure you take some time and clear up your doubts.

Icy Hot Shoto1 votes

{quoted}

Of course, make sure you see a professional. A Psycologist can only do therapy, but a Psychiatrist can prescribe you medicine to get you better. It doesn't take that long to diagnose someone to depression, so make sure you take some time and clear up your doubts.

I want to add on to this, Psychiatrists can also give you other ways to cope if you don't want to be on meds. For example, an old psychiatrist of mine had told me to try reading a childrens book, listening to calm/happy music, listening to sounds such as the ocean or rainforest, or even a stress ball if it's less my depression and more my anger.

So if you don't want to do meds right away, ask if there's anything they can suggest you try first. c:

Horrible Human1 votes

You really open yourself up for ridicule saying things like " I'm depressed " on a video game. Just stop.

ModPeriscope1 votes

He could have said he had a masters in trolling; both degrees have an equal probability of being made up in order to piss you off. My advice: it seems like early on he made it clear he was trying to upset you. Once you detect that, just mute, report, and move on.

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