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Do you use RP as a therapeutic outlet?

D

dichotomy

Moon
Joined
Jun 19, 2019
Ìm just being curious really.
I admit to doing it. I use rp to shamelessly explore emotions. I use rp to get over people I cannot have sex with. I generally use rp as an outlet, to tackle the things that don't let me sleep at night. And while it IS an outlet and makes me feel oh so good, it isn't a "therapy" really.
Often roleplayers are accused of escapism... and i just fail to see what's bad about that.
What are your opinions on this?
 
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In theory, I would.
In practice, the process of roleplaying searching really just ends up being even more strung out.

But I suppose writing in general is something I use to vent. Or drawing. So yeah.
 
Kind of I guess in the sense it is escapism and creativity. But I don't feel like I exorcise any demons or anything through it if that is what you mean.
 
@Jellyfish - while it isn't funny i still had to chuckle. You are right, the process of finding the right rp can be gruesome!

@Dixon - Actually I think i meant to ask both with my initial question. I don't exorcise demons so to say either. But... can roleplay do that? What I actually DO with rp is get things out of my head. I happened to have the hots for my former boss (loooong story), but hitting it up with him was always out of the question. At that time i pursued a LOT of office romance rps, and was very happy with these.
I do practise escapism with rp. I love immersion. I love not having to think about the real world, while I am in my intense fantasy world. But - I do return to the real world, and I face the problems and challenges there, and thus i really fail to see how a bit of escapism is bad!
And I am aware that I seek roleplays that offer extremes. Extreme despair. Extreme pleasure. Extreme passion. Extreme fear. Because in this online i world i CAN experience those extremes. I love the excess! Because the only way to experience extremes for me is via imagination. And music. And sex.

@Cindy - thanks for your reply, allthough at the moment I don't understand it in the context of the question. *puzzled*
 
dichotomy said:
@Dixon - Actually I think i meant to ask both with my initial question. I don't exorcise demons so to say either. But... can roleplay do that? What I actually DO with rp is get things out of my head. I happened to have the hots for my former boss (loooong story), but hitting it up with him was always out of the question. At that time i pursued a LOT of office romance rps, and was very happy with these.
I do practise escapism with rp. I love immersion. I love not having to think about the real world, while I am in my intense fantasy world. But - I do return to the real world, and I face the problems and challenges there, and thus i really fail to see how a bit of escapism is bad!
And I am aware that I seek roleplays that offer extremes. Extreme despair. Extreme pleasure. Extreme passion. Extreme fear. Because in this online i world i CAN experience those extremes. I love the excess! Because the only way to experience extremes for me is via imagination. And music. And sex.
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That's cool. I like exploring extremes to an extent as well. I like characters who are seemingly "normal" and challenging them. I get what you mean about exploring situations you can't or shouldn't do in real life as well. Not sure if RP can exorcise demons, I suppose depending on what the persons demons are it might be possible. Not sure if that would make for a fun RP though.

I tend to live in my head as well and not many people I am around on a day to day basis get me. So to that degree RP is good in that I get to talk about whatever I like with someone. I love music as well, it speaks to me in a way that people never have.
 
Only if you say having fun is a therapeutic outlet. It is rather kind of holiday for my mind and imagination I guess.
However regarding eRP I guess it has a therapeutic component as I can 'live' some dreams I cannot in 'real life'.

In the end I still would say 'no' as I don't see it as a vent or actually fleeing the world. I may be addicted to the fun it provides, though :)
 
absolutely I do. Its very hard to deal with childhood abuse in the real world. As I have said in another post, rping gives me triumph over that which held me down. Also Its like a "Screw you" to my abusers... you wanted to keep me down.. now that which hurt me as a child, gets me going as an adult hehe
 
I really don't think it is wise, when so much rejection is involved in this process, to put a heavy load upon role-play as a necessary coping mechanism. Like, as something to vent, or relax, to explore dark themes or fantasy in a low-risk medium, or explore trauma ideas in a safe environment, then fine.

But as an actual mental health thing? Absolutely not. I know that for me, if someone says they have panic attacks or they get depressed when they don't have a current rp to post to or they get ghosted, it makes me want to stay clear away from that person.
 
This is an interesting topic... especially because I signed up to this forum just to do exactly that. Use roleplaying as a creative outlet. There could be some parts of mental health in it. My fantasies haven’t quite been shared with any of the men I’ve been with (just one really but it was always at the right time and very scarce) and now I feel this is the only way I can explore that side of myself.

Also I have to agree with what @Shemalion said ... child abuse has a way of lingering into adulthood. I’ve made my peace with it and have only taken the good bits along with me. Which is why I need a safe place to explore it.
 
Creative outlet, early life experience playing in, emotional exploration. I'm not very sold by life at the moment, so I use the 'nope' button in a way that's very safe.
 
Creative outlet, therapeutic outlet. I struggle with expressing my emotions in real life about a lot of things, rping helps me to escape from all the crazy stuff that’s going on in my head. It’s also the only thing I can really stay focused on.
 
I grew up in a sexually repressive "traditional" household. As a result I've got a lot of filth twisted up in this pretty little head of mine. Lewd RP gives me a chance to explore it in a safe, shameless, consequence free environment. So I suppose you could call that a "Therapeutic Outlet"
 
To a degree yes. I use rp to have sex with people I can't have sex with, or to explore my sexuality - or that of my friend(s). RP also allows me to experiment safely with some things I might not be comfortable in real life - and also lets me connect with people who find some of my darker fetishes and fantasies appealing. Which in itself is very therapeutic.
 
Yes and no. RPing is a good stress reliever and my favorite way to practice my writing and character building, but it doesn't really stand in for actual therapy, which I still need for my personal issues.
 
I do find it one of the better ways to deal with my sexual fantasies and desires, things that are part of me but aren't wanted in my everyday life. Seems much healthier to practice writing and storytelling in RP form than to repress it or get swept away in the sea of porn addiction.
 
Escapism is my primary motivation for role playing. I've lost patience for realism and most romantically themed monogamous pairings. I'm not attracted to too much drama, and I like positive outcomes to conflicts. I want the heroes to always win, and I fully understand how boring this might be to some. A partner I struggled to get off the ground with told me she always wanted her characters to die at the end of each story. She didn't want things to keep going, and that's the hardest goal for any role play I've started-- keeping it going. There is no definite end to the stories I want to tell, and the worlds I want to explore are theoretically infinite. While I want to see well-adjusted and competent characters enjoy each other's company, a lot of partners want to indulge in fantasies they cannot gain in real life, which trends towards the more extreme and gruesome. I have no interest in "bad ends" and sexual brutality, primarily because I have absolutely no physical intimacy in my own life. The fact that "two attractive people meeting and then having sex with each other" is too bland for many players is disconcerting to my ambitions in the hobby. It's like, because of my circumstances as an individual, a barrier has been placed between those who have "normal" lives.
 
I feel that role play is another outlet in the terms of playing a character that possesses the looks and abilities that you either admire or wish to have and playing them out in a world that is less restricted. Like take for instance the shows with drama and romance. I personally dislike the whole seeing a black out scene when two hot characters are about to get it on. Hence it's one reason I enjoy doing fandom role play. I like to play extended scenes out. Play the detail, the passion, and romance that was set up. I understand TV does what it does as it's for public viewing. Just stating it would be fun to play out what happens. So in summary....role play is an outlet for myself.
 
Nothing wrong with it being an outlet, I use it all the time to explore my own emotions and understand myself better when world building. Escapism? I think it's great to escape from reality every once in a while, for me I just love creating characters worlds, the systems their built upon their flaws, it allows my mind to drift and let go of built up stress even though some would say it's just a distraction.
 
Absolutely. I have a physical defect that prevents me from boinking and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future which has big long-term repercussions if I can't fix it. Rp gets so much out of my system and given my situation, that's a really valuable, specific outlet.
 
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