Greetings, ladies and gentleblocks, its time for another take on a subject that's been done a few times or so. Depression is something others have covered, such as Jetra and Greytopher, but at the same time there's another aspect people don't always seem to see.

Now, depression is a tricky thing to diagnose, and everyone feels it at some point in their lives. For some its a true clinical endless problem. for others, its a low time in their lives that feels endless. There are many reasons people feel it. I don't plan on getting into those reasons now.

What i do want to do with this blog is talk about how it affect others on your server around you. You join a server feeling depressed, feeling low, wanting to talk to people. This doesn't always end well.

People may want to try to always be kind. they may want to try to help. But at the same time personal comfort is highest on their minds. Many MANY people join a server to relax and forget the worries of the day, or to blow off some steam by mindlessly loosing themselves to a massive project. Minecraft is a game, and people want to have fun. So when they see someone struggling, feeling down, they may try to help, or they may not be able to.

Consider this example:

You have been playing on a fun minecraft server for a few months now. you're in with the community and everyone knows you and you know them, and one day you're having a kinda crap day. Maybe your old dog had to be put down, something you've kinda been expecting for a few weeks, but is still a shock. Maybe you're missing a concert cause you've had a falling out with your friends and they revoked your ticket. Perhaps you just did really bad on a test and are worried about passing the class. Things like this can make you just want to mine in peace. No need to burden your friends with such little parts of your life. So you come on and work more on your project, and start to cheer up cause its a place you have control. You can work in peace here and not have to worry on these IRL problems. Then a friend comes on. Someone you build with a lot. And he starts complaining to the server in general about how he and his sister fought today and how stupid she is and how much he hates her. You're already down.

Theres a few forces at work here in a persons mind when they see someone feeling down and asking for help:
1. Their own desire to want to have fun and not become unhappy
2. They feel heir own problems are just as valid and they should just suck it up.
3. The fact they care for this person and want to help, but fear being tainted with the sadness or rejected and loosing a friend.
4. They feel minecraft is not a place for people to come and dump their problems on everyone else, and that it should just be a game.

People play this game for a LOT of reasons. One popular reason is to forget about IRL problems. To have something fun to take their mind off things. But sometimes things can feel so bad they just need to tell someone. And that's where I've seen plenty of friction.

I've felt myself annoyed at players who come on complaining about some true crap in their lives that we cant do a thing about. Dog died, grandparents died, car wreck, health issues, things they feel the need to tell EVERYONE about, just to get some pity. They may truly feel down about something, but it isn't always right to lay that on everyone else.

So please, if you are feeling down, weigh your options. Would telling everyone make it better? Or is it best to confide in a few close friends? And importantly: Are you doing this simply to get some sort of attention? How does you feeling down about your dog running away impact them?

There are people out there with truly huge hearts, always giving and loving and wanting to help. But if you take advantage of them, you may risk turning them into depressed, disillusioned shells. People are finite beings, and tho there is help out there, it may not be the best thing to search for it online where you don't know anyone or their true thoughts.

If you do try to help someone who is depressed, remember that they may just need an ear and a suggestion. listen carefully, listen attentively, give them all your attention. So many problems could be solved if people just listened to each other more.

Hope this blog made some sense, Diamonds are appreciated. Critiques are appreciated as well :) But please, no personal attacks. It's just uncool.