Today I’d like to talk about mental heath and screen time within the community and the sim.
I know we all love Infinte Flight and the Community, but with that we still need to care for ourselves and not be captivated by our devices. I took a “break” from the IFC for a month and it did wonders for me personally. I spent more time outside at the pool, went to parties, got to meet new people, and got more engaged in my CAP squadron. Pre break I was spending hours a day on the form talking to buddies and commenting on threads. Yes that is fun to do but is it heathy? Research shows that spending multiple hours a day on devices on a consistent basis could lead to depression. In my case I didnt experience depression but it surely affected my schooling. I would find myself scrolling the IFC during class or when I was suppose to be doing homework. This didnt affect my grades but caused me to cram and be super inefficient in school. School is extremely important for collages/scholarships/flying and definitely not worth wasting it for something on here. The IFC can wait its not going anywhere.
Now for a more in depth part for mental heath.
I have noticed from alot of people lately that they are stressed, depressed, lonely, feeling down, and finally left out. Within the IFC and Infinte Flight people can encounter mean/toxic people causing them to fall into a more depressed or frustrated state. Dont let what someone says affect you in a bad way. Your ideas and thoughts are just that yours. Your entitled to your opinion and they are too. Mental heath is extremely important in places not just surrounding the IFC and Infinte Flight, in the real world where more verbal communication, heart break, and social anxiety are a thing. School is a main driver of some sort of a mental heath problem as many of us experience stress and possible depression. Please seek assistance from your guidance councilor for aid with mental heath they are always willing to listen and are trained to help you! Lastly, I’d like to mention suicide. Suicide is becoming more prominent between teens and young adults and September is National Suicide Prevention Month. I would like to let everyone know that everyones lives matter no matter what is going on in your life we care! If you are thinking of suicide please call 800-273-8255 or seek help from a psychiatrist!
Please dont let your self be taken up by the sim or the forum. Go Explore the world, meet new people, and have fun. Im not saying dont stop using the forum or the sim just use it when you feel like it but dont let it rule all of your time.
Thanks,
Blake
“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”
-Robert Louis Stevenson
@USA_ATC Really nice to see you creating this topic. We all have lives and our mental struggles and it’s nice of you opening your PM box. The topic faces negative stigma(which it shouldn’t) Strong supporter of the topic!!
I took a break from the sim throughout the summer and after that I find myself wanting to go outside and explore. Another thing that I noticed was that 2020 wore me out. I don’t like sitting in front of a screen for hours and hours on a long haul. Now I want to be free and experience the world again!
My Pleasure! Pm’s always open on any platform! This is an extremely important topic it shouldn’t be something people should feel bad or awkward about talking about.
I’ve been taking a break since early August, and it’s been great. I’ve gone on so many hikes, went swimming, fishing, etc. To be honest I don’t know if I’ll come back but I’ll remain active on the forum. I just want to say that a break can really help your mental health. I feel much happier than I did before when I had too much screen time.
It’s really good having a break sometimes, and playing sometimes an hour, during a week. Because what, the society and friendship is one of the most important things that a person should have, because Not only it will make you happy, but it will definitely help the person grow up mentally. I personally like Going up for a walk, playing with friends online, doing exercise, walk my dog, visit my family / friends, doing something new, and so on… because It makes me happy. The addiction is just a bad thing. Staying always on a screen will only consume people’s life.
All of it makes sense. Some of it actually applied to me (not the hard stuff about depression and suicide lol) but the part about using it during school and letting it take a chunk of my time hit different. Dang dude 👌
It’s that feeling when you’re at church and the pastor preaches about what’s happening in your life 😳 😂
This will help many people on the form. Everyone needs to step back and take a break from social media and everything that comes with it. Myself I have my battles (like everyone does) but the important thing is and this relates to IF, dont let violations or your landings per grade stress you out. I work every day and its just not possible that i can be on IF or on social media. When I have the time i do flying, put the hours in and such, For those addicted to IF and social media in general, Its not healthy for you. Go explore the world, meet like minded people (and learn from people that dont share your interests) Go for walks, running, swimming, mediation, take a deep breath and let your body relax, smell the fresh grass etc. Thank you @USA_ATC for this amazing topic.
This will be very helpful for lots of people here on IFC! I think that it’s pretty amazing that you totally took a break from all of infinite Flight including temporarily leaving the CEO position at IFGAC. I also find my self doing very similar thing with school and home work to busy trying to land or take off or just want to talk and not do the more import thing in the real world. So THANK YOU for making this topic as it will probably go on to help many people!
I used to be suuuuper active on my time on the IFC. I have taken a hiatus from the start of the 2021 and I just decided to check back.
During my break, I was able to find more (and real) peace as I bothered to spend more time out w my friends, make new ones, find new taste in food and music and work out more frequently.
In the past, I was way extreme on my passion for aviation and I felt like I was “addicted” to IF. I would fly everyday and would wake up at 4 A.M just to land at KJFK and would try to engage w the community as much as possible.
My mental health was deteriorating. I would get mental breakdowns, perform careless mistakes and break items on accident. One incident is when I broke a plate after my lunch. Priort to that, controlling w IFATC throughout the entire night with no rest. I would go out forgetting to do contact tracing, accidentally leaving my house without a mask and leave stores without paying (Don’t worry, they called me to come back)
I was glad to catch myself one day that maybe I was going too far.
I’m not saying that you should leave IF if it’s affecting you too much, just take a healthy schedule to your time. As long as your spirit for IF or aviation is strong, that’s good!
It’s great to talk again here and I just wanna say sorry to everyone I met here for dissapearing.
I felt guilt and I was glad @USA_ATC made this very topic I could relate, helping me express myself here.
Now, I am still flying once in a while. I just came back to flying on both MSFS and IF because I miss this sim so much.
