Dr. Demir will present May 15th at noon SLT. He will talk about fears of terrorism, with emphasis on the effect of trust in government, laws, and policies. Most people seem to be more afraid of cyberterrorism than of other types of terrorism. Dr. Demir’s research shows that only trust in government can mediate these fears.
Ms.
Maria Nieves is a practicing clinical psychologist in Brazil. She is a master’s
student at the Catholic University of Pelotas in southern Brazil, where her
degree will be in Behavior and Health. Her presentation topic is fear related
to climate change.
Her session May 15th at 9:30 a.m. SLT is titled “Worry Related to Climate Change among Brazilian Adults.” She reminds us that it’s ok to worry about the world ending due to the climate crisis.
There is scientific consensus that global warming is happening, and anyone with access to information about climate change is potentially susceptible to experiencing an anxiety response. She explores whether those responses are pathological or just logical in the face of what's been going on.
Mr. Aman
Kumar Prajapati is an assistant professor of psychology at Invertis University
Bareilly in northern India. His presentation May 15th at 8 a.m. SLT is titled
“Near Death Experience and Transformation of Afterlife Belief.”
This psychological systematic review will explore how near-death experiences influence individuals’ fears and beliefs about the afterlife. It synthesizes findings across studies to reveal patterns of spiritual transformation, increased belief in life after death, and shifts in existential outlook following near-death experiences.
Virtual Ability’s 14th annual Mental Health Symposium will take place on May 15, 2025. The theme of this year’s Conference is “Facing Our Fears: Managing Anxiety About Life’s Uncertainties.”
Fear is a built-in human reaction. Fear of large carnivores, fire, dark, starvation, and strangers likely contributed greatly to the survival and early evolution of humanity. The modern world has given people even more causes for fear: community violence, biased public institutions, horrific war, climate change, racism, gender violence, and artificial intelligence, among many others. Fear can at times be useful, but it can also negatively impact the quality of life for some people. Disabling fear is a treatable condition. The varied causes and levels of intrusiveness of a fear demand individualized therapeutic approaches. The broad theme of this conference allows us to look at the topic of fear from a number of different perspectives.
The Symposium will take place in the virtual world of Second Life, at the Sojourner Auditorium on Virtual Ability island. The conference will also be live-streamed on Virtual Ability’s YouTube page.
Virtual Ability hosts this annual Symposium to share information about mental health and mental disabilities with the general population. Within our cross-disability community we have members who deal with a variety of mental health issues. Not only is this an opportunity for our community members to learn more about topics related to mental health from experts they probably would not have a chance to meet otherwise, it allows the general public to attend a professional conference at no cost. The current schedule for the conference is here: https://virtualability.org/mental-health-symposium-2025/
In Second Life, you can teleport to any of the eight displays and exhibits using the SLURLs in this posting. Click on the poster with the same name as the title of the poster set, and you will get a notecard that contains all the text of the posters plus descriptions of the images. If you click each poster, you will get a private message with additional information and live links.
NOTE: May is Mental Health Awareness Month. All the posters this month are about mental health.
**The 2025 Mental Health Symposium is May 15. The topic is "Facing our Fears: Managing Anxiety about Life's Uncertainties." Two exhibits that are specific to the Symposium are #6 (Facts About Fear) and #7 (Anxiety Disorders). Check them out! Here is the symposium schedule:
https://virtualability.org/
