Does anyone fancy giving me an armchair diagnosis?

[SisterNight]

This is fairly light-hearted, I'm not in need of urgent intervention or anything but I'm just interested in people's opinions/musings.

Like a lot of people during this past year my mental health has suffered. Just to add that I've always had poor mental health/coping mechanisms since being a small child.

I'm a loud and proud feminist and I've always been an atheist however with increasing frequency I've been seeking out very religious Instagram accounts. Often those with content on outdated, old-fashioned and fairly shitty views on women and homosexuality. I'm drawn to vintage accounts too and I'm feeling really nostalgic for a childhood that I didn't even have. I'm not exactly striving to create a traditional wholesome childhood for my own children either - we're fairly normal muddling along sorts.

These accounts often centre around femininity, modesty, motherhood and lifestyle. I do get a sense of wanting to be like them and feeling lacking in my own convictions. The joy of social media!

These accounts don't shock or outrage me. I'm not hate viewing. Neither am I changing my own personal opinions on matters such as feminism or homosexuality. Why do I keep seeking them out? I'd love to be religious/spiritual and I'm fairly unfulfilled by my atheist views however religion isn't something I can get on board with logically. It doesn't make sense.

If only I could afford therapy!

I was really hoping for some boil or rash photos.

Ha sorry to disappoint!

Hi. Maybe because it’s a simplified way of life and thinking? For eg, Here are the rules and parameters. Follow them, do good and it will all be fine. Those depictions of life don’t tend to speak about domestic abuse, bigotry and all the nasty complications of reality that we don’t want to think about. It’s a reassurance that life is good, good things happen and we can be in control of that.
That will be £2.50 for my armchair session.

Tell me about your mother....

Kidding on!

Sounds to me like you feel the need for someone or something to take control because you can't or simply don't want to anymore. These lifestyles and religions adhere to social restrictions and rules that for most people are stifling but for some allow them to give up their autonomy and there is comfort in that.

Consider it in the post! Thank you.

I can see why I'd be yearning for a little more simplicity. This year has been difficult in so many ways out of my control.

Comfort in lack of autonomy. Interesting. I'll mull that one over a while. I appreciate your input.

I think that you're exploring.

Maybe it is to develop a bigger world view, maybe it is to place your existing views into a different framework 'just to see'.

Or you might be exploring your spirituality. (Which isn't, in my view, about religion but about the relationship of your spirit to the world around you.)

Just interest because it's such a different lifestyle? I feel a bit the same watching Sister Wives (about a Mormon polygamist family). Although I don't agree with any of their beliefs or attitudes, it's interesting to see and maybe imagine what I would be like if I was born in to that community. They also seem so wholesome, something about it is very sweet. (well the first seasons - later they start to show their dislike for each other and it isn't so wholesome).

Yes I suppose that curiosity is part of it. I always feel so lacking after viewing their content though which is why I wonder why I do it to myself.