Coping with Modern Challenges

Many people who use online dating expect that they might suddenly stop hearing from someone they've been talking to without being given a reason and this phenomenon is called "ghosting." This talk is based on a study which aimed to understand why people ghost on online dating platforms, how it affects them, and what they constitute as ghosting behaviour. We interviewed 12 people in the UK who had ghosted someone on a dating app before. We found that people ghost for various reasons, and it can make them feel a mix of emotions. We also found that there's some confusion about what exactly ghosting means, and interestingly we identified some protective factors that might make ghosting less likely to happen. Based on our findings, we suggest that ghosting should be defined as being a gradual or sudden one-sided ceasing of communication to end the progress of an interaction with another person. While in this talk, we will talk about ways that may reduce you being ghosted, it is unique to the individual, so ghosting is here to stay as it has become a normal part of online dating behaviour.

Tetris is a popular game, developed in the 1980's, that has caught the eyes of researchers. It has been proposed that this spatial video game can interfere with traumatic memories. In doing this it can weaken these memories. This could be a critical tool in helping people who have flashbacks and nightmares of traumatic memories such as those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). I will summarise some of the research on Tetris and discuss the obstacles for future research.

My talk will be about the mental health benefits that girl and young woman skateboarders get from skateboarding, and how it helps them to have body self-compassion. Body self-compassion is about being non-judgemental about one's body and instead accepting it in all its limitations and imperfections. It involves appreciating one's unique body, taking responsibility for looking after it well, and avoiding comparing it to other people's bodies.