The Seduction of Anonymity

[SciFi Chick]

This is seriously fucked up.. You can watch the video or get the highlights from the article.

One thing the article doesn't mention is that this sort of behavior seems to be exploding. Lots of people are going online and pretending to be someone they're not. Now, I always knew this was happening, but I mostly figured it was just trolls getting their kicks. The idea of crafting a complete identity and stealing other people's identities is really disturbing to me.

I mean, the longer I've been online, the more it has become an extension of "real" life. I mean, I've met so many FWIS'ers - married one even, and although we don't reveal everything about ourselves on here, what we do reveal is who we really are.

In any case, I feel really bad for Kimberly Paisley.

[SciFiFisher]

This

The real woman behind the hoax was Hope Jackson, from Wyoming. She had repeatedly lied to both celebrities and ordinary people with stories of cancer. Sometimes Jackson was supposed to be the sick one, sometimes her children were ailing, and sometimes both. But though she had had multiple run-ins with the law for shoplifting in Montana, her cancer hoaxes never seemed to be about money. She even returned a check that one victim sent to her.

Instead, she appeared to be looking for attention and an emotional connection.

The bolding is mine. Essentially, for whatever reason this person is not receiving what she needs AND/OR she has a personality disorder.

It is very likely she is what would be termed a histrionic type.

Here is the scary part. Practically every healthcare and mental health professional I have talked to agrees that there is no cure for the true personality disorder. You can set limits, establish consequences and for the short term modify behavior but they will always act like they do to a greater or lesser extent.