• Question: Is it unhealthy to ship people?

    Asked by Alex47 to Ben, Sam, Kirsty, Maggi, Rose on 12 Jun 2017.
    • Photo: Rose Turner

      Rose Turner answered on 12 Jun 2017:

      Hey Alex, Does ‘ship’ mean when you want two people to be in a relationship (friends or celebrities or fictional characters?) Perhaps you could explain a bit more (unless one of the other scientists knows more about this – maybe I just don’t know the lingo!)

    • Photo: Ben Kenward

      Ben Kenward answered on 12 Jun 2017:

      I reckon this might be about fantasizing about other people being in a relationship? I’m guessing from this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shipping_(fandom).

      If you just wonder whether it’s wrong to have such a fantasy, the answer is no. People have all kinds of weird fantasies that they would never admit or or act out. That’s normal – you shouldn’t feel guilty about what’s just in your head. If it becomes an obsession that bothers you, for example, because you can’t stop thinking thoughts you don’t want to think, then that’s obviously not great. I’m not the right kind of psychologist to offer the best kind of advice about that kind of thing, but some simple tips like focusing on thinking about other things could be good. If you actually want to act out your match-making fantasies then think carefully about whether what you are doing is really good for the other people involved!

    • Photo: Kirsty Miller

      Kirsty Miller answered on 16 Jun 2017:

      Hey 🙂 This is all totally new to me, but if it means what the others suggest then I think yes, it’s totally normal! It can help you with your own real life relationships (which @Rose can tell you more about too!), and as long as it doesn’t interfere with your daily life and real relationships then it’s totally fine! 🙂

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