How do you differentiate

[Jazzy]

How do you differentiate between "Attention seeking behavior" and "A genuine cry for help"

 

[Lamb]

Oooh that's a difficult question. I'm not sure I really am good at distinguishing between the two, to be honest.

 

[Messy]

I don't differentiate. The psychiater I had differentiated, so I was almost dead. I take everyone serious. Once on christian forums at night there were only 2 ppl online, another woman and me and all of a sudden a guy posted that he was ready to meet his Maker, so I said don't do it and told him about my own experience, preachy, but it was no use. He just wanted to kill himself, cause he lost his job and would be homeless. Homeless???? Well if noone wants to take you in their home, come here. He was American. I'll pay the flight. Welcome. Come live in Holland. Room enough. I live with 3 teens in a 1 bedroom apt lol, but I didn't say that. Just didn't know how else to fix it. Apparently that was all he needed, just someone who cared at that moment. It was years ago. I think he went to his mom. Have him as a Facebook friend. He's still doing well.

 

[Lamb]

I don't differentiate. The psychiater I had differentiated, so I was almost dead. I take everyone serious. Once on christian forums at night there were only 2 ppl online, another woman and me and all of a sudden a guy posted that he was ready to meet his Maker, so I said don't do it and told him about my own experience, preachy, but it was no use. He just wanted to kill himself, cause he lost his job and would be homeless. Homeless???? Well if noone wants to take you in their home, come here. He was American. I'll pay the flight. Welcome. Come live in Holland. Room enough. I live with 3 teens in a 1 bedroom apt lol, but I didn't say that. Just didn't know how else to fix it. Apparently that was all he needed, just someone who cared at that moment. It was years ago. I think he went to his mom. Have him as a Facebook friend. He's still doing well.

You have to be careful these days because there are people out there preying on the kind Christians but only are looking for a handout. It's hard to determine who is really in need and who is trying to tell a sob story to get some Paypal cash from someone. Sad that this is the world we live in now.

 

[Messy]

You have to be careful these days because there are people out there preying on the kind Christians but only are looking for a handout. It's hard to determine who is really in need and who is trying to tell a sob story to get some Paypal cash from someone. Sad that this is the world we live in now.

Yes. He didn't ask for anything. I wanted to give someone on Facebook money for her orphan kids in India. Ah yes. Give that every month and Paypal it to my brother's name. Ummmmm. Googled it. Scammer. Saw it in time luckily.

 

[tango]

You have to be careful these days because there are people out there preying on the kind Christians but only are looking for a handout. It's hard to determine who is really in need and who is trying to tell a sob story to get some Paypal cash from someone. Sad that this is the world we live in now.

It can be hard to strike a balance. The thing I've often found is that the people with the greatest need are the least vocal about it, which makes it particularly hard to identify needs.

In an age where we can connect with people across the globe, even to the point that we connect less with people who are physically nearby, it becomes all but impossible to identify the genuine need. When you can go to a restaurant and see four people at a table all fiddling with their phones it's easy to see how people feel disconnected from life and end up wondering if anybody really cares about them.

At least if you're physically with someone and you've taken the time to get to know them you've got a chance to figure if something has changed. If the person who used to live reasonably well is now apparently living on ramen noodles maybe they've hit a major bump in life. If someone used to go out a lot and now hardly wants to do anything maybe they are struggling with something.

You can still fall victim to a long con in real life but at least you can establish a baseline.