Pineapple Support Continues Corporate Training Initiative – Crisis Or Attention?

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Pineapple Support, the adult industry’s leading mental health nonprofit, continues its Corporate Training Initiative with a special session to help staff at individual companies identify when a performer or creator is in crisis. The training session, “Crisis Or Attention?” will be led by therapist Nicki Line on August 30th at 1pm EST.

“Social media is a powerful platform that allows us to share our voice with others and at times you may come across statements from individuals that appear dramatic or driven by attention-seeking behavior,” says therapist Nicki Line. “At times it can be but at other times it’s a cry for help. That’s why this webinar will explore the difference between a crisis and attention-seeking behavior, so you can spot the difference on your platform and provide help for those who need it.”

Pineapple Support was founded by British performer Leya Tanit in 2018, after a string of losses in the adult industry from depression and other mental illnesses. The organization, which is a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization in the United States, has so far connected over 5000 adult performers to mental health services, including free and low-cost, therapy, counseling and emotional support.

“We want platforms to be as effective as possible at identifying performers in crisis,” says Tanit. “Too many people dismiss crisis behavior, and assume that a performer in crisis is just being dramatic. However, it’s vital that we ensure that support is provided to everyone – even those that appear to be looking for attention deserve the same access to mental health support as everyone else. This session will educate employees who interact directly with performers to recognize the signs of someone in need of immediate support. By doing this, we can make sure everyone gets the help they need.”

“Too many people dismiss crisis behavior, and assume that a performer in crisis is just being dramatic…”

Sessions within Pineapple Support’s Corporate Training Initiative are exclusively available to employees of companies that sponsor Pineapple Support. Interactive training sessions take place every two months and are available to rewatch on a password-protected website.

More details about the upcoming training session can be found here.

If you have a business and would like to find out how to become an official sponsor of Pineapple Support, view the available packages by clicking here.

Elevated X Joins Pineapple Support As Supporter-Level Sponsor

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Pineapple Support, the adult industry’s leading mental health nonprofit, is pleased to welcome Elevated X as a supporter-level sponsor. The content management system for adult websites joins over sixty adult businesses and organizations in committing funds and resources to the organization.

“We love what Pineapple Support is doing for our industry,” says AJ Hall, Co-Founder and CEO of Elevated X. “We are excited to lend our support and contribute to providing resources for those in need.”

“I’m very thankful for the support of Elevated X,” says Leya Tanit, founder and CEO of Pineapple Support. “It’s heartwarming to know we have the support of performer- and creator-focused companies that are taking action towards keeping those that sit at the heart of the adult industry safe and healthy.”

Tanit founded Pineapple Support in 2018, after a string of losses in the adult industry from depression and other mental illnesses. The organization, a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization in the United States, has connected over 5,000 adult performers to mental health services, including free and low-cost therapy, counseling, and emotional support.

To learn more about becoming a sponsor of Pineapple Support, please click here.

NSFW.app Joins Pineapple Support As Bronze-Level Sponsor

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Pineapple Support, the adult industry’s leading mental health nonprofit, is pleased to welcome NSFW.app as a bronze-level sponsor. The decentralized social platform for content creators joins over sixty adult businesses and organizations in committing funds and resources to the organization.

“We’re proud to be sponsors of Pineapple Support,” says Mark Hassell, Talent Manager for NSFW.app. “We believe in putting adult content creators at the heart of everything we do, so it’s important for us to play a part in making sure there is always access to emotional support, should anyone ever need it.”

“We believe in putting adult content creators at the heart of everything we do…”

Pineapple Support was founded by British performer Leya Tanit in 2018, after a string of losses in the adult industry from depression and other mental illnesses. The organization, a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization in the United States, has connected over 5,000 adult performers to mental health services, including free and low-cost therapy, counseling, and emotional support.

“I’m thrilled to welcome NSFW.app as a generous sponsor of Pineapple,” says Tanit. “Thank you to all the team for helping us to meet the soaring demand for mental health services from adult performers that need support. It’s only by coming together as an industry that we can make sure every performer has direct access to help, whenever they need it.”

To learn more about becoming a sponsor of Pineapple Support, please click here.

The Real Benefits of Therapy

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For some people ‘Therapy’ is a dirty word and they envisage Freudian types charging the earth and promoting the need for repeat visits. However, anyone who engages with a Pineapple therapist may just tell you “They saved my life”.
Pineapple Support have put almost 1500 individuals in touch with a therapist for on-on-one therapy during the last 2 years and there are currently 227 clients receiving one-on-one therapy.
There are many inspirational quotes which provide positivity and Pineapples therapists strive to bring confidence and encourage self-belief.

Albert Schweitzer – “Happiness is the only thing that multiplies when you share it.”
Carl Jung – “The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no one recipe for living that fits all”.
Confucius – “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall”.
Is There Such a Thing as Free Therapy?

There are many types of actions which we as individuals can term as ‘therapy’ and are indeed ‘free’. We can love another, make someone happy, provide them with moral support or simply be an ear for whenever they need it. However, sometimes the situation requires a whole lot more than a few kind words or a hug.
Professional therapy does have a cost and this is where Pineapple Support come in. Recognizing the need that Sex Workers in the online industry have, is the key to providing the correct support. Ensuring that those giving the therapy are open and in tune with the industry our clients operate in, is paramount to making this work.

The Cost of Therapy
All therapists engaged by Pineapple have licenses relating to the country they operate from. For some they are licensed per state. Each and every one is checked annually by us to ensure their licence and renewal is up to date, and there have been no reported items against them. There are currently just under 250 therapists providing support worldwide.
Pineapple are extremely lucky in that many of their therapists provide a reduced cost for the sessions they provide. Normal rates can be anything up to $300 per session and in some sectors a lot, lot more. However, it can be reduced to as little as $100 per session for our clients.

There are up to 16 sessions allowed, so even at the reduced rate, that can still total $1600 per client.
In the first 6 months of 2022, the incredible support by our sponsors and donors has meant we have been able to provide much needed therapy, at a cost of nearly $250,000.
We are so proud of the help and support we are able to give, thanks to the generosity of all those concerned. Without your help,

Tori Amos – “Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little deep to find it”.
Louise Hay – “You’ve been criticizing yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens”.
Buddha – “You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection”.

How to ‘Man Up’ in Mental Health

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Being a 6’7 ex pro-athlete and on and off model, I have felt the full effects of society putting me into a box.

“You are too tall to have problems in life.”

“You are too good-looking to be depressed.”

“Man, you are living the dream.”

“I’d do anything to be you.”

I was the epitome of judging a book by its cover, and I let those people sway my thoughts about how I was supposed to live life.

What was happening inside my head and heart was the exact opposite of what those people perceived.
• Fear of failure
• Fear of being judged
• Thoughts of being inadequate
• Fear of not performing how women expected me to
• Constant anxiety from standing out

It wasn’t until I got C-PTSD from an abusive end to a relationship. Also, watching my father die from Parkinson’s, did I finally stopped worrying about what others thought and started acting for myself.

These are 5 takeaways from the lowest point in my life that helped me build myself up to the happiest version of myself to date.

1. Let your thoughts out
Society’s old views of how men should act, focus on us not showing any emotion, physically or verbally. I soon realized in my darkest moments that if I kept holding in my fears, I would never be able to overcome them.

There are many ways to take those thoughts swirling around your head and have them out in the open to digest in a new light.
• See a therapist weekly (here is a great article on how to email a therapist for the first time to help you start)
• Write daily in a journal
• Talk out loud to yourself when alone

2. Fail more often
Working on your personal growth is hard. By the time you are in your 20s and 30s, you have created this form of yourself from life lessons. This version of you kept you safe, guided you through puberty and now is all you know.

You can’t snap your fingers and re-train your brain to act differently. Instead, you need to fight that initial urge you have.

In the beginning, you will lose to the ‘old you’ far more than you win. And that’s ok!

Getting comfortable with failing is one of the main ways we learn and grow.

3. Get uncomfortable weekly
Constantly testing your comfort bubble will help your overall growth to combat anxiety, depression and other mental health struggles.

By choosing when you will get scared and most likely inducing the emotional pain, you can step away at any time it becomes too much to handle.

The more you poke, prod and test your comfort bubble, the easier it will be to handle other uncomfortable situations you can’t see coming.

4. Exercise often
Working on your fitness will help you feel more confident in your body, but not only that. Being physically healthy and in good shape does not get enough credit for our mental health.

Pushing yourself daily in the gym, CrossFit, spin class, or any other 60 minutes of sweat-inducing working out will constantly force you into those uncomfortable moments of potential anxiety-inducing pain.

Working out also positively affects the hormones and chemicals inside our bodies. Constantly leaving you in a better mood than when you showed up at the gym.

5. Learn how to sleep
“Learn” is the critical word in this section.

We all sleep at some point. Our bodies were made to shut down when we hit a critical point of exhaustion. That’s not the hard part.

What isn’t easy is getting constant sleep, night after night, that leaves you feeling well rested and repaired from the previous day.

All of these factors of everyday life can and most likely can or do affect your sleep.
• Money struggles
• Addiction to your phone/social media
• Drugs
• Alcohol
• Relationship issues
• Loss of loved ones
• Anxiety
• Depression

Here are some tips to start working at bettering your sleep
• Stop looking at your phone/tv/computer 30 minutes before your start your evening routine to go to bed.
• Track your sleep patterns with a sleep tracking device and app.
• Eat cleaner/healthier foods before bed that your stomach can digest more easily while asleep.
• Journal before hopping into bed. This will help de-clutter your mind if you have difficulty falling asleep..

Getting a good night’s sleep doesn’t happen to people who say, “I wish I could sleep better.” It occurs from trial and error and hard work.

It took me 35 years plus losing my father to finally start seeing things from a new angle in my life.

There is no blueprint to this and we are all different. So don’t be hard on yourself my friend, in time it will start looking brighter for you too.

Paul Marlow / Tall Paul
Paul is a mental health speaker & leading global Tall Men’s Fashion expert. Helping men 6’3+ feel confident in their bodies.
Learn more about Tall Paul