@Zoe7 wrote:
@espressologic I don't like the 'singling out' of some areas i.e Trauma, Grief and Resilience; Stress and Anxiety Management; Managing Suicidal Thoughts and Self-harm.
These could be sub categories/threads in a combined Mental Health Management section (NB 'conditions' deleted).
This would then reduce the number of categories to 7 - which is a much more manageable number ...especially when members are looking where to go.
At present, 9 categories on the LE side (and 8 the same on the Carer's side) is already too much so increasing that number would also be too much. I think we need to also reconsider how we group some 'conditions' ie. why is trauma and grief together? and why do we need a section on SI and SH - I can see such a section becoming more of a crisis area rather than one where members safely share their experiences and support for each other.
Thanks for the feedback @Zoe7. The idea behind the singling out was to be more specific about topic areas and better signpost areas of the forum where these discussions are taking place. It also allows members who wish to avoid certain topics that may be triggering to make informed choices without us needing to post trigger warnings (which research is showing can be counter-productive). I know these won't be 100% right yet so it's going to be really valuable to sense-check these categories with you all. This is a first attempt at creating some new categories after analysing the themes emerging from posts.
Why are trauma and grief together? I'm not sure at this stage we would have enough posts to have these as separate categories, and it was thought that a lot of common ground is shared between these experiences (e.g., processing intense emotional pain relating to an experience). But definitely open to discussing having them be separate.
Why a separate category for suicidal thoughts and self-harm? These are chronic, everyday experiences for many people posting here. Having a specific area on the forum for discussing this allows us to break down the stigma around discussing these topics, as well as provide dedicated recovery-oriented support for managing these thoughts and urges. It will be moderated to the same guidelines we currently use for posts on these topics, and is not intended to be a crisis support area.
The mental health conditions category: Struggled with finding a name for this one, but this category is reflective of many posts coming through where members are naming specific diagnoses and wanting support around these, often in connection with professional supports and navigating the mental health system. These posts often (but not always) are made by carers and support people.
