Hi @Dimity 

Thank you for pasting your feedback in this thread. In terms of the reasons why we have this new format, encouraging members to create new threads for new topics was just one of many reasons the layout was updated. Other reasons that came from community consultation were around easier navigation, more categories aligned to discussions people were wanting to have and spaces to quickly be able to connect to people discussing similar things. 

When it comes to long threads, there are some challenges, particularly from a technical point of view. Extensive threads can affect page loading time and issues around being able to move the thread. Long threads can also bury topics making it a little bit harder for newer members to engage and search. That said, we are not going to be shutting down any threads right now! When it comes to the challenges of long threads, this is a piece of work we will be engaging with the community on for feedback and insights to work together. We want this to be collaborative and will not action anything without consultation 😊 So please stay tuned!  

Our long-term members are critical to our forums and extremely valued, we always want to support them as much as everyone here in the community! I myself have been a long-term forums team member and have seen over the years, and continue to see, our long-term members deliver such genuine guidance, support and encouragement to everyone that comes through the forums, whilst also establishing long standing connections. This kind of activity is at the heart of peer support, which is what we see shine through our community.  

I very much agree that in mental health, the recovery model doesn’t always equal ‘being cured’. Recovery in mental health can be nuanced and like you’ve mentioned can include things like acceptance as well as living a fulfilling life, maintaining wellbeing, accessing better support, working on goals and being able to identify needs (to name a few)! There is a great SANE blog that highlights what recovery means to people with complex mental health here which has wonderful insights and I will leave you with one: 

“Recovery means growing to know what I can do, and focusing on all the positives in my life. I have schizo-affective disorder bipolar type. I know I may never be symptom free, but recovery means I do the best I can do with all I have been given....” 

I hope this has addressed your concerns and feedback and please subscribe to this thread to stay up to date with anything that comes up in the future 😊