I have found this post to be a very wonderful place to express how we see postings & our responses to others. It is true that there are many types of people who join in on these forums. There are many types of responses due to how we preceive the post. The concepts of forums are new to me as of just about a year ago. When my Mother was dx'ed with cancer, I couldn't find a forum that was active within a year from when I looked into it. I joined one that was an email forum to help me with the lymphedema that my Mother was experiencing after her cancer surgery. They were wonderful & pointed me in the direction to get my mother help which she refused to take. They were also very gracious after my Mothers death knowing what I had gone through trying to get her the help she needed.

This forum is one of the most active mental health forums I have experienced...not having looked around much past here. I started reading the posts & responding the best I could given experiences I had of my own....those are the easiest ones to feel like there was something I could provide that might help. It is a good thing to realize that it is not necessary to get deeply emotionally involved in the posts.....we can not fix everything nor can everything be fixed. I know that when I have gone through an experience & have come out the other side that I should know what I am talking about.....but realizing that the same situation is different for everybody.....my answer is not always the right answer for anyone else. All I can to is provide maybe a different way of looking at something....but can't make anyone else look at it that way. I did experience the frustration of someone going through the same thing I had gone through & would post over & over & over again about it.....suggestions were ignored & then came the question as to if the person was real about the posts.....just seeking attention wanting only the "poor baby" posts. It is our own responsibility to realize when we feel like we are hitting our heads against a wall with the better part of valor to drop it & go on with others that don't leave us frustrated or angry at the person.

I have found nothing but wonderful support & information that has given me insight to what I have been experiencing. I have been here for just over 1 year with several months off for personal issues with my Mothers death. When I came back, I had experienced a trauma that even I had a hard time believing happened. I got nothing but wonderful support & explainations of how the PTSD was causing what I was experiencing after the trauma. I am sure I sounded like a person who had just played a part on a Hitchcock horror movie.....but never once got that kind of response from anyone. I have also found that I read most posts, but if I can't relate to it, find it better not to respond than to say something useless. I am sure that most of us may post that way.....so I do not wonder when I don't get many responses to my posts. I also find it easier to respond to others than to put my deepest feelings out into public view....& then at times I just don't know how to put what I am going through into words.

I was also on an equine forum for a while.....I have found these forums to be a bit complicated & intimidating at times...trying to not ruffle feathers when I don't know the people well...I have found that taking the time to be here more often & getting to know the people better by just reading their posts.....has given me a lot of awareness into things I never had experienced in my life. It is a place to give & receive help....& knowing our own limitations may help to avoid being hurt.

Thank you for providing this thread for us to express our feelings & experiences.....much appreciated.

Debbie