Well I am glad that people are NOT informed if they are on an ignore list. I think that is a wise decision. Because it could be used inappropriately and it is better that someone who is here for support be able to just post their concerns freely.

If you take the time and look at the forum of new comers there are often appologies after an expression of a need. So I know some people have to muster up a lot of courage to post or write very much at all. So I often post answers that, as most know by now, are very wordy. But it is often my way to show them, see, you can talk alot here, it ok. So for me, it is like watering a plant and watching it grow.

I can't tell you how many times someone has said something that has made me think about my own issue and try to address it. When I first came here I was so riddled with anxiety that I truely needed to just sit and talk on PC. I did not understand what I had, not truely, and it was scarey. I was always a very strong person and it just hit me and disabled me so. And PC really help to ground me and get my mind working on something besides the crippling anxiety. And some mornings I would wake up with terrible thoughts and so much sadness. So, I would come to PC every morning and put out as many good thoughts as I could, things that were part of who I was. I was finally told that I was in a very depressive stage of PTSD and I couldn't really understand that either. So instead of embacing the sadness I fought my way with every possible positive thought I could muster.

If I had been told that I was on ignore during that time, it would have interupted me from doing something I truely needed to do. People who suffer are very fragile and embarrassed, I know I was. And that is what we have to remember here at PC.
I know that unless you have PTSD, you just don't understand it and it is the hardest thing to explain. I work at that all the time, it can be such a dark scarey lonely hole that someone just seems to step into without any warning. And as you try to work at it often you seem to sink even deeper. And then when you hear a voice that says "ME TOO" it is like an incredible ray of light that brings so much hope. Because outside PC everyone that looks at you can't seem to understand you and it makes you want to hide in a corner somewhere because it can be so embarrassing. And yet it makes you angry because it has somehow taken some strong part of you that you cant seem to grab onto. And how do you explain a flashback when you are trapped in an event and you can't even talk and everyone just stares at you. So you don't want to really be around people because you don't understand why it happens or when it will happen. But there is one place you can go where someone is there and they know what it feels like and you start to read ways of dealing with it. I know for me, I couldn't find a therapist that specialized in PTSD so PC was all I had until I finally found a therapist that knew how to treat it.

So I don't think the ignore should ever be displayed to someone who is struggling here at PC. But it is a good thing to have if someone is stuggling and someone else picks on them or doesn't believe in what they have. As I mentioned I never used ignore because I wanted to be triggered, I wanted to know every nook and crany of what might cause a flashback or disable me. I have to see the beast in order to fight it. And no one here can look at me when I am suffering so I am not embarrassed.

And out of the fog of my struggles came friendly hugs and supportive people that are some of nicest people I have ever met. Suddenly there were these little life lines being thrown into my hole. And then someone was there to tell me that I had a bad day. Can you imagine? Someone could actually sense in my often long posts that I was having a bad day and this person even told me when I was having a better day.
And when your in a dark hole it is awfully nice to hear that because sometimes it can get so dark and confusing your not really sure.

So, I think that someone has to really think about using that ignore button and also you have to respect it too. It doesn't always mean your a bad person if you are being ignored, maybe someone just doesn't understand you.

While I may not understand everyone elses issues in PC, I do know what it feels like to not be understood. And I also know how important those life lines are for anyone who is struggling with any issue.

Open Eyes