Some people on this forum have said they are getting very triggered by the COVID-19 situation. It is making them upset, anxious, and/or depressed, but they enjoy using this site and want support. Someone asked me to make this thread for them.

I'm obviously not a moderator or community liaison, but would it be possible for people to start using the trigger icon for COVID-19 related threads?

It's okay if you've made some threads in the past w/o a trigger warning (because I know I have done this myself), but I'm just wondering if we could do this moving forward.

[Fuzzybear]

Thank you blue for this thread. I think this would be very helpful.

[Jennyanydots]

I hope this isn't referring to my post because I did put "coronavirus" in the header so people don't have to read it.

Originally Posted by Jennyanydots

I hope this isn't referring to my post because I did put "coronavirus" in the header so people don't have to read it.

Nope. Just in general. This has been going on for a while. Nothing to do with your post in specific.

It includes mine

[Blue_Bird]

This would definitely be helpful

[Jennyanydots]

Does anybody know who it can be deleted? I certainly do not want to upset folks.

Originally Posted by Jennyanydots

Does anybody know who it can be deleted? I certainly do not want to upset folks.

You don't need to delete it. I think it's great you're reaching out for support! You should not need to delete a post if you're seeking help about something, even if it does have to do with the pandemic.

If you really want to change your title though, you have up to 3 hours to edit your initial post to change the title. If you can't edit, then you can ask a mod to.

[Jennyanydots]

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

You don't need to delete it. I think it's great you're reaching out for support! You should not need to delete a post if you're seeking help about something, even if it does have to do with the pandemic.

If you really want to change your title though, you have up to 3 hours to edit your initial post to change the title. If you can't edit, then you can ask a mod to.

OK I will the change the title if the word of "the situation" is causing anxiety. I have severe bipoloar (even started hearing voices again and having crying spells) so I was posting how I feel and what I'm going through and was looking for comfort (and provided a helpful article on how to deal), but if the word upsets others, I understand. It definitely shakes me to the core.

Originally Posted by Jennyanydots

OK I will the change the title if the word of "the situation" is causing anxiety. I have severe bipoloar (even started hearing voices again and having crying spells) so I was posting how I feel and what I'm going through and was looking for comfort (and provided a helpful article on how to deal), but if the word upsets others, I understand. It definitely shakes me to the core.

Sorry to hear that. I know how awful voices can be, especially with crying spells involved.

I do appreciate your article a lot! It's great!

You did nothing wrong though. I think it's okay. You're fine.

[Wild Coyote]

Hi!

We have asked admin if we can have a thread in this BP forum for people to discuss and to share about the COVID-19 situation .
I believe there are threads at PC for the purpose of community discussion of the COVID-19 related stressors, etc.
However, we have asked for permission to have such a thread here.

I do not think that request was for the purpose of isolating any mention of the COVID-19 to any particular thread.

The word thread is mentioned above, as opposed to the word post.
Are you asking for every thread that mentions COVID-19 in it to carry a trigger warning?
I am not sure how that could be done on all threads. I am not sure the OP can always anticipate there will be a COVID-19 related post later on in the thread.

However, it would be interesting to hear about how people are feeling about this.

One of the above posts states there are "many of us here who would deeply appreciate"

Another: " Some people on this forum have said they are getting very triggered by the COVID-19 situation. It is making them upset, anxious, and/or depressed, but they enjoy using this site and want support."

We will again check in to see if there has been a decision on the COVID-19 Discussion Thread request for the BP Forum.

Outside of maybe getting permission to have a discussion thread, I am not sure what is feasible.
However, very willing to listen.

Again, are you asking that every thread that may eventually have a post re: the COVID-19 situation mentioned in it have a trigger warning?

I will talk with Christina and we will check on the status of the request for the discussion thread.

Could you be more specific about your request(s) please?

Many thanks!

It hope the "many" feeling this way will express themselves here.

[Jennyanydots]

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

Sorry to hear that. I know how awful voices can be, especially with crying spells involved.

I do appreciate your article a lot! It's great!

You did nothing wrong though. I think it's okay. You're fine.

I updated the title from the word to "the situation" but it guess its not updating on the site? I don't know what symbol or secret code word that is wanting to be used.

[Wild Coyote]

Originally Posted by Jennyanydots

Does anybody know who it can be deleted? I certainly do not want to upset folks.

Hi Jennyanydots,
It is sweet of you to be concerned.

However, there is not any policy of this nature on this forum at this time.
we don't have a consensus at this time.

This request was just made and it will take time to be clear on what is being requested, how many members want whatever is ultimately proposed. And then we are required to get the approval/permission of Admin.

You've done absolutely nothing wrong. Members have been posting on this topic and understandably so. It is a huge part of everyone's reality.

It was great of you to mention the nature of your post in your title so anyone can read your thread or not, already knowing the topic! Very helpful!

No worries! All is well!

WC, yes, a COVID-19 thread would be more ideal, just like there is a suicidal thoughts thread.

I'm guessing people are bothered by the fear mongering the media is doing and then people on here reacting to those news articles, but I cannot speak for those people because I, myself, am not triggered. Hopefully they will be willing to post their opinions here.

I admit I have shared some fearful stuff and I did not realize how much it upsets people.

I think, as a compromise, people should be okay to speak in general terms, as long as there is nothing that specifically includes the scary stuff the media reports. But I think it someone wants to talk about specifics (e.g., contracting COVID-19), maybe that should be marked as a trigger. Does anyone else agree or disagree?

Edit: It'd be like the discussion of suicidal thoughts. Basically, it's okay to say you have them, but if you want to elaborate, then it should be in a trigger box.

[Wild Coyote]

I feel we need to clarify something at this point.

Christina and I have received a note from one of the two original posters, telling us that there is no "many people involved" in this request. She has told us the representations of others in this thread/request are not true..

Christina and I are sorry this is the case, while being thankful for the truth.

We want to acknowledge Blue_Bird's participa.tion . I t is helpful to know your position/concerns, Blue_Bird. Please do PM us with your concerns.

We'd like to apologize to jennyanydots for inadvertently getting caught up in the middle of this. Our apologies.

Christina and I will check on the original proposal made to admin.
This involves a thread dedicated to the open discussion of the COVID-19 situation.

Love to ALL!

Originally Posted by Wild Coyote

I feel we need to clarify something at this point.

Christina and I have received a note from one of the two original posters, telling us that there is no "many people involved" in this request. She has told us the representations of others in this thread/request are not true..

Christina and I are sorry this is the case, while being thankful for the truth.

We want to acknowledge Blue_Bird's participa.tion . I t is helpful to know your position/concerns, Blue_Bird.

We'd like to apologize to jennyanydots for inadvertently getting caught up in the middle of this. Our apologies.

Christina and I will check on the original proposal made to admin.
This involves a thread dedicated to the open discussion of the COVID-19 situatioin.

Love to ALL!

Hi WC,

I had received some some replies to my posts, regarding this. One of them you saw and we talked about it in PM, and I have been blocked before for posting scary stuff with regards to COVID-19. I think there is more than 2 people, but I do not want to out them here.

Also, perhaps maybe I should not have said "many," (as I was writing this in a hurry), but there are definitely a few more than 2, I assure you that.

If they want to participate here, they can, but I do not want to out them. I can, however, try to point them to this thread if they feel comfortable posting, as long as they haven't blocked me still (because then they cannot see my PM's).

Edit; and some people are bothered by the politics of it all, which I know you acknowledged in the check-in thread, and then some people disagreed on whether or not we should stop the political posts.

[Fuzzybear]

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

Hi WC,

I had received some some replies to my posts, regarding this. One of them you saw and we talked about it in PM, and I have been blocked before for posting scary stuff with regards to COVID-19. I think there is more than 2 people, but I do not want to out them here.

Also, perhaps maybe I should not have said "many," (as I was writing this in a hurry), but there are definitely a few more than 2, I assure you that.

If they want to participate here, they can, but I do not want to out them. I can, however, try to point them to this thread if they feel comfortable posting, as long as they haven't blocked me still (because then they cannot see my PM's).

Edit; and some people are bothered by the politics of it all, which I know you acknowledged in the check-in thread, and then some people disagreed on whether or not we should stop the political posts.

Thanks for posting this blue

I do want to say one more thing -- I do not think that adding "TW" or "Trigger Warning" at the beginning of a thread title is asking very much. Or even using the trigger icon if you don't have enough characters to write "TW" or "Trigger Warning." Literally, instead of making a thread titled "I'm scared of Coronavirus," you can say "Trigger Warning: I'm scared of getting sick" or something like that. All it is is a simple message to let the reader know that it may be bothersome.

[Moose72]

Thanks for this thread!

[Fuzzybear]

Originally Posted by Moose72

Thanks for this thread!

I have been chatting to a couple of people and it does seem that there are some .... ''many'' who feel this way, as I had thought. I do not find it easy to talk about this subject. I usually do not speak, for good reason. It hurts.

Could it be possible that some others also find it hard to talk about this topic??

Thank you for posting.

I think it is important for us to recognize that there are people who struggle with this topic on a daily basis and we should not assume that "not many people" are upset. I know of at least 4 people who have vocalized their feelings (anxiety) publicly over the past few weeks -- with two of them posting in this thread -- and some additional people are visibly upset/distraught in their posts when they talk about the topic.

I really do think we should come together and be as supportive as possible, and recognize that everyone has different levels of needs and care. I, personally, want everyone to feel safe and supported, while also being able to post whatever they want about the "situation" in a manner that does not trigger those who want to avoid the topic altogether. I do think we can come to a compromise, whether it is by creating a thread or by gently asking people to be mindful of others with their thread titles. Other forums on PC have taken this approach already.

Honestly, looking back over all the threads, those threads concerned with the topic are obvious by their titles. When words such as covid-19, corona virus, shelter-in-place, quarantine, in isolation, cooped up, the apocalypse, etc, appear, you can pretty well bet "the situation" will be the topic of conversation! If you don't want to read them, don't. It really is that simple.

Sure it may show up randomly from time to time elsewhere, and will also likely make some appearances in the check-in thread. Because it's world-wide, unprecedented, and the biggest event of most everyone's lifetime!

It's already clear in the titles.

Sorry to be so blunt, but sheesh, the solution is simple. No need to complicate it.

People already *are* using obvious titles.

Originally Posted by Innerzone

Honestly, looking back over all the threads, those threads concerned with the topic are obvious by their titles. When words such as covid-19, corona virus, shelter-in-place, quarantine, in isolation, cooped up, the apocalypse, etc, appear, you can pretty well bet "the situation" will be the topic of conversation! If you don't want to read them, don't. It really is that simple.

Sure it may show up randomly from time to time elsewhere, and will also likely make some appearances in the check-in thread. Because it's world-wide, unprecedented, and the biggest event of most everyone's lifetime!

It's already clear in the titles.

Sorry to be so blunt, but sheesh, the solution is simple. No need to complicate it.

People already *are* using obvious titles.

Good points, Innerzone.

I think there's a difference between saying fear mongering things and things like "yeah, I'm quarantined at home. I'm bored. " I guess that's what I'm getting at. For example, talking about deaths, how it's ravaging people's bodies, etc.. I suppose I should have been more explicit on that, so I apologize.

I mean, on a personal level, it doesn't matter to me. I'm not getting triggered. But I can see how it would upset people if perhaps they had a pre-existing condition and someone else is going on and on and on about how COVID-19 is killing people with pre-existing conditions. I think that's just fueling their anxiety. (And I admit, I have done this myself and regret triggering people.)

I suppose this is why a COVID-19 thread like WC suggested would be a good solution. Lets people talk about death rates, pre-existing conditions, etc. in one place so that others aren't getting panicky.

People in the check-in thread really aren't talking about suicide anymore because there's now a thread for it (which is great!). I would assume that people would probably respect a COVID-19 thread and post their COVID-19 related talks in there rather than post things that are scaring people in the check-in thread. Believe me, people have sent PM's about it.

[scatterbrained04]

I would be in big favor of a COVID-19 specific thread where we could post our feelings on the situation and things. It's something that's affecting me greatly, but I've felt a little turned off from being able to vent in the check in thread or starting a thread because I know many people are trying to find places they can unplug from hearing or reading about it.

[Fuzzybear]

My personal opinion.... trigger warnings are VERY helpful to some of us.

It is not always as simple as ''just don't read it'' for everyone.

I believe at least one member has experienced very severe symptoms due to triggers about a certain .... topic.

And please do not ask me for clarification.

I do not want to call anyone out or ''out'' anyone or speak for anyone else.

And I am writing this in a hurry so please forgive any errors.

An example of what I might do in posting on a potentially very triggering topic..

TRIGGER ...... content of post.... TRIGGER

Thank you for your patience in reading this.

I'm very grateful to those who are able to think about the fact that others DO have different needs, triggers etc and that this is not something to be judged.

Fuzzy, I think we should wait to see what an admin/moderator has to say about a potential dedicated thread. WC said she PM'ed an admin about it, which may be a better solution for everyone, than to have people put up trigger warnings. Then people who are triggered would then be able to ignore the big thread.