Supporting and promoting the well-being of mental health carers and their families.
Mental Health Carers Austalia.
Mental Health Carer Forum
Hi @Former-Member and @Appleblossom
This discussion has probably gone a tad away from my original topic; that chat style conversation in the middle of a MH issue thread; 1. may put off new members from joining in (like walking in on a group at a party) and; 2. might redirect conversation away from its creator's objective and off topic.
My reason for suggesting a 'section' for personal threads was because some already exist; eg. Tabaluga's. Some have also morphed into more individual day-to-day-life content. This section I feel, would help new members distinguish between established friendships and MH topics of concern.
Obviously this isn't an exact science so to speak, and sorting through existing active threads to discover which ones qualify would be quite a task. It might be more productive to ask regular members which threads they identify with in this respect.
On the topic of narratives, telling our story/s is one amazing benefit of the forums. Getting them out of our heads and onto the page is of great value as we know. As the thread evolves, some rumination may occur due to triggers etc, but if this turns into an 'obsession', intervention may be needed.
I guess this brings up the issue of responsibility and accountablity of members, guides, elders and mod's. Gently approaching a member exhibiting 'negative' rumination within their posts, could work to keep it from escalating. Reporting the poster if it's beyond members' ability is the next step.
These processes are basically in place already. Personally, I don't feel it's relevant to focus on whether it's a therapy option or not. The point is to write, be heard/acknowledged and validated by our peers and those we look up to. Sometimes labels and the what-if's can get in the way of a simple concept.
The way I interpret ruminating is 1. negative - dwelling on past pain and events which upsets current emotional balance and; 2. positive - delving into ideas for a good future with focus on recovery.
I'm not sure whether my points are helpful as I'm probably a bit confused by it all. Let's see how we go. 🤞 👵 Thanks for listening...
Hope 
@Former-Member
Thank you. That was helpful to learn about your decision making process.
I might be able to start a thread like that, but I would need to think about it first and not for a couple of days. I suspect I encouraged a few of the sane mods to look at narative therapy as it was not as well known as the major modalities coming from Uk europe and the states. Nice to have a well respected home grown therapy from Adelaide.
In earlier days I started off threads like art therapy and was more into ideas, that the average poster who was talking more about private feelings and their stories. Though I did get a lot from telling my story.
I get your point about newcomers sifting through the various active threads and being unsure how to enter threads where others have a relaxed relationship based on a lot of time or sharing.
Some members are great at tagging others to include them in well established threads. For couple of years I would scour the boards, respond to all people who had posted and draw newcomers in to conversation and relaxed chatty threads. I simply cannot keep that up as volunteer work any more. I am also glad to see more and more people doing it as part of their own way of being on the forums.
It is important not to be too prescriptive about what and how to post, as there is enough concern with people keeping within guidelines as it is.
I personally have an issue with labelling "negative and/or positive" descriptions of posts, or feelings or life events. My understanding is that there are far more positions than simply negative and positive. It is also very tricky to tell people off for being negative when they feel the only place they can be authentic and tell the story as it is ... is here... especially when it is a sad story. There are enough social sanctions and requirements to be cheery in the real world. It is hard to know how to encourage someone who is persistlently sad or discouraged or angry to shift their perspective. I have already tried that in a lot of different ways. It takes a lot of skill and we need to be careful not alienate a person who is going through difficult times.
Sometimes these issues are taken up in the topic Tuesdays which is great, but not a night I am free. Also it is a fixed period discussion where as the long term openness of a thread has its benefits.
@Hope4me I love your energy and enthusiasm. It is great to discuss these things out in the open.
I will tag a few more people in and see what they have to say. Maybe you @Former-Member could tag more recent arrivals to the forum .... ?
Off the top of my head
@Sophia1 @Faith-and-Hope @Teej @Zoe7 @Shaz51 @Jacques @eth @Queenie @outlander @Sans911 @MDT
Hi again everyone;
I didn't think my initial enquiry would stir up such a broad discussion, some of which is upsetting to me. My interpretation of positive/negative rumination is mine alone. I'm not putting it on anyone else or expecting people to follow; it's expressing 'my' understanding of it which is an important step for me. Obsessive ruminating was at the core of my breakdown, so finding out there are ways of using it as an advantage was an eye opener.
This is a peer supported forum and moderated for the safety of all concerned. As members we're not obligated in any way to be responsible for others, but we are responsible for what and how we write. If we support someone, we do it to the best of our ability for reasons like compassion, empathy or interest. That's bloody amazing!
If members choose not to engage on other threads, that's fine too. Who's to judge? Not me. (Btw Sophia, thank you for your candid disclosure, it helps me understand you better. I wish you all the best with what you're currently going through too.)
I just want to add that as non-professionals we may struggle time to time, even the most experienced of us, with finding the right 'language' to express our thoughts. I've probably misinterpreted things that've been said on this thread and mine may have been with others. Sadly, it's triggered me a bit; I don't have a good track record with groups.
I hope we can find a commonality between us to see the forest from the trees to move forward. I'm grateful for all your contributions and passion re this topic and our wonderful forum community.
Respectfully;
Hope
@Appleblossom @Former-Member @Sophia1 @outlander @Faith-and-Hope @MDT
