Just needed to be heard for a little while

Waves_and_Smiles

Hahahahaha kind of pleased you said that. The nicknames stop things being so scary for me so I would still have them secretly anyway.

Pyxis

Aargh! I was responding to WaS' post #1996 and didn't realise others had posted in between! I was hoping WaS could have got post 2k!
Then when I saw yours, JM, I thought, what's she on about, say something quick! And three puzzled seconds later, the penny dropped!

Sorry WaS, it should have been yours!:o


Yes, I can include some ground rules! What shall I do, copy and paste?

Waves_and_Smiles

There is enough of me on the first post Pyxis! This one is all yours!

I think you post the guidelines skipping over the bit asking for suggestions but I may be wrong. JM? Oh, JM?!

Solarjunkie

:j:j:jWe have hit 2000!:j:j:j

Something I keep meaning to mention WaS - when you have to do something unpleasant, like putting in the drops, if you breathe in first and then breathe out when the bad thing is happening, it seems to help a bit. I use this to get through blood tests, or any other time people stick a needle in me, which I find awful. It is a yoga thing I believe.
Do remember to breathe in again afterwards, otherwise you'll undo all the calming effect!

jobbingmusician

Yes, a copy and paste would be great! THANK YOU! x

Now I've looked more carefully (OMG, it's FOUR PAGES ago! Can anyone keep up with this thread?)

JM was discussing this thread with some colleagues at work ( a local Mind association) and someone mentioned that although it sounded a brilliant thread, it might help new people to feel safe if we actually agreed some ground rules. How about that? As WaS has said now in post 1, 'This is a place without judgement or pressure, and a safe place for everyone.' - but people who are unwell will need a lot of reassurance about that! If we could agree some ground rules, maybe WaS could incorporate them into post 1?

How about the following, for starters.

- This is a thread for support. We have discovered some good friends on here, but we promise always to welcome and include new people, and not to be cliquey.

- People may make suggestions to help each other, and might even ask if the suggestions were helpful or have been carried out, but we'll really try not to nag each other or put too much pressure on*.

- The normal board rules about sexism, racism, homophobia etc. apply, but if we are careful we should be able to discuss almost anything without breaching board rules - so far we have discussed subjects ranging from child abuse to incontinence!

- More suggestions please.............I stress that I am suggesting that we AGREE some ground rules, to HELP people who might feel anxious about posting, not that I am trying to IMPOSE rules I'm just relating this to what we do at work, facilitating groups (including staff groups, I am not being patronising!) so that people feel safe and able to participate as fully as they can.

*I almost wonder whether we should have a trigger word, so that if someone thinks that too much pressure is being applied, they can post something like PENGUIN and flag up the fact that they believe there's a potential for someone feeling too nagged to do something. I mean ANYONE could post PENGUIN if they felt there was a danger that suggestions were being enforced too much. Do people think this might be helpful? (Since the original suggestion, we've already had quite a lot of discussions about penguin, but of course no-one who posts in the evenings will have seen this yet! :eek:)

Does that sound sensible? (But if you want to rephrase anything, please do go right ahead! It's not my thread either - it belongs to all of us!)

Waves_and_Smiles

Thank you Solar! I have never tried that. Eye drops are due in 30 minutes so I shall give that a try.

Pyxis

Solarjunkie wrote: »

:j:j:jWe have hit 2000!:j:j:j

Something I keep meaning to mention WaS - when you have to do something unpleasant, like putting in the drops, if you breathe in first and then breathe out when the bad thing is happening, it seems to help a bit. I use this to get through blood tests, or any other time people stick a needle in me, which I find awful. It is a yoga thing I believe.
Do remember to breathe in again afterwards, otherwise you'll undo all the calming effect!

Yes! You're right! 'Cos you tend to hold your breath when doing something you don't like, and that makes your muscles tense, whereas as you breathe out, they tend to relax.

Pyxis

Ok, I've put the ground rules on post #2k. Is there anything else to add? Could you go and check, please?

Waves_and_Smiles

You missed the penguins, Pyxis! I am giggling a lot.

Pyxis

Did you want to include the bit about the penguins? I wasn't sure if that was to go in the ground rules. I can do that if you want?