Twisted -self care

Yeah .... that’s artistry too @Holly24 .... 😊

I just realised my two hours at night technology free is a type of self-care. Go me!

Hi @Catcakes, I can hear that you're struggling tonight and that you are angry and upset.

Unfortunately when the chat says "chat offline" it means that the service is in use. The people who are moderating the Forums will not be on chat at the same time. These are two separate roles.

I can see that you're trying to reach out and I'm sorry that you have not been able to go through on chat. I'm going to send you an email to check in...

You can also “return email” the mods @Catcakes.

When you receive an email notification for any post you can click on Reply to the email itself, and the address will come up as the Sane contact email. You are then writing back (offline) to the mods who are on duty for the forums.

Here is the email address if you want to keep it in your Contacts - team@saneforums.org

I am also listening @Catcakes .... wanted to ask you how it went at the hospital.

Sounds like a really rough day.

😔

@Catcakes I am going to attempt to give you an overview of the forum and the help centre.

The forum is a peer support platform - that means the primary support offered is between members. All posts are moderated by a small team of moderators 24/7 to maintain the safety of all members and in order to abide by the community guidelines - which are set out here. There are more moderators working between 10am -10pm whilst at all other times there are more of a 'skeleton crew' - this does not mean they are more or less qualified or knowledgeable - it does mean however that they may have more work to do in busier times to moderate all posts.

Many of the help centre staff are also moderators (but not all) - and although some do both jobs - they are very separate roles. The help centre is available to any member of the public (ie. they do not need to be a member of the forum) and they provide support, advice and referral services to people with a MI or anyone caring for someone with a MI. It is not a crisis service.

Neither the forum nor the Help Centre are crisis services and although the moderators and HC staff are extremely knowledgeable and supportive - they do not 'counsel' people rather provide appropriate services where this can be accessed. In saying that, they will listen and help you to work through an issue if that is all you need at the time.

It is a good idea to see these two things (forum and Help Centre) as completely separate entities - that can be confusing when the same people do both roles at some stage - but they do not do the same roles at the same time. When you see a moderator in the forum then that is their role for that time.

I think we often forget the 'human' side to both these roles - especially when we are distressed or in crisis - they cannot be everything to everyone and they often do get very busy - and to some that may feel like no-one is listening - but may simply be that they are providing support elsewhere and have not been able to reply to a request for help (this should primarily be the done by your peers in the first instance however if you are asking on the forum).

Issues that arise on the forum are not generally dealt with through the help centre - you should email the SANE team with these issues - as, again, the forum and the Help Centre are two separate entities and issues on one should not be transferred or discussed on another. This is probably the hardest thing for most people to 'wrap their head around' but if you see them as independent from one anther then it may help.

I hope this helps @Catcakes - and you have a much broader view of the role of both the forum and the help centre.

...and I hope you can begin to receive the support you deserve here