New to the site? Please start a topic in the Introductions forum

[Altostrata]

A short video on how to start an introduction topic: How to start an introduction thread video (45 seconds)

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Members may notice you can't start a topic here. This forum is for announcements and site support.

 

Only administrators or moderators can start topics in this forum.

 

You can reply to any topic in this forum.

 

If you'd like to suggest a new topic in Read This First, please send the administrator (or moderator, when we have them) a pm. Members may start a topic or post in any other forum.

 

If you are new to the site, go to the Introductions forum to start your first topic so the community can get to know you. You can add updates about your progress to your Intro topic; it will be a kind of journal or history of your case.

 

In addition, Please put your withdrawal history in your signature to help the moderators.

Edited January 29, 2023 by Shep
added video link

[Bonpensiero]

First of all, thanks so much for doing this site at all, let alone for taking the trouble to upgrade it. 

 

My comment is that, even after several visits, I still find the site not very easy to navigate and am still not really sure where/how to post new topics. For example, you say that new posts should go on your intro thread, but does that include if you want to start a new topic about yourself (like I have just today)? If new topics go on your existing thread, how do you give the new topic a title? Things like that are confusing, and when you're bummed out on a wave and really struggling to do anything at all, can be even more frustrating. So clearer layout, navigation and user instructions would be welcome.

[Altostrata]

I'm confused about where to post. What goes in my Introductions topic?

 

Your topic in the Introductions and updates forum serves a number of purposes:

• It introduces you to the community. If someone sees a post of yours elsewhere on the site, they can look up your Intro topic and understand your situation. This is very helpful for the moderators.
• You can put questions in it about your particular situation, such as your own dosing regimen. Again, it's easier for the moderators and others to answer questions when they can see your context.
• You can use it as a journal to track your progress, keeping your progress notes, questions, and dosing notes in one place.
• Other people who are tapering off the same drugs can find your Intro topic via search in the Introductions forum and read of your experience.
• It is a case report that can be helpful to physicians trying to learn about tapering and withdrawal syndrome. (I know of several doctors who refer to the site for this purpose.)

 

Keeping your Introductions topic updated reduces repetition throughout the site. You only have to explain your history once. If you have a question about your own personal situation, you'll be able to find the answer in your topic. And other community members will be able to follow how you're doing.

 

Everything about your own personal situation belongs in your Introductions topic. The Introductions forum is a collection of case histories.

 

You can follow your own Intro topic by clicking on the Follow This Topic button at the top right of every topic. You will get an alert so you can respond to any new posts.

 

There is only one topic to a member in the Introductions forum. Moderators will merge multiple topics started by one member in the Intro forum.

 

(If you find all this confusing, you can't go wrong posting just in your Intro topic for a while, until you understand how the site is organized.)

 

For more general discussion, you can post or start topics in the other forums:

 

Tapering forum -- Mostly for reference by other people who are planning their tapers.

 

We prefer that cross-talk be kept to a minimum in Tapering -- it makes the topics more difficult to understand by the hundreds of thousands of unregistered guests who find them via Web searches.

 

We do want people to add their own suggestions for tapering techniques to the Tapering topics. We want to present high-utility tapering information that's widely applicable. Posts in the Tapering forum that are not widely applicable may be moved by the moderators.

 

Usually, a person asking a question in a Tapering topic about their own personal taper is not widely applicable, as answering it requires so much context particular to that person. That is why comments are moved to the person's Introduction topic -- responses would take a Tapering topic off-topic.

 

We also want to keep case histories all together in the Introductions forum, to educate doctors. There are doctors who read this site and learn from the case histories. If it was the usual disorganized Internet forum, the progress of any individual would be all over the site and pretty much lost as valuable information.

 

The moderators will move an initial post from a new member who has questions about a personal tapering schedule and dosing to an Introductions topic. This starts the member's Introductions topic.

 

Symptoms and Self-Care forum -- A place for peer support and sharing tips about dealing with symptoms.

 

Before starting a topic in Symptoms, use search in the Symptoms forum to see if a discussion of your question already exists. You may be able to see what other people have posted and what they've tried before. I think we've covered just about every supplement or vitamin there is. You can add to a topic no matter how old it is -- no need to start a new topic.

 

Moderators will merge related Symptoms topics that are about the same thing. We're trying to keep the accumulated wisdom accessible and reduce topic proliferation.

 

Media forum -- Articles and links to other sites. Use search to see if a discussion of your Media tidbit already exists. People tend to post the same articles over and over. The meatier discussions may be the older ones.

 

Events, Controversies, etc. forum -- General discussion, for speculation, theories, and proposals for activities. It is publicly viewable.

 

Off-Topic -- Fun and games, anything goes. Off-Topic cannot be seen by non-members or Google.

 

Journals -- A library strictly for articles from scientific journals. There is a required format for starting topics. If an article is not from a scientific journal, please post it in Media.

 

The initial posts in topics in Tapering, Symptoms, Media, and Events, along with topic starts in Finding Meaning, Family and Friends, Recovery Success Stories, and Journals are auto-posted to Twitter and Facebook. Posts in Introductions and members-only forums, such as Off-Topic, are not auto-posted anywhere else.

 

The Introductions forum is highly trafficked by members who can respond to posts. The mods look at the Introductions forum first for any questions regarding tapering. Questions about individual tapers can be lost elsewhere. If you have questions about your personal taper, please post them in your Introductions topic.

 

Edited June 2, 2018 by Altostrata
updated

[Altostrata]

Good questions, Bonpensiero. I've put an explanation of site organization and navigation here http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/246-how-to-use-this-site-questions-and-answers/?p=71

 

An addition to a topic is called a post or an update. You do not need to title it, it is attached to the existing topic.

 

Your Introductions topic is, essentially, a history of your case as you taper or recover from withdrawal syndrome. All questions about your own personal situation go in those topics.

 

This makes it much easier for you to look back on your progress and review the answers.

 

These histories are very important to educate doctors. If we did not ask people to put the information pertaining to their cases in the Intro topics, it would be scattered all over the site and difficult for anyone to follow.

 

If you want to start a more general discussion, such as the value of psychotherapy or analysis while in withdrawal, that would be a new topic in the Symptoms and Self-Care forum.

 

(And, since others will be interested in the answers to your questions, I moved your posts here so they wouldn't get lost.)

[Altostrata]

This Web site is an Internet forum site. Internet forums have been around almost as long as the Internet. Millions of people have used them.

 

Forum sites have very simple structures. Click here http://survivingantidepressants.org/, on the Forums tab above, or the site logo  and you will see the home page -- the "table of contents" or the forums that comprise the site.

 

Within each forum are topics. The topics are comprised of posts in chronological sequence that make a conversation -- like a Facebook thread, but with more permanence. You will be able to find them later.

 

If you are new to this site, go to the Introductions and updates forum and start a topic about yourself, including your screen name in the title.

[JillianJ]

Hi. I used tags on My introductory post, without knowing what those do. I can’t find any info about it either. I hope I haven’t limited the visibility of my post by using tags. It would be great if it explained the use of tags before asking a newbie to use tags.

 

Also, I can’t find info about whether my post is now visible to others. It says it has to be improved by administrator. I can’t find out why, or whether that means it’s not posted yet. My problem is I wanted some immediate feedback on whether to use small amounts of Valium when I travel on Tuesday to help me with extreme agitation right now.  Thanks. 

[Altostrata]

Hello, Jillian.

 

Tags enable others to find topics that are on similar subjects. Well-chosen tags (such as drug name) will make your topic easier to find and more visible.

 

A moderator must review and approve the first two posts of all new members. We do this for several reasons: To make sure each new member gets a moderator's attention, to make sure new posts and topics are in the right forum (most new posts belong in the Introductions and Updates forum), and to discourage publication by spammers and trolls.

 

As the site is not staffed 24 hours a day, approval can take 24 hours.