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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 12 of 12. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Rach on August 16, 2000, at 7:15:06
I see a lot of unrest through the previous posts about civility between people, and the returning of this board to pharmacutical discussions rather than social ones. Just giving my thoughts on these matters...
There is always going to be disagreements when so many people are involved in this board. Yes, the disagreements can be handled with a lot more tact than they sometimes have been. Sometimes, though, as we all know, people can have a bad reaction on a bad day. A lot of us here have depression - and so this makes us even more vulnerable to 'bad days'. Sometimes a person can take a harsh approach when they normally would not. I think the best way to deal with people who post an offensive letter is to firstly tell them that what they said was inappropriate and harsh. If they continue to be offensive, three warnings and they're banned. (By the way, I do not believe telling someone they were 'abusive' is offensive - unless it is absolutely clear that they were not abusive.)
Splitting the site into different categories of posts is a bad idea. I benefit (and I'm sure others do) from reading all types of posts - those giving info about meds, those with encouragement and support, those from people needing support and about all age groups. I know I will not be moving between boards. I feel comfortable here, and I do not want to have to 'uproot' myself. I also find one board enough to deal with! (time wise, energy wise, patience wise). It is the nature of human conversation to start in one place, and then evolve on to another topic. Even if you try to compartmentalise msgs, eventually there will be cross over due to people having conversations via posts here. Also, having all types of msgs in the one place brings everyone together - someone who may not be interested in medication, may see a subject about their medication that sparks their interest. The board evolving into a supporting, social, and still medical environment is not a terrible thing. It is the way of humans, and it is enriching to us all.
I personally feel like my support line here is being taken away from me, and then degraded, like replacing a long, warm hug with a pinch on my finger. Not very comforting, or encouraging.
I may leave soon if I continue to feel this way, and just continue with lotl. (That's not a threat or anything, just a statement of what I will do if I do not feel any more comfortable!)
Posted by Rach on August 16, 2000, at 7:22:03
In reply to About civility, social/medical, and people, posted by Rach on August 16, 2000, at 7:15:06
Dr Bob, if you really want us to stop posting social messages here, you should enforce that by deleting any posts you deem not to be pharmacutical in content.
And if you could see the board turning into more of a social forum than a pharm one, and you did not agree with that, why did you not request people to stop being social here sooner? Why now?
Posted by Cam W. on August 16, 2000, at 7:29:22
In reply to About civility, social/medical, and people, posted by Rach on August 16, 2000, at 7:15:06
I agree with Rach. I doubt that I will bounce between boards. Generally (not always) I can tell if a post is social or therapeutic. Perhaps a rating system would work (eg MQ - medication question; MA - medication answer; SC - social commentary; W - worried; I - inquiring; U - update; etc). We just click the type of post from a list at the start of a posting. Please, none of those happy or frowny face thingys.
Just a thought - Cam
Posted by Cindy W on August 16, 2000, at 9:18:48
In reply to Re: About civility, social/medical, and people, posted by Cam W. on August 16, 2000, at 7:29:22
> I agree with Rach. I doubt that I will bounce between boards. Generally (not always) I can tell if a post is social or therapeutic. Perhaps a rating system would work (eg MQ - medication question; MA - medication answer; SC - social commentary; W - worried; I - inquiring; U - update; etc). We just click the type of post from a list at the start of a posting. Please, none of those happy or frowny face thingys.
>
> Just a thought - CamI agree with the above people about keeping the board intact...I've visited the other board, but have not posted there because my problems involve both social and medication aspects. Plus everybody is already here, on this board. Just my 2 cents.
Posted by Kath on August 16, 2000, at 10:56:23
In reply to About civility, social/medical, and people, posted by Rach on August 16, 2000, at 7:15:06
> Splitting the site into different categories of posts is a bad idea. I benefit (and I'm sure others do) from reading all types of posts - those giving info about meds, those with encouragement and support, those from people needing support and about all age groups. I know I will not be moving between boards. I feel comfortable here, and I do not want to have to 'uproot' myself. I also find one board enough to deal with! (time wise, energy wise, patience wise). It is the nature of human conversation to start in one place, and then evolve on to another topic. Even if you try to compartmentalise msgs, eventually there will be cross over due to people having conversations via posts here. Also, having all types of msgs in the one place brings everyone together - someone who may not be interested in medication, may see a subject about their medication that sparks their interest. The board evolving into a supporting, social, and still medical environment is not a terrible thing. It is the way of humans, and it is enriching to us all.
>
> I personally feel like my support line here is being taken away from me, and then degraded, like replacing a long, warm hug with a pinch on my finger. Not very comforting, or encouraging.
Hi Dr. Bob - The above describes my feelings pretty well. At first I thought separating the topics onto different boards might be good, but I realize I was just being a "good little girl" going along with something that scared me but being afraid to even realize how I FELT about it.
Perhaps my idea that I wrote on one of the other boards (can't remember which) would work. Posts could all appear here, but be identified so that:- those who want to skim through all types of posts could do that on one board.
- those who want to read only medical etc. posts could do so.
- those who want to read only social-type posts could so so.
- those who want to read only posts about child/adolescent issues could do so.
What do you think? Would it be too hard to set up? Could there be boxes similar to "add name of previous poster" that identify the type of post? (Sure it might take a while for everyone to mark the box, but people could be reminded)
Maybe this could work?
Kath
Posted by shar on August 16, 2000, at 16:29:28
In reply to About civility, social/medical, and people, posted by Rach on August 16, 2000, at 7:15:06
> > (By the way, I do not believe telling someone they were 'abusive' is offensive - unless it is absolutely clear that they were not abusive.)
I have been trying very hard to be "adult" about the brouhaha that emerged from my interaction with mr. b. Following my last post, there were 17 posts in the same thread, and most discussed me or what I'd written, my intentions, read my mind, called me various names, and revealed to me my motivation.
I did not respond to any of the posts because it became another civility discussion, and not a good time for me to jump in and defend myself, or explain things and possibility aggravate the situation further. Nor did anyone have the idea to check out whether their assumptions were correct, that is to ask me directly what something meant.
From some of the comments made about me and my intentions, I feel that surely those speakers/writers could not have read what I had written. (I even included smiley faces, as did mr. b., to indicate when I was joking and those were conveniently ignored). Maybe everyone did read my posts and decided that I was abusive anyway. I do not know.
I do know I am very uncomfortable with the way all this has gone, and I have little desire to experience more of the same. I am a big fan of civility and encourage it all around.
Shar
Posted by Snowie on August 16, 2000, at 20:27:34
In reply to Re: About civility, social/medical, and people, posted by Cindy W on August 16, 2000, at 9:18:48
I guess that cliche may be true in this case: You can't teach a bunch of old dogs new tricks.
Snowie
Posted by Rach on August 17, 2000, at 21:18:55
In reply to Re: About civility, social/medical, and people, posted by Snowie on August 16, 2000, at 20:27:34
nm
Posted by Kath on August 18, 2000, at 0:15:51
In reply to Re: social/medical, and people to Dr. Bob, posted by Kath on August 16, 2000, at 10:56:23
Hi Dr. Bob,
Wondering if you've had a chance to give Cam's idea and my similar one any thought? It seems I'm not the only one to prefer not moving from 1 board to another.
: - ) Kath
> > Splitting the site into different categories of posts is a bad idea. I benefit (and I'm sure others do) from reading all types of posts - those giving info about meds, those with encouragement and support, those from people needing support and about all age groups. I know I will not be moving between boards. I feel comfortable here, and I do not want to have to 'uproot' myself. I also find one board enough to deal with! (time wise, energy wise, patience wise). It is the nature of human conversation to start in one place, and then evolve on to another topic. Even if you try to compartmentalise msgs, eventually there will be cross over due to people having conversations via posts here. Also, having all types of msgs in the one place brings everyone together - someone who may not be interested in medication, may see a subject about their medication that sparks their interest. The board evolving into a supporting, social, and still medical environment is not a terrible thing. It is the way of humans, and it is enriching to us all.
> >
> > I personally feel like my support line here is being taken away from me, and then degraded, like replacing a long, warm hug with a pinch on my finger. Not very comforting, or encouraging.
>
>
> Hi Dr. Bob - The above describes my feelings pretty well. At first I thought separating the topics onto different boards might be good, but I realize I was just being a "good little girl" going along with something that scared me but being afraid to even realize how I FELT about it.
> Perhaps my idea that I wrote on one of the other boards (can't remember which) would work. Posts could all appear here, but be identified so that:
>
> - those who want to skim through all types of posts could do that on one board.
>
> - those who want to read only medical etc. posts could do so.
>
> - those who want to read only social-type posts could so so.
>
> - those who want to read only posts about child/adolescent issues could do so.
>
> What do you think? Would it be too hard to set up? Could there be boxes similar to "add name of previous poster" that identify the type of post? (Sure it might take a while for everyone to mark the box, but people could be reminded)
>
> Maybe this could work?
>
> Kath
Posted by Dr. Bob on August 18, 2000, at 2:09:02
In reply to About civility, social/medical, and people, posted by Rach on August 16, 2000, at 7:15:06
> Splitting the site into different categories of posts is a bad idea. I benefit (and I'm sure others do) from reading all types of posts... I know I will not be moving between boards. I feel comfortable here, and I do not want to have to 'uproot' myself. I also find one board enough to deal with! (time wise, energy wise, patience wise).
First, I'm not sure what the best way to proceed is. I may post some more thoughts to my earlier thread, "More biomedical here, more psychosocial there"...
If someone benefits from reading all types of posts, why wouldn't they move between boards? If the posts on this board were just divided between two boards, why would any more time, energy, or patience be needed?
True, it would be something new to get used to, but change is part of life...
> I personally feel like my support line here is being taken away from me, and then degraded, like replacing a long, warm hug with a pinch on my finger. Not very comforting, or encouraging.
It wouldn't be taken away, it would just be moved!
> if you really want us to stop posting social messages here, you should enforce that by deleting any posts you deem not to be pharmacutical in content.
I think you have a good point, to focus this board on medication, there would need to be a way to shift the other threads over. Otherwise, new non-medication follow-ups would keep coming here.
> And if you could see the board turning into more of a social forum than a pharm one, and you did not agree with that, why did you not request people to stop being social here sooner? Why now?
Being social isn't the problem, being busy is the problem. Labeling posts would also categorize them, but wouldn't make the board any less busy. It would still get archived just as often. Once it only took a week!
Bob
Posted by quilter on August 18, 2000, at 22:05:16
In reply to Dr. Bob....., posted by Kath on August 18, 2000, at 0:15:51
Would color coding the posts work? maybe red for meds, blue for social, and purple for both? Then threads that change in topic could stay together but people in a hurry could eliminate posts easily.... Oops, the artist seems to have gotten the upper hand. Quilter
Posted by Dr. Bob on August 21, 2000, at 22:52:48
In reply to Re: social/medical etc., posted by Dr. Bob on August 18, 2000, at 2:09:02
> > if you really want us to stop posting social messages here, you should enforce that by deleting any posts you deem not to be pharmacutical in content.
>
> I think you have a good point, to focus this board on medication, there would need to be a way to shift the other threads over. Otherwise, new non-medication follow-ups would keep coming here.OK, this should be in place now. When you preview your post, you should be able to redirect it to another board. So if it's a support-type post, even if the thread started here, it can go to Psychosocial-Babble. Hope this isn't too confusing!
Bob
This is the end of the thread.
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