OCD Action

Joel
Key Master

You may be aware that an issue has come up regarding young people on the forum.

For some time now, our moderators and I have been discussing the general question of how we can make sure that young people can use the forum and feel part of the supportive community that we are, rightly, proud of. This is especially important as soon we will be going live with our OCD at School site which will be aimed at young people and will use forums and other social networking.

The best way to answer this question is to get your input, this is your forum and we need to hear your views.

So if you are a young person, a parent, a regular user or just somebody who check in now and again - let us know what you think. We are especially keen to get your ideas regarding;

Do we need to know if a user is a young person? and if so how do we do this?

What language and topics are appropriate?

Should there be additional forum rules regarding young people and if so what should they be?

What additional advice can we give to young people and their parents about how to use the forum?

There is no need to refer to past events or comment on specific posts / users. I want this to be a constructive discussion that can really help shape the forum and make it even better.

Thank you
Joel

Mon Dec 20 2010 11:29:27 #
Tess
Member

Sadly I am very well aware of the issue which has come up and it has caused widespread distress.

In the case in question I think most users were aware that a young person was involved but this did not prevent problems arising. Generally young users are evident by the content of their posts. My feeling on this is that the young members should make the decision, whether they want to remain anonymous or whether they want to be categorised as a young user.

I think it would be a good idea to have a separate young users forum and the rules could then be reassessed, certain language and terminology might be more appropriate in this context. However I think both young and adult forums should draw the line at obscene language. Initially the same rules could be used as for the present forum and altered if the need becomes apparent.

As for advice to be given to young people and their carers using the forum it needs to be made obvious that this is a forum which is used by people with a mental health disorder, a disorder which can involve deep mental suffering and extreme sensitivity, and discussion threads can at times very quickly become personal and upsetting, and it may not be an appropriate forum for young children to use without supervision.

As a final comment I am already starting to feel, as an older user, that I am in danger of getting "cast aside" in favour of younger memebers and I think the question of ageism also needs to be condsiderd.

I hope this helps to get the discussion off the ground.

Mon Dec 20 2010 12:31:37 #
swan
Member

I have felt for a long time that it is inappropiate for young people to use the same foru as adults. I work as a social worker with children ( as well as having ocd) and my advice to parents is that young people do not go on adult forums.

I have always thought that it was good that ocdaction have a seperate site for teenagers for following reasons;
If a teenager has just been diagnosed with OCD and they read threads from myself for example who has had OCD for over thirty years it may disheartning for them to read that despite treatment I still have OCD the forum needs to be encouraging for all of us teenagers included.

I am aware that some of us have fears of harming children which we are aware is part of ocd. But if a young person or their parent saw this what would they think I have had this in the past but it is not something I would discuss with a young person. If thye have the same form of OCD I believe this is best dealt with by talking to a professional, this part may be my OCD.

I agree this is should be safe forum for users but at the same time as an adult I do not want to be responsible for a young person coming on to this site and being effected by something I have said, this would make me hold back.

I feel that for the teenage young person forum to work, it needs to have a very clear set of boundaries and young people should be directed to this site.
Maybe thier could be people who go on the site to answer questions in an appropiate way similar to moderators.

Lastly I do believe that when young person do use the usual forum they can be very encouraging but I believe that their emotional well being comes first.

Regards

Mon Dec 20 2010 16:46:14 #
swan
Member

Hi,
Just another thought when you run a conference could thier be specific sessions for young people, so OCD is explained in way that is understanble and way that they can recieve it.

Mon Dec 20 2010 17:30:53 #
Tess
Member

Hi Swan
I really like your idea of having a separate forum for young people which is monitored by more experienced members or moderators. No-one wants to be in a position of posting something which will adversely affect another forum user especially a child or teenager but there has to be room for people who are distressed and need support to express themselves freely and openly. Also I think there needs to be a balance between making the forum encouraging for young users and being honest about OCD. If we only give out the good news it will be even more disheartening for those who find their progress is more difficult than they had expected.

Mon Dec 20 2010 18:00:28 #
swan
Member

hi,
take your point, their needs to be a balance so that young people aren't dishearteded by things an adult may say but at the same time that thye don't get a really bleak picture, some people respond really well to treatment and some don't usually the earlier you are diagnosed and treated the better ( thta can be an adult or young person.

Mon Dec 20 2010 18:34:02 #
Wombat140
Member

Too true. When I started using OCD forums, I'd already found that I couldn't get anywhere with CBT, and was much upset by some well-meaning posters who persistently denied that this, and my reason for it, were possible.

Another problem is that, as we've seen recently, some adult users are at times just as vulnerable as younger ones, and some younger users can be just as hurtful to each other as adults can! So simply keeping them apart wouldn't solve the problem entirely. Tricky.

Mon Dec 20 2010 18:34:28 #
swan
Member

having seperate forums wouldn't solve the problem but their are two different issues. Ive used this forum for three years and there are times when people fall out usually because one of us has misinterpreted something someone elses has said, however usually they get resolved.
However as adults and an organsation children/young people need to be protected, from adult disagreements. They need to have safe areas to discuss without taking on baord adult issues

Mon Dec 20 2010 21:11:55 #
playthoseblues
Member

Hi

I'm 16, and I'm not fully understanding of what things have been said that have been unsensitive..

I do feel that there aren't many people on this site, that are still at school with OCD, and in that way feel that advice isn't given. But with the Teenager section, it isn't used regularly and for that reason I post here.

Perhaps a rating system could be used so a young person could identify if it is a strong topic of conversation or not. So 1 could be Idle conversation and 10 could be a strong argument.

Or perhaps splitting up the catagories a bit more. So a treatment section where people can post there.

Jon

Mon Dec 20 2010 22:00:19 #
Truddles
Member

Can't get my brain into gear at the moment but it's good to see so many constructive comments and suggestions.

Mon Dec 20 2010 22:05:38 #
Tess
Member

I agree with all the excellent comments above and I would just like to add to Wombat's post that it has also become evident that emotional hurt is universal regardless of age and can be adult to adult, young person to young person but also adult to young person and young person to adult. It has also become evident that the effects of emotional hurt on this forum can be very destructive and again, this is universal across all age ranges. Adults are generally better equipped to look deeper into the circumstances and to rationalise what has been said and to reason about possible misinterpretations and therefore younger people should be given extra protection. But this forum is not only a support network, it is also a place of learning and at some point young people have to be exposed to the effects that their words may have on others and to learn from their experiences.

Tue Dec 21 2010 11:37:36 #
jo
Member

I think Jon's idea of the rating system is a good idea.

Tue Dec 21 2010 12:04:30 #
swan
Member

Hi Joel,
Some of us have written our views but we have not heard anymore since

Fri Dec 31 2010 15:41:22 #
Nimrod
Key Master

Hi Swan,

Thanks for giving your views. We are taking notice and we will let people know the outcome. After only 10 or 11 days so far and with the disruption of the Christmas and new year period we need to give people more time. I know Joel has been very busy getting the Newsletter out to members and maintaining services over the holiday period but he will let people know the outcome as soon as practicable.

Best wishes for the New Year,
Caps

Fri Dec 31 2010 20:30:49 #
Ella
Member

Hi

I'm 13 and I don't often post on the teens section, as hardly anyone goes on there, and so I usually post here. If anyone has disagreements on the forums, I just don't read them anymore, and don't get involved. I thnk that as long as people are sensible things are fine as they are. They ought to make rules so that people can't argue or something similar.

Also, when teens post advise to each other, they're not as...good at giving advise as adults, so I think asdults should still be able to post there.

Ella

Wed Jan 26 2011 10:20:18 #
Tess
Member

Ella
What a lovely thing to say about us adults. And you, at the tender age od 13 can also give us some very sensible advice - don't get involved in disagreements and don't read argumentative posts - brilliant, I will take your advice on board.

Wed Jan 26 2011 12:21:38 #
Ella
Member

thanks, youre welcome!

Ella

Wed Jan 26 2011 20:23:31 #