IMO, a safe haven would include a place free from common emotional triggers, invalidation, and discussions that exacerbate others' problems. In other words a place where a person could participate in peer-to-peer discussions where expressions of concern could be met with reassurance and useful information.
Going back through MHSG on the 18 available pages of this groups history, people have posted and replied about personal issues, issues of family (close and extended) members, experiences with treatment (including experiences with medicines and talk-therapy), news stories about mental health, and 'meta-discussions' about how DU was handling mental health, especially about the prevalence of stigmatizing language.
I think it would be reasonable that all those things continue to be discussed.
Personally, I am uncomfortable with the meaning of support and my ability to supply it, even when I'm struggling watching some distressed DUer's thread getting no responses.
I think we need to talk openly about what being supportive is, and how we don't cross lines that the Admin makes for medical/psychiatric advice, and what the members of this forum has decided is out of bounds.
If we can figure that out, I think we can be more supportive to each other and to ourselves.
Over in England, they developed a course for business/industry/schools etc in Mental Health First Aid. The mnemonic device used to remember the steps of mental health first aid is ALGEE.
That stands for:
Assess for risk of suicide or harm
Listen non-judgmentally
Give reassurance and information
Encourage appropriate professional help
Encourage self-help and other support strategies
It's something to start a conversation around . . .
-- I think MSHG should have a WHAT TO DO RIGHT NOW IF YOU ARE IN A CRISIS post pinned to the top of the page. It would give direction to professional help for emotional crises, including thought/threats of suicide and self-harm.
These crises are way too serious, time-sensitive, and potentially triggering for others to be dealt with by what are random visits by others to the forum. I don't mean to say these topics should be taboo for discussions between members about mental health news items that include them.
--Below the crisis post I think we might create a THINGS TO CONSIDER TO BE A SUPPORTIVE MSHG MEMBER thread. That might discuss how to be reassuring, how recognize and share credible mental health information, some thoughts about the art of being encouraging etc.
And I'd encourage many more posts into MSHG about news stories or web-sites that discuss how to be supportive to both mental health care-givers and persons with MH illness.
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