Help please

[Mandox]

Hello
Could anyone tell me where to find the manual about how to use the site and the forum please?
Thank you so much 🤪🤯🙏

[Blueberry]

Hm. I'm not sure if we have a manual as such. Sorry to maybe ask a dumb or even triggering question, but do you have more specific questions that could help me or others give you a response tailored to your needs so to speak? Some new mbrs have problems with acronyms, others don't know where to post, or whether they should respond on others' threads or whether there's a PM (PN?) system. I don't want to answer all those and find you wanted to know something completely different

[Mandox]

Thank you for your reply and for trying to help me.  Well, I'm sure I read in someone else's thread that they had read the manual but still couldn't understand something, but maybe they were talking about acronyms.  I suppose I'm finding it a little overwhelming looking at the boards and seeing posts, some of which go back quite far in lots of different subjects and I'm wondering if there's any point in responding to posts that are quite old, posted a couple of years ago.  Some people seem to be referring to journals, and their posts seem to be their actual journals so I'm wondering if this is a thing to do ? I'm finding just reading and interacting in some way useful, but at the same time triggering as I find the layout confusing and not really sure about how to use this tool.  I'm grateful as people have been responding to me, thank you so much, at the same time I feel I don't know how to find anyone again.  It's all very knew even talking about this stuff.  Thrilling and daunting all at the same time. 

[Blueberry]

Thank you for giving me more idea of the help you need

There are Member Guidelines https://cptsd.org/forum/index.php?board=104.0 but I can't think of a manual off-hand.

I'm sorry the layout is triggering you, or maybe it's the complexity of the layout?

I use an old-fashioned computer with a wide screen etc. That may make it easier for me to navigate? I can see the whole structure of the forum. I'm basing what I write on what I can see, apologies if it's not what you can see, which it might not be if you're using an iphone or something.

You certainly can reply to old posts, even ones that go back a number of years. There is a lot of experience and wisdom on this forum and that is contained partially in old posts. Often you'll find that bringing an old thread back up by replying to it will set the discussion going again i.e. more mbrs than just you are interested in the topic. If certain old posts are what interest you atm, then go ahead and write there!

This forum is a very kind, gentle place. Your post won't be deleted within the space of 5 minutes if it happens to not be in the most logical place or something. It might be moved - happens occasionally - but you would be notified very kindly by Kizzie and mostly that's to help your post be seen by other mbrs. So I hope knowing that might allay your fears about using the forum correctly.

I'd say quite a lot of mbrs are writing Journals atm but that's not always the case on the forum. You could see Recovery Journals as accounts of your own medium-term recovery rather than discussion points, maybe? I like reading back in mine to see my own progress or maybe I want to write about a symptom without reading about other's accounts of it if that makes sense?  So with my eating disorder symptom I could write on the eating disorder board or I could write about it in my Journal, it depends a little on what I intend with my post.

The main boards are written on a blue bar and are things like Development of CPTSD in Childhood and Development of CPTSD in Adulthood (where you posted this), but also Symptoms, Self-help and Recovery. The child boards sometimes have similar topics, e.g. General Discussion comes up quite often, which is where you posted here and it's a fine place to post if you're not sure what other child board to choose! The designation 'child board' sometimes confuses mbrs. It has nothing to do with the differentiation of development of CPTSD in childhood or adulthood! It's something that can't be changed, something to do with the program.

Another thing is - you wrote that even talking about this stuff is very new and thrilling and daunting - so take your time! The more you read and write on the forum, I think the better you'll learn how it works. This is the first forum I ever joined and I did learn to work it!

[woodsgnome]

If you use the link referenced by Blueberry, that should help. It's unlike a formal manual, perhaps, but it's how I found my way into the confusion, excitement, panic, and above all -- curiosity about actually finding others journeying with the cptsd dragon.

I find the site resembles the condition -- confusing because it all seems to be, and is, troubling and I want to find the answer. Instead I find a multitude of possibilities, but not always hard and fast answers. In the end life is more about questions than answers. Especially with something like cptsd, which is so disruptive, lonely, and scary in its senselessness. Having had our souls ripped out of us isn't the easiest, but good for us knowing there must be some way to find relief in spite of it all.

So I hope you can stick with it. Thanks for sharing and hope to find you further on the trail towards finding your own deserved healing.

[Mandox]

Dear Bluberry and Woodsgnome
Your kind, thoughtful and patient and helpful answers have made me cry this morning.  Thank you so much. 

[Blueberry]

If it feels safe for you, then have some gentle  and once again a very warm welcome to the forum, now that you understand better how to use it.

[Kizzie]

Mandox, this forum is complex as Woodsgnome suggests because it is all about looking at CPTSD from a multitude of perspectives, sharing our lived experiences of CPTSD which are often both similar and varied, sharing resources, and building knowledge and a more nuanced understanding of our injuries together over time.   

Both WG and BB have given you some great suggestions about how to use the forum but just in case you find it too much there is  a site you might find clearer and easier to use - The CPTSD Foundation at https://cptsdfoundation.org/.  I'm not chasing you away or anything, just offering an alternative as the key is to find what works for us and helps with our recovery.   

[Not Alone]

I recall feeling overwhelmed and confused when I first joined OOTS. You're not alone. I found it easiest to got to "forum" and then "recent unread topics." For quite awhile I did not read people's journals because there were so many pages and I thought I needed to read the whole thing. Feel free to read journals and to only read the last few entries.

Take your time. People here are patient and kind.