Why?

[RubyWitch]

Hi joggen........it's Greenlydia from the Anxiety Forum. As I'm sure you're aware, we end up getting many people from the HIV Prevention Forum on our forum. I really don't mind, (too much) but the problem is that we are NOT knowledgable about about all the various tests and the windows for those tests, we don't know about ARS or its symptoms, we don't know about a great deal of the reasons surrounding the anxiety. My question of "why" concerns why is this group not listed as a forum directly under the HIV Prevention Forum? That makes so much sense to me and when Teak or Liz tell people to stop posting and deal with their anxiety, that's when they come to us. Why do Teak and all the others on that forum not give the link to this group? I send a lot of people here, but I've always got to stop and come get the link because even tho I think I explain clearly how to find you, they often come back and say I can't find the FORUM. Is there a reason MH won't make this a forum? Is it your choice to keep it as a group? Is there some reason this group could not still be listed in the fourm section rather then hidden down at the bottom of the page?
Thanks for your time and thanks for all you do here at MH. I come here often and read stuff.
Peace
Linda  

[Clueless99]

I had previously posted a thread concerning the existence of the HIV Anxiety Forum on the HIV Community Forum about a week ago, advising posters that were suffering from HIV-related anxiety to come here for support.  I think it might've gotten the attention of a few people, but yes, I agree that there can and should be things done to make this forum a bit more visible.  Most people that post in the community and experts forums seem to be suffering from clear signs of anxiety.  Regulars like Teak, Lizzy, Nursegurl, etc are there to assess risks, not so much to alleviate fears or try to calm people down.  I think that many of these people could easily benefit from the kind of support that is provided here.

[joggen]

I've never broached the subject of making the group a forum with MH. For one, I don't think the group gets enough traffic to justify it, although that may be a function of people not finding it as you've mentioned. I guess when I created the group I envisioned a place where members suffering from HIV anxiety can connect and share experiences, without being told to "move on" or be issued warnings, etc., as there seemed to be a need for that. Despite my sticky thread, I kind of let the group run itself. If it were a forum, the only issue would be whether the same moderation philosophy would apply. I think it could work, if the forum had more lenient guidelines than the HIV Prevention forum and had someone like Apollo dedicated to answering questions. I have no preference either way, so since you see a need for it, feel free to run it by one of the MH mods.