Post of the Month October - *Winner announced*

SarahR

Happy Halloween everyone *pumpkin* And what better way to celebrate than with Post of the month for October!

First of all, congratulations to WhispersOfTheHeart for their winning post from September.

Have a read of the nominated posts for October below and vote for the one you think should sit atop the forums as our Post of the Month. There have been some great posts nominated so it might be a close call.

This month, I'm happy to say we've got some lovely prizes to give away. Both the author of the winning post and the person who nominated them will get a TheSite.org tote bag and wristband as well as an official Instagram notebook and keyring!



(Some of you eagle-eyes may have noticed that I nominated a couple of posts this month - I will of course be generously forfeiting my right to claim prizes )

So without further ado here are the entries for this month:

BubblesGoesBoo nominated baa ram ewe for this post in Have you ever had a panic attack?

baa ram ewe wrote: »

It happens when I'm asleep. I wake up in a panic shaking, can't breathe and feel as though I may actually die. It's scary and confusing.

SarahR (me!) nominated yellowseahorse for this post in World Mental Health Day 2014

yellowseahorse wrote: »

WMHD

I know there's a few of us here that care quite a bit about issues surrounding mental health. I thought it would be interesting to find out what people thought about World Mental Health Day 2014.

So, I'll go first

According to the World Health Organisation "World Mental Health Day is observed on 10 October every year, with the overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilizing efforts in support of mental health".

Also - did you know that there's a theme each year? This year it was 'Living with Schizophrenia'.

I was disappointed with the coverage (news, social media etc) for this year. I think that having a theme is essential, as it avoids this day being like every single one of those 'awareness' days. It means we can look at specific issues for people and focus on educating people on specific points. However... I think the point was missed by many.

I think we are past the point of '1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health problem'. It's been drilled into us for years now. I guess I just think it's a real shame that an event that had the potential to educate people and address specific issues turned into a generic 'let's raise awareness', 'let's talk about it' thing.

The voices of those with schizophrenia were drowned out by the same old repetitive phrases. We could have all learnt about how bloody difficult living with schizophrenia is, about the chronic nature of the disorder and about the people who suffer from treatment resistant schizophrenia. Or maybe that those with a severe mental health problem will die on average 10 YEARS younger than someone without? Could have even debunked some myths about the condition.

I think I regret that it was a missed opportunity.

I think that 'awareness of issues' is so much more important than 'awareness' full stop. Looking back at the campaigns doing the rounds, it's only motor neurone disease (ice bucket challenge) and the British slavery trade (TV advert) that I think are causes which people might have been unaware of before. In my opinion mental health full stop and cancer full stop do not need blanket awareness, and in fact it takes away the opportunity to focus on the detail.

But hey that's just my opinion. Please do comment and let me know if you think I've got it all wrong.

(Don't get me started on 'Stand Up To Cancer')

yellowseahorse nominated Indrid Cold for this post in the site helps in unexpected ways

Indrid Cold wrote: »

Oh, well. I meant that it's helped me understand some things I originally didn't, which made me more accepting and open-minded eventually. Not that it's purely because of TheSite, but it did play a big part.
I used to call it "My window to the real world".

butterfly123 nominated StrubbleS for this post in I can't be straight-what am I?

StrubbleS wrote: »

Sounds like you are like pretty far on the homosexual side of things then. You mainly want to be with other women, but there are exciting fantasies involving penises. I don't understand why you need a label to start exploring though. The exploring (as the name says) should give you more disclosure of what you really want so you know where you belong sexuality-wise. Fantasy and reality are still two things not to confuse with each other. If you have your first experience with girls and you like it a lot, but are unsure of boys, you don't need to "try them out, just to be sure." The big majority of people know what they want from the get go and never try the fruits on the own home turf. If you are curious about boys, well, then by all means go for it and if you did not like it, then don't feel ashamed, but chalk it up as learning experience that you now know what you do not like.

Heck, like I said, sexuality is endless, you could also like to do everything with girls, but just want to give boys blow jobs without them touching you. There is no "right" or "wrong".

Don't ask questions like "is this normal?". This is a question, which the answer to does not make you any smarter. Statistically speaking, heterosexual is "normal", because more people are heterosexual, but that does not make it superior to other forms of love. So asking if the kind of porn you watch is "normal" is non-sensical. Just watch what you enjoy and don't worry if it's normal or weird. (As long as it's legal! No child porn!)

It sounds like you pretty much have a good hypothesis of what you like. Girls over boys. What else is there to know?

What do you mean with painful? Like physical pain? Of masturbating too much or something out of your control?

SarahR (me!) nominated *rach* for this post in the word 'disabled'

*rach* wrote: »

I haven't been able to read through everyones comments but I just came across this and being someone with a 'disability' (more than one!) I think it's interesting that this has been bought up!

I have metal hips after a bi-lateral hip replacement a year ago and I am now on the emergency list for a knee replacement which will be metal on plastic - i'll be very funky inside!

I think the word 'disability' can be quite negative as like people have said, it's focusing on a person lacking the ability to do specific things. Which is pretty pants! I think it can boil down to an inidividual though at times, if someone with a disability/disabilities focuses on what they can't do all the time, they'll have quite a challenging time and a rather negative time however; if they are positive about things and 'look on the bright side' it's less likely to affect them at all and you'll be surprised to know that they don't even think about the word disability! I can say this as i've been in both positions.

The word 'Disability' does bring about so many issues like Miss Riot was saying, people assume that if you're not in a wheelchair permanantly or have a visiable, evident, severe disability then you're 'fine' as such. This is totally not the case. I have so many hidden disabilities as well as problems that can be totally okay at times but then flare up - this is when people wonder why you're 'faking' disabilities for money - gets me so angry!!

But, it's important to me that I focus on what I can do, what I want to do and try and find ways to be able to do things rather than dwell on what I can't - easier said than done at times. For the sake of paperwork, i'm always going to be 'disabled' but that doesn't confine me, it doesn't sumarise who I am and it certainly doesn't mean i'm not just like everyone else - i'm just bionic and special I wouldn't change things, my conditions make me who I am, shape me into the person I am etc blah blah I won't bore you any more!!

Happy to chat to anyone and everyone about disability and all that comes with it!!!!

ninaballet nominated Hiccup for this post in Coping with relapsing

Hiccup wrote: »

Hey lovely,

I'll be okay, I mean.. It has to get better at some point right?

I don't even know what's happened, I just feel a lot worse and alone. I'm not really needed anywhere, I'm not wanted at home until parents want money or something. It's just a struggle, I feel so useless and like I'll never be enough for them.

I'm really not as strong as you think I am. Thank you though, I promise I'm trying to keep going, it's just rather hard lately.

*hug*

butterfly123 nominated localboy for this post in What are you good at?

localboy wrote: »

Are you being serious?

Is so, I would say that the media has instilled a paranoia amongst the general population which is kind of sad.

As long as what I said is interpreted literally then it will be fine, its when people make up a story of what I am saying and then believe the story they have made up in their own heads... that's when it means something else.

Im a 31 year old bloke and I love kids. I will not stop smiling at a kid on a train because of the pedo hysteria in the media which is alive and well.

I love playing with kids and seeing the world through their eyes, if only for a while. Playing with, and like a child, brings me some sort of happy, if only for a while, seeing the wonder on their face as they chase bubbles around, trancient, fragile bubbles that die as soon as you touch them.

Seeing them in their child worlds, when doing something so simple for them can mean so much and leaving them with good memories.

Talking about this reminds me of a Scroobious track called Thou Shall Not Kill in which he says 'thou shall not think that any man over the age of 30 who plays with a child which is not his own, is a pedofile, some people are just nice.'

Its a really good track all round actually and id recommend it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWrMGXwhFLk

Get voting!