Originally Posted by
ThePrincessOfDenial
This FA forum is kinda pointless I think. We have the wound care guides and th ED information guides. Stick another up about what to do in MH crisis and you'eve pretty much covered everything.
All it ends up being is people asking things they could read in the guides, or asking things that we have to say 'see a doctor' to.
So I think it should go and be replaced by more in depth self care guides, and a list of helplines and guidance on when to go to A&E for MH reasons. We have no reason to answer basic medical questions - ask you GP or NHS direct.
I agree. Because of the (very legitimate and sensible!) rules to prevent triggering/tip-sharing, even the wisest of practitioners can't give anything but general advice; most of which can be found in the first aid guide anyway.
However, a lot of replies in serious can be responded to with the generic "can you distract yourself/call the crisis team?", yet we still do those replies, because people benefit much more from someone taking time out of their day to say those thing directly to them. Same with first aid; people know that gaping cuts need stitching and that general malaise needs to be investigated by a doctor, not strangers on the internet, but there's some comfort in being told that personally, rather than just reading it in a guide.
tl;dr, I don't think the FA board is always particularly medically productive, but it makes people feel listened to and give them the poke they need to seek medical help, and where's the harm in that?