This forum averages 58 views per reply

[HereSince1628]

How do these views accumulate?
Is it just obsessive compulsive participants who just have to keep opening threads?
Is it voyeurs who are entertained by communication among the mentally ill?
Is it abnormal psych students looking for an angle on a term paper?
Is it psychological care providers stalking their patients?

The only forum I know that has a worse reply per view ratio is the poetry forum. People there seem interested in what is written but don't want to engage in any sort of conversation about the original works...

[mopinko]

1. it's just hard to know what to say sometimes.

beyond hugs and good wishes, things can just be hard to comment on. i always think carefully before i chime in.

[EFerrari]

2. That seems low to me.

Afaik, only a small percentage of readers ever respond in any forum.

[HereSince1628]

3. Some are lower some are higher

The HIV/AIDs group has about 1 reply per 698 views
Poetry Group has about 1 reply per 358 views
General Discussion has about 1 reply per 23 views
The Lounge has about 1 reply per 14 views

If we must be rational it is, of course, impossible to attribute reasons or motives that generate these ratios without knowing more about the users.

[EFerrari]

4. Do we have to be rational? It is Sunday, after all.

I'll echo what mo said. Sometimes I read an OP several times and think about it before sticking my oar in. Some of those views are just me trying to make sure I'm understanding.

[zippy890]

5. don't feel like talking, composing a reply

I want to share things but sometimes just not feeling great,
and its hard to write something that isn't negative when depressed.


:-(

thats all

[Forkboy]

6. The worse things are for me the less I feel I have to offer anyone here.

Let's put it this way, I can't make anyone else feel good when I feel like shit myself. However, by reading things here I may gain some insight into what I'm feeling myself. I also care about the people here, and hope to see them say they're feeling better, or that someone may offer up something useful that I can't think of.

But personally, this has been a horrible summer, and I'm the quiet type at the best of times. Right now I have few positive thoughts about much of anything (though I'm positive some of my negative thoughts should be kept to myself).

[Tobin S.]

7. You can write about the bad stuff, too, Forkboy

I think it is cathartic, and it might let someone who is in a similar situation know that they are not alone. You don't always have to help. You can complain as well. I'm probably the biggest complainer in this forum, but I'll make no apologies. What has come out of my head and into these posts has helped me understand things better. It gives you a little distance between you and what's ailing you so you can look at things a little more objectively.

I'm not saying that you have to bare your soul here. Just don't feel like you've got to be saying "good" things all the time. The bad stuff, once it gets out of your head, can turn into greater understanding.

[Forkboy]

9. I know what you're saying, it's just not me.

Every now and then I'll have something that I have to bounce off of others for my own sake, but I'm pretty much the keep things to myself type. What you're saying is correct, but in my case I just don't really feel it would be for the best. There's a lot of things in my head that should just stay there lol. At my worst I'm pretty nihilistic, and that's just not a mood you share, especially with people who are already struggling with negative thoughts themselves. If I came down here and unloaded my mind we'd all be killing ourselves faster than terminally depressed lemmings who just found the perfect cliff.

Your own posts are nothing like that, and certainly not what I call complaining at all. Yours all have a positive side to them, a sense of hope for yourself and others. People can read your posts and take something from it that leads them towards feeling better (I know I have). My thoughts would make Revelations feel like a pep talk. :evilgrin:

[mopinko]

8. fb- that sig line is probably the best i have seen on du.

that is a great quote.

[Forkboy]

10. I couldn't believe I had never come across it before.

I saw it and was blown away. I knew I had to use it. :)

[HereSince1628]

11. So

Страх делает говорить невозможно.

[EFerrari]

13. Speak English, troop.

:)

[HereSince1628]

14. We are curious

so we view.

But, we are stuck; we don't know what we want or should say.

Not wishing to write a 'wrong thing' we do not reply at all.

[fizzgig]

12. i very rarely feel i have something to worthwhile contribute

plus, i've been so spun up and twisted around in my own head that i'm over-thinking everything to death and wind up convinced that i am incapable of actually conveying myself in the way intended without sounding like an asshole or an idiot, so i just keep quiet.