Our community is a place for a good chat, and we know that some conversations are challenging and diverse.
Every day the community team at Scope expect to read different, funny, knowledgeable and challenging posts from all of our members which reflect our disabled customers and their families. Many of you are using our community to find information, join discussions and share tips on employment, parenting, equipment, care and of course last but not least disability allowances.
Out of all these topics it will come as no surprise to you all that disability allowances and money are the most complex of posts. Many comments are posted at a time when the member may be dealing with a mixture of emotions such as anger, frustration, sadness, anxiety, stress and disappointment as well as times when they may have had success, happiness and be feeling relief. It is therefore not surprising that some of the forum conversations can become or feel very personal, because let’s face it, it is very personal to each and every-one of you.
The community team are aware that often emotions regularly run high which can lead to some conversations being misread, people being misquoted and advice being given to individuals personally, when the response could be answering a much wider audience.
This is really a reminder that our aim is always to offer a safe and supportive place to every-one and to that end we have provided some mindfulness thoughts for you to consider when using our community
- Before you respond to a post think
- Am I feeling preoccupied, anxious, inadequate, physically uncomfortable and tired; are you making assumptions?
- Do you feel a strong urge to give advice, find solutions, rescue, reassure, and to want to ‘fix it’ for the other person, so that they feel better?
- Are you looking at the post from your point of view, not the other person?
Often, just being available and showing you are listening is all the support that people need.
Using empathy is key to a supportive community, no-one is expected to have all the answers, but a kind post that shows you are hearing a member’s problems and that you care goes such a long way.
Sympathy vs Empathy
Empathy is the ability to experience the feelings of another person.
It goes beyond sympathy, which is caring and understanding for the suffering of others.
Your emotional health is so important to us and if you are personally having a difficult time, then you may negatively impact your own emotional health by trying to take on the problems of others.
Be sure to take a break, move away from any posts that are triggers for you and let the community team know if we can help in any way.
