Ask a Professional who doesn't respond

[Namu]

I'm a little depressed/concerned/sad to see that there are unanswered posts in the Ask a Mental Health Professional forums. At least a few of the Professionals haven't responded to any posts for years.

In the episodes I've been listening to, Paul and lots of his guests assert continually that help is available; all you have to do is ask. I had to laugh, once, when Paul apparently glimpsed the not-necessarily-true-ness of it, and began adding qualifiers: "... but it has to be someone who's safe ... and it ought to be --" shoot. I wish I could remember the three or four other acknowledgments he made that help isn't always easy to come by. He didn't seem to recognize how the need for all the qualifiers undermined the claim he was still attempting to make, which added to the sad humor of it. He didn't mention several of the obstacles I face, but at least that time he admitted that it's not always so simple to get good help.

Anyway, point is, I request that MHPs who persistently fail to respond to posts addressed to them be removed from the proffered list. Life is depressing enough without being offered help by people, reaching out to them for said help, and getting crickets in response -- or watching that happen from the sidelines. Seeing that sort of thing discourages me from trusting this site as a safe/coherent/honest source of connection and support.

Thanks!

Namu

[brownblob]

I would agree that professionals who don't respond should be deleted. No point in having them on here if they are no longer active.
I think you'll find the forum supportive but it is a small fairly quiet forum.