[DocJohn]

Hi folks,

We started Neurotalk in August 2006, after the braintalk communities suffered a server outage for months and didn't communicate with their users about if they were coming back online. That was a travesty.

My one goal here was to ensure people looking for neurological/emotional support during trying times and a health crisis had a safe place to go to get the support and information they need. And to communicate community changes to you directly and transparently.

In recent years, due to changes in Google algorithms, smaller independent online communities such as Neurotalk have suffered significant traffic losses. Google holds all the cards and we can only do minimal things here to try and help with our traffic standings.

When we started Neurotalk, we just replicated everything that used to be on braintalk to ensure everyone who had a home there also had a new home here. That even included the mental health forums, despite the fact I ran another existing online mental health community since 2001.

Because of the decline of our traffic here and my limited time and resources, I've decided it's time to stop hosting two similar sets of mental health forums. Effective immediately, the low-traffic mental health forums -- all of them save the Bipolar and Alcoholism groups -- will be closed to new posts.

The Bipolar and Alcoholism communities will remain open for another 60 days, at which time they too will be closed to new postings.

I encourage you to join our sister community -- which I have also overseen since 2001 -- to access mental health support forums. It's now called MySupportForums.org and is run in a similar manner as we've run NT. MSF is a somewhat larger and more active community, and I hope you find the support there you've come to expect.

Please let me know if you have any questions about these changes. Thank you.

DocJohn

[Lara]

***I take it after waking up properly and giving it all some thought, that the old threads in closed forums will always be left viewable? So many resources in them. If so that is something very helpful at least. At first I imagined they would just disappear off the list.***

***I also note on the other forum that OCD is a separate forum rather than under the Anxiety Disorders Forum***

I totally understand why you're doing this DocJohn, however I must say I'm sorry to see it really as so many of the ones going are interconnected with other forums. e.g. anxiety disorders are common across the board. TS,TBI/PCS etc.. Depression also is common due to other conditions. They play a part in so many other medical conditions. (I personally think of "mental" illness as medical anyway).

I'll also miss seeing our friends from the bipolar forum and the alcohol, addiction and recovery forum as well. I hope the move goes smoothly for them in particular.

Some of the members in alcohol and recovery have done so much over the years and it's all documented. Particularly the Alcohol related Peripheral Neuropathy Threads. There are a few members in Alcohol and recovery forum that I think of as brave warriors and their posts, information and support have surely offered hope to so many.

You've done an amazing job keeping this one running all this time. So many of us were here (and very thankful) when you opened.

We thank you very much for all the years you've allowed us a safe place to post. Thankyou for continuing to keep all our medical forums open. You do it for us, not for yourself, so it certainly is appreciated.

[bizi]

what will happen to the medical forums?
bizi

[DocJohn]

We will indeed keep the mental health forums viewable as a read-only archive indefinitely. We have no other plans at this time regarding the Neurotalk community as a whole, so all the other forums will continue as-is. We wouldn't want people in the mental health forums to lose that history, and it should remain accessible for many years to come.

It hasn't been an easy decision, but it was a necessary one. I appreciate your understanding.

[Chemar]

Originally Posted by Lara

I'll also miss seeing our friends from the bipolar forum and the alcohol, addiction and recovery forum as well. I hope the move goes smoothly for them in particular.

Some of the members in alcohol and recovery have done so much over the years and it's all documented. Particularly the Alcohol related Peripheral Neuropathy Threads. There are a few members in Alcohol and recovery forum that I think of as brave warriors and their posts, information and support have surely offered hope to so many.

I was wondering if perhaps the members might benefit from the 2 long running Alcohol Induced Neuropathy-Pt1 & 2 threads on the Addictions forum moving to the Peripheral Neuropathy forum here at NT, as there are already some other posts on that topic there?

That would also mean that the members participating on those 2 longtime threads here could continue to encourage and support one another on their paths to healing both from the addiction and the PN.

[MuonOne]

Am I interpreting correctly the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis forums will continue?

[Chemar]

Yes, all of the Neurological and other forums will continue here at NeuroTalk.

It is only the Mental Health section that is closing.