Support Group Expectations

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RLSSupport Group Expectations

I feel we are a 'Family'. Please enter in that spirit. Treat each other with

respect. Know that maybe a couple of hundred people will read your words -

seek their support, respect our mutual illness. Presume that a person whose

words you may not understand may be at least as sick as you are. Privacy

comes first here.

People share remarkable confidences here. Don't betray that trust. What a

person writes belongs to that person. By whatever means you receive a

message, don't pass it ANYWHERE else without the consent of the author.

" Flaming " - shouting and screaming and putting other folks down - does break

out occasionally, because people feel a lot of stress at times. When it

does, try not to join the yelling - PLEASE. Don't compound the folly. There

must be mutual tolerance, and as a support group we must look for

reconciliation. No swearing please - we run on tolerance but also on

respect; don't use boring words, we've all heard them.

Many of us have days when it is hard to be coherent but we are here together

on good days and bad days and there is no test of good writing, just a need

for every Group member to show respect all round.

New subscribers are welcome to jump right in, although it might be helpful

to read other messages for a bit to get the flavor of the group.

Please try to limit discussion to RLS and to accentuate the positive.

Sharing what you have done is positive and makes more friends.

If you would like advice on a problem, set out enough background for replies

to be relevant to you - and remember that other people will tell you their

own stories which may or may not be relevant to you.

Please don't be judgmental. Don't psychoanalyze another person on the basis

of their messages or try to tell them what to do. Members of the group have

already heard enough from others about how this RLS is all in their head or

that they are complaining for attention. Since we only have the printed word

to convey our messages, we have to be careful of what we type.

Please read your messages carefully before pressing " send " . If in doubt, put

your message aside and think about it tomorrow.

Use brief quotes only. Please don't post entire pieces from periodicals or

long documents that are available elsewhere. Instead, quote the www address

(the URL) or offer to send a message privately, giving your email address.

If you just want to say " me too " , it’s best to write directly to the author,

where you may actually feel able to say more and strike up a conversation.

But we do want extra thoughts posted! Don't hold those back.

If you want people to write directly to you about something, add your e-mail

address to your signature.

You can make a ‘hot key’ (by clicking on it, others will be able to bring up

a new message with your email address already in it) using the syntax

mailto:youraddress@...

When replying to messages, it is best not to quote the entire original

message. A little cutting and ing (you insert the word

yourself) here and there will leave a general idea of the history to which

you respond. Put your words at the top of the message in plain sight when

the message is opened.

When you write with an opinion of the effectiveness of a particular approach

to treatment, please try to indicate what source you have for a particular

view. " My experience is... " , " My doctor says... " , " According to the author

of .... " , " I am coming to the view that... " - such expressions strengthen

your point.

Signatures must be as short as possible and cannot contain advertisements

including pointers to web pages that are commercial.

Don't send a message to RLSSupport which you are also sending to other

addressees at the same time. Those others might use the " reply to all "

function and accidentally post to RLSSupport. Please do not write to the

list if you have left it or if you are set to NOMAIL. The only appropriate

time to enter into discussion is when you are here with us. And please

remember, the administrator of RLSSupport has RLS too. I try to keep this

list running smoothly, but have days just as bad as yours. I need your help

to ensure that the list is as easy to read as possible. The ball is in your

court in that regard.