MAP Forum

Hi all, my name is Orry.

I'm a friend of PorcelainLark and Fragment. I'm also fairly new to MAP spaces, it's been about a year now I think... in that time, I've gotten pretty heavily invested in MAP advocacy, especially from the mental health and peer support side. As of a few months ago, I'm the lead moderator of B4um, B4U-ACT's peer support forum. I really love B4um and that's where most of my MAP activity goes, but I would like to talk with some folks on MU, too.

Oh yeah, and I also have a story to share about being an AAM... I realized I was a MAP around age 13. I was really impassioned by what I saw as an injustice, of MAPs being hated for things they can't control. In my freshman year of high school, we were doing presentations in class and I asked my teacher to present on MAPs. I described my view plainly, but she said "Ohh... so you want to present about child abuse, right?" I realized then that I should probably stay closeted. I still am closeted, except for a few close friends who are also MAPs. I might have changed some young minds if I did that presentation, but I'm glad I reconsidered, for my own safety.

I still don't feel comfortable coming out, but I hope to do some good behind the scenes. I respect everyone here who has the courage to share parts of themself and advocate for MAP causes.

Hey, how's it going? Good to see you here.

Hiya Lark, good to see you too.

Welcome.

I rarely use the B4U-ACT forum, but it is useful to have overlap of users and some topics. We are planning to restructure the forums somewhat here, so there is a clearly navigable private peer support experience, rather than just one or two private forums.

Some users here might also value the idea of attending a conference in the future.

The more the merrier! I have an account there too, lots of people there.