Gathering threads for a new “personal challenges” forum

Hi Fellow Permies!
We have just started this new forum called "Personal Challenges." There's been a lot of demand for such a forum over the years, and a lot of threads that just don't quite fit well in a specific forum. We are looking for those threads!

What is a personal challenge?
We all have a lot of things in life that we have to deal with, that make our lives more difficult, and require new ways to do things other than how we have done them before or how others do them.
The hard part about defining it is there are spectrums of each problem, and each of the issues have different words. So if I say “female health problems” I’m looking at everything from cramps to cancer, with each issue having it’s own name and diagnosis. So this is an idea of some categories, not a list that is meant to cover all challenges, if yours is not listed, it probably needs to be.  

Chronic health problems, long term illnesses, cancer, birth defects, old injuries that still affect you, vision or hearing changes
Acute health problems, injuries, broken bones, illness that keeps you from being able to do what has to be done (if you have the flu, who takes care of your animals?)
Aging, dealing with the changes a death brings about, pregnancy, adding a child to your family, empty nest, job loss, new job, sudden life changes,
PTSD, mood disorders, autism, Aspergers, dementias of all types,
Low strength, endurance problems, slowing down as you age

This will be a forum for finding ways to adapt your life around those challenges--perhaps new techiniques, perhaps finding ways to work around them, perhaps finding ways to see them as strengths instead of weaknesses. It'll be a forum for finding support and a shoulder to cry on.

BUT, to make such a forum, we need more threads! We need at least 50 threads that can fit in here, and at least 20  of those need to have Personal Challenges as their primary forum. The 20 are going to be threads that fit better in Personal Challenges than in any other forum. So a thread about autism would have Personal Challenges as a primary forum, while one about money issues would have it as a secondary forum.

What you can do: help us find threads that fit and make some, too!

There are threads about personal challenges mixed in all over Permies, that is why I am asking for help finding them. As you read the forums, if you see any threads I need to consider, please post their URL  here. Even after the forum is started, I’ll be watching this thread and looking for more input. Any help you can give me is appreciated! I’m a chronic reader, and I can easily see myself  trying to read every word on permies in the course of this project!

Thank you for your help, and welcome to the new personal challenges forum

Pearl Sutton

I had this Topic titled "Disabled or Displaced."

Permies Link

These come to mind:

https://permies.com/t/96179/Stress-Anxiety-Grief-Manifestations

https://permies.com/t/40133/introvert-community

https://permies.com/t/105941/Homesteading-Young-Children

https://permies.com/t/52261/time-growing-family-starting-homestead

https://permies.com/t/122891/kitchen/Diet-sleep-aides-insomnia

I think this one fits, but it's in the ulcer factory:
https://permies.com/t/123534/Chaos

This one is mine. It might fit?
https://permies.com/t/120341/personal-care/purity/Sensitive-barometric-pressure-symptoms

Amy Arnett: Thank you!! :D
Cider press topics won't be coming here, it confuses people too much to have threads listed that they can't reply to if they lack apples.

Your thread on Sensitive to barometric pressure? What are your symptoms? is exactly the kind of thread that made me want to get this forum going. I'm a barometric pressure issues person too, and I had missed that thread, had no idea there were others here.  That's why I want to have things in a forum where we can find information. I was planning to post an example thread today, but you beat me to it :)
Planned example: A thread that is useful, that has been hidden in some other area, that fits well here.

:D

Bump

I think this is an excellent new category, given that none of us are getting any younger. I will keep my eyes open for threads that should be added.

This seems like a good spot for anything related to aging . There are probably lots of challenges faced by younger people as well, that could be added. Overworked mothers, caregivers and anyone who has become homeless.

I certainly fit here! So often I struggle, but thankfully had learned how to search for another way long before becoming disabled.

My friend, John first contacted me in 2011, when he decided he wanted to build a cabin in his backyard, before a neurological disorder made it impossible for him to participate.

We built that cabin over the course of a couple months and did quite a few other things in his yard all within about 18 months. He tells people that I am the worst slave driver he ever worked for. :-)

John got in quite good shape doing all of that work, and it helped to postpone the inevitable. Within two years he spent most of his time on a mobility scooter. But it's really only affected his legs very much, so he's still able to do things and able to enjoy the things that we built.

Getting those things done, while he was still able, has made his life much easier now, and it's a source of pride, knowing that he did much of it himself. John was a very strong man in his day, having been a logger and landscaper in his earlier life. So he did not welcome the news of where his health was headed. But he took it on the chin and took every necessary step, to adapt to the situation.

I'm going to dig up the thread about the building of his cabin.

A few more that came to mind that might fit...

https://permies.com/t/106482/gridders-suffered-mentally-living

https://permies.com/t/92184/kitchen/Understanding-Lyme-Autoimmune-Diseases

https://permies.com/t/123410/permaculture-elderly

https://permies.com/t/36052/Elder-Care

https://permies.com/t/107062/frustration-held-agreements-agreed

https://permies.com/t/126844/Homestead-Chronic-Illness

https://permies.com/t/127948/ve-surrender-chores-poor-husband

Saturday morning bump! When you are reading permies, keep an eye out for threads I need to move! :D

A fun trip down the rabbit hole of "similar threads" yielded these:

https://permies.com/t/40/16255/Aging-place-homestead
https://permies.com/t/36052/Elder-Care
https://permies.com/t/98952/autism
https://permies.com/t/54594/Importance-Neurodiversity-Permaculture
https://permies.com/t/32966/Adaptive-Permaculture-integrate-folks-disabilities 
https://permies.com/t/85526/purity/work-people-health-issues  
https://permies.com/t/38317/Disabled-people-permaculture-homesteading
https://permies.com/t/80/52046/Women-homesteading#1011435  
https://permies.com/t/25767/husband-dealing-disabilities
https://permies.com/t/30894/Creating-Healing-Center
https://permies.com/t/80/56826/permaculture-projects/Aging-place-permaculture  

I would like to nominate the following thread for this subforum:  https://permies.com/t/127553/Child

Although we tap into many useful attributes in our later lives that came from our childhoods, often underappreciated are the more negative experiences in childhood that manifest themselves as 'personal challenges' in adulthood.  These tend to be revealed most strongly in interpersonal relationships, but our relationships with the non-human can become hobbled from these as well.  Recovery from these early wounds often is one leg of moving onto a better path in our adult lives.

Hi Pearl, I think this fits:

https://permies.com/t/97274/trouble-time-year

(Also hits close to home.)