Tell me if I've missed any out, but the way I see it there are 4 types of responses people can give to an OP:-
1. Advice. This is not to complain about, as people offering advice to you definitely mean well and are only caring. But sometimes people don't always want advice and probably dismiss advice because it isn't convenient for them. I'm bad at giving advice, so I haven't really experienced the pain of having my advice passive-aggressively dismissed by the OP.
2. Sympathy/empathy. I see these types of responses a lot on WP, which is nice. Sometimes people like to vent or get things off their chest, and a bit of sympathy or empathy can go a long way.
3. Answers. This is slightly different to advice. Sometimes when one is feeling distressed it often helps to gain some answers. Having answers can reassure me big time. So often if one is expressing anxiety and anguish in a post, it might be helpful to reassure that person with positive answers, if you know some (like reliable statistics).
4. Jokes. Although some people seem to think replying with a joke will cheer the OP up, sometimes the OP isn't always in the mood for jokes or it could be taken the wrong way and trigger the OP even more. Jokes are more appropriate in random discussion threads or other threads that don't involve much serious content. Of course some relevant jokes may sometimes help in more serious threads, but it's best to be careful with what you give as a joke.
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Female
28 Oct 2020, 10:16 pm
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