Irrational Pregnancy Panics

[Heather]

Just a reminder that we CANNOT and will not get mired down in these in our direct services, and must set strong limits around them. If users with them try and push past them, we will just have to suspend use, because this simply is not something that is usually about sex ed at all -- which is the work we need to do -- but about anxiety issues and mental healthcare needs, which we CANNOT provide. As well, when people are in panics, they often will monopolize our time and energy, which isn't a thing we can do and still do what we are supposed to be doing here as a sex education service and organization.

This is about:
• People who have not done anything or been part of anything that presents any realistic risks of pregnancy in the first place OR who are having those kinds of sex, but using reliable methods of contraception that provide excellent protection, but just not trusting them, and/or
• People who have tested for pregnancy (often more than once) but do not believe that those medical tests are accurate.

If you are in this kind of situation, the right person to talk with is a healthcare provider, either a mental healthcare provider, specifically, or a general healthcare provider who can refer you to any needed mental health services. We CAN help users find that healthcare if you need help and are happy to do it, but we cannot ourselves provide that kind of care, and we need our limits and limitations to be respected.