The Depression Forum's Super Administrators would like to offer some guidelines to DF™s members concerning posting etiquette on these forums.

Members should periodically review the terms of service.
If a member is having difficulty being objective i.e. forgetting that there is a spirit of fairness toward all members, not just any one individual™s needs, that member may want to consider taking a break from DF, if only temporarily.

As a reminder, being a member of these Forums and your posting rights are a PRIVILEGE. Though these Forums can be viewed by the public, it is a private entity, graciously hosted and administered by volunteers. Members, including moderators and administrators are NOT paid, professional counselors, but human beings with their own issues that are no less important.

Be responsible with what you post.
Please respect the views of others even if you think they're wrong. Please be sensitive to their feelings even if they hurt yours. Different points of view are fine, but your freedom of speech is limited to kindness, empathy and consideration as they are the best ways we can educate ourselves and help one another on our journey to recovery. It can be therapeutic to express yourself, but this isn't necessarily the place to do so. DepressionForums is family oriented and PG rated.
We would appreciate if you would not start more than two topics in a Forum (room) and notify a mod if you would like your topic deleted.
If you feel another member is not giving you that consideration by harassment or inappropriate comments posted or PM™d to you, it should be dealt with by contacting Forum Administration or any moderator PRIVATELY. Before doing so, take a moment to be objective. Count to ten before responding. Using all Caps is a form of shouting on the Internet and not appropriate. Understand that maybe like you, other members are feeling sensitive, frustrated or angry. At that time, use your own sensitivity to step back from the negative words written and reach out with compassion.
Suicidal threats, harassment or any other continued posts of this nature should be reported IMMEDIATELY to Forum Admin. It is up to the discretion of the Administration to determine whether such members will have their posting rights suspended and/or their membership banned from Depression Forums Website and Chat.
NOTE: This does NOT refer to members posting in crisis!

Each forum may have some distinct forum rules to follow such as The Eating Disorders Forum which disallows posting numbers, etc and will say so at the top of the forum. Please make certain that you look for certain rules that may be at the top of each forum. Thank you.


Members may not have more than one user account at DF under any circumstance.

About the depression and religion forum:
This is a room to explore the relationship between your Depression, Religion and Spirituality.

AT ALL TIMES, it is necessary that we write in a way that shows consideration of and respect for the beliefs or nonbeliefs of other members.
This is NOT a forum to debate religion or to hold purely religious squabbles. We are a Forum with a PRIMARY GOAL of dealing with Depression in various ways. Depression is at the heart of the topic in EVERY topic in this Forum.
No member shall continuously preach, in a post, their religious beliefs on these, or any other forums, to other members. We shall not tolorate such behavior.
Please see our Terms of Service.
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We will not discuss posts dealing with illegal drugs and/or alcohol abuse with your medications.


WE ARE HERE TO HELP EACH OTHER IN RECOVERY. Alcohol is a depressant.
Anybody that drinks while taking an antidepressant is taking irresponsible chances with their physical and mental health!

There are specific warnings not to combine alcohol and antidepressants.

1. Both are processed by your liver and you risk liver damage.
2. Drinking affects how much of the meds are absorbed into your body.
3. Meds affect how the alcohol is absorbed and can result in being extremely drunk, huge hangovers, and/or alcohol poisoning and chances of seizures.
4. Alcohol is a depressant - you are making your mental health worse by drinking.
Do you *really* need to drink? What is more important, having a couple drinks, or getting your mental health in order?
Is it realistic to ask people not to drink? In our minds, yes. Pregnant women stop for 9 months because they know it isn't safe to drink - for your mental health, surely you can not drink for the time you are on antidepressants. It's a matter of setting your priorities straight.

If you personally choose to drink and mess up your mind, go for it, but don't come whining back here when you drop into a pit of depression. There are enough people here that tried and learned the hard way. But don't go around telling other members that it's alright to drink while on meds when it is not.

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We do not want to know how 'well' and 'good' you felt self medicating. Your posts will be edited and you will be warned by Admin as we will have no part in such discussions!
It is not in your best interest and posting such as this can trigger others. There is no substitute for getting the help that you need through therapy and legal medications.
We suggest doing a search on alcohol (here on DF) and see what you come up with, as we have implemented these forums rules for a very long time. (2002)
Your Antidepressants And Alcohol, Don't -Forum Admin
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-Forum Administrators

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Posting Spam to raise your user rank will not be tolerated!

QUOTE

Regarding rank:

(1) Rank does NOT matter on this board! It does not represent power, veterancy, nor authority--unless the member is a Moderator or an Admin.

(2) Getting to the maximum level of IPB rank on this board will get you... NOTHING, if your posts are just to get into the Cafe' or Arcade!

(3) Posting meaningless posts for the purpose of raising you through the ranks is unacceptable and will result the the following *possible* measures (one or more may be skipped):

(i) a private warning to desist

(ii) a public warning to desist

(iii) reduction of total post count to "demote" you

(iv) deletion of posts

(v) mucking of posts by admins for the purpose of making you look ...BAD? (Just joking!)

(vi) getting banned

(3) According to the Invisionboard implementation, the number of posts will elevate you through the ranks, but if there is any abuse of this system, I will take to nullify any possible benefits some people may expect to see which shall effect:

(i) The post count displayed on each post will be removed

(ii) The "rank" image will now be randomly set periodically. It will be meaningless, yet fun. (I'm hoping this will encourage a wide variety of activity. )

(iii) However, titles will remain.

Posting in New Posts - MNESN - Members Needing Extra Support Now! One Topic Limitation

We ask that members do try to limit themselves to ONE TOPIC in this special CRISIS room. If you already have a thread in here and need to discuss a different issue immediately, feel free to add to your Original Topic .

We need to reserve this FORUM for EMERGENCY SITUATIONS and we don't know when that period has past unless you tell us.
If you have a topic in this room that no longer needs immediate attention, please let us know. Send a PM to any moderator you see on the Forums.
When the crisis has passed we shall let it drop off to the back pages to make room for others' in crisis. If you prefer, if asked, we will move it to Depression Central or another appropriate room, by a MODERATOR.
We need immediate topics to be identified and responded to quickly and we need your help to do so. Thank you.

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Posting in Forums - Two Topics Limitation
When you do not see a topic for your particular question in a medication forum, etc, starting a topic is simple, just click on "NewTopic" at the upper right hand corner of that particular Forum's page.
If you see a recent related topic to your query or want to answer a members' topic, then click on "reply" at the end of their post. You may also click on 'quote' to quote them in your post. (Also see quotes )
Two Topics are more than welcomed for you to start in any forum in DF and you may reply to any topic as many times as you wish, including your own!
Reason for a two topic liimit is to give others a chance to have front page exposure as well!

Signature and post restrictions:
You have many Avatars to choose from and you may also use an Avatar of your own, but please do not use your own picture as your Avatar as this can put some in danger.
We ask that you keep any images you may put into your signature relatively small. Pics are not permitted in posts. You may add them to the Gallery.
For images in posts, please consider posting them in your image gallery rather than directly on the forum. A link from your post to the image is more appropriate than the image itself in almost all circumstances.
We do discourage images in signatures as a rule, but if you insist, please do not exceed the size limits for a signature graphic for various reasons below.
Signatures will be kept to one picture per post and under 3kb in size. Moderators have full authority to remove your signature.
Links in signatures or profiles and in posts are restricted.

Keep in mind: Signatures:- The very Maximum height is: 75 pixels
The very Maximum with is: 200 pixels

Also keep in mind: Avatars:- The very Maximum height is: 90 pixels
The very Maximum width is: 90 pixels

Better yet, keep your signature to just that..a signature. We do discourage them as members with dialup have a difficult time loading the page.
If your sig is large it takes that much longer to load. Especially if it's large and hosted on a slow server. You do not notice that many members having pics in their signatures, do you?


We do have a photo Gallery and you are free to post any size pictures within reason and content is always PG rated.
Please post a link to the picture you would like to show your peers (not the website).
This will ensure that the forums load quickly for all users as huge graphics and pictures are unnecessary and cause a strain on these boards plus take away from your post if a signature, distract from the content of posts, often being more noticeable than whatever the poster has to say!

If you want to share your pictures please do so by starting your own Gallery here at depressionforums and put in a link to it in your posts. No pictures in posts are permitted, so please post a link to your pictures as that is why we have a Gallery.

Think of those that are NOT on DSL or Cable, but on dial-up! Make a hyperlink to your DF picture Gallery to images instead. It matters to members keep the boards loading quickly. So keeping posts limited to picture links to the Gallery does make the boards load faster for our members!

Please do not insert your own pics or animated gifs in your signature.
Exceptions to the rule are DF's avatars.
Administrators and Moderators are exempt.
... a very small benefit for helping out.

Breaking this rule will result in a warning from an Admin or suspension.

Warning Level

The "Warn" system is a feature which allows Admin & Moderators to privately "warn" any troublesome users through the PM system or e-mail. These warning come in three types:

1) one written warning will increment the user's warning level 33.3% and may add a suspension, the time depending on the seriousness of the offense.

2) Second written warning will increment the user's warning level 66.6% and may add a suspension, the time depending on the seriousness of the offense.

3) Third warning will incriment the members warning level to 99.9 % and will lead to a banning also depending upon the seriousness of the offense.


There are 3 warning levels.

1.

2.

3.


If a member reaches the ultimate warning level i.e if he was warned 3 times, he will be stripped from posting privileges, banned from the boards and only Administrators can reverse these actions, which are highly unlikely.


*Notice: These announcements are subject to change. All decisions are arbitrary because this is our board at our expense, and is offered as a courtesy for the readers of depressionforums.org. If you do not agree, please do not use this board.

The Depressionforums Administration Team
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We appreciate you being here. Your contributions, whether seeking help or graciously offering support, have a far-reaching impact. Please be responsible