This version was correct as of 15 June 2021. You can always find the latest version under Forum Information > Forum Rules and Guidelines once you’re logged in on the forum.
The Mental Health Forum aims to be the friendliest place on the web to meet and discuss anything to do with mental health issues. We are run on a volunteer basis by a team of forum members who experience or have experienced mental or emotional distress.
If you ever see anything on the forum which causes you concern, please report it by using the REPORT link which can be found underneath every post.
Guidelines
Please follow these guidelines to help keep this a friendly place:
- Be polite: Don’t post or private message anything which could be considered offensive, abusive, or hate speech.
- Remain thoughtful: Don’t post in threads or private message anything which could harm other members or the people who visit our forum.
- Be courteous towards each other: Please keep it friendly, don’t harass or trouble anyone, impersonate people, or expose their private information.
- Protect your and other people’s privacy: Don’t forget this is a public forum. Search engines index these discussions. It is important that you don’t expose your identity or the identity of others. Please follow safe internet practices.
- Respect our forum and the people who run it: Please follow these guidelines and the instructions given by the team running the forum.
- Please be reasonable to the team running the forum: Our forum staff team are all unpaid volunteers who work very hard to keep the forum welcoming, friendly, safe and spam-free. Please do not place undue demands on them.
Posts that may be edited or deleted
The following types of posts are likely to be edited or deleted:
- Posts containing personal insults, attacks, innuendo, attempts at provocation, or flaming
- Sexist, racist, ageist, homophobic, transphobic, or disablist posts
- Sexually explicit or obscene posts
- Posts containing offensive or harmful material, including explicit descriptions of self-harm methods, pro-anorexia posts and mention of specific suicide methods
- Posts mentioning the names of specific services you use or have used and real names of individuals working in them where your or another person’s privacy may be at risk
- Posts that are intolerant of beliefs/religions
- Religious preaching/proselytising
- Opinions that are portrayed as facts
- Threads about particular members (e.g. “I miss …”, “What happened to…?”, etc.)
- Copyrighted material
- Irrelevant posts
- Swear words in the titles
- Posts not in English
- Advertising (without prior permission) and spam
- Duplicate posts
- Links to blogs.
The owners of the forum reserve the right to edit or delete any post for any reason.
Posting of photos and images
We do not allow the posting of photos of members and/or their friends and families for privacy reasons (this includes avatars). Any images posted must not contain moving images or GIFS.
Links/quoted text
Links and any quoted text also need to be accompanied by some thoughts / discussion / comments.
Signatures
Signatures shouldn’t be more than 3 lines of text. You may have a small image, but must not be larger than roughly 3 lines of normal text. Links are not permitted.
Discussing moderation on the forum
We do not allow the discussion of specific moderation decisions on our forum.
Concerns about moderating decisions
Forum staff will not respond to unsolicited private messages about moderating decisions. If you have concerns about a decision that has been made, please express your concern by reporting it using the report function on the relevant post.
Accounts
Members must only have one account. Accounts being closed at the request of a member are subject to a 48 hour cooling off period, during which the account will be kept open in case you change your mind.
Using private messages (conversations)
Private Messages (called “Conversations”) are a useful tool for connecting with people in similar situations or even to develop friendships. However, please do not send PMs containing unsolicited advertising, spam, of a sexual nature, or with the intention of entering into a romantic relationship with another member or for the purposes of conducting (formal or informal) online therapy.
Research
Using the forum for research purposes is not permitted unless you are a member and have explicitly been granted permission through our research approval process. Details of what is required can be found here: research requests.
Restriction of forum facilities
We reserve the right to put forum members on moderation and/or remove their access to the private messaging system for any reason.
Termination of membership
We reserve the right to terminate the membership of any forum member.
What happens if the guidelines aren’t followed
If members do not keep to these guidelines, they are subject to our policy on what happens if the guidelines aren’t followed, which can be found under Forum Information > Forum Rules and Guidelines ***Essential to read*** once you are logged in.
Other important things to note
Personal safety
Do not post anything which could lead to your identity becoming known or that could risk your personal safety. If you have inadvertently done so, or if you spot personal information on the forum, please report the posts.
Online safety
If you are ever concerned about your safety while using the Mental Health Forum, please report the post or private message which causes the concern. Doing so helps us make the forum safe for all our community members.
Be careful who you trust online
Please do not give out any personal information such as your name, address, phone number, or e-mail address when using the forum’s private message system until you’ve got to know someone really well. People have all sorts of motives to request such information. It’s important to make sure the person you are considering sharing such information with has genuine motives. Please read this article and this article before you start sharing information and meeting up with someone.
Forum privacy policy
All members should make themselves aware of the Privacy Policy of the Mental Health Forum.
Disclaimer
By using the Mental Health Forum you agree that you are bound by our disclaimer and our terms of service.
Any advice posted on the Mental Health Forum is for support purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for advice by a qualified professional.
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless this forum, and the owners of this forum, Together 4 Change Limited.
You agree, through your use of this forum, that you will not post any material which is false, abusive, harassing, obscene, threatening, invasive of a person’s privacy, or otherwise in violation of ANY law.
This site does not align itself to any one political, religious, medical or cultural bias.