Forum General Rules

1.  We welcome robust debate and discussion, but will not tolerate personal attacks on authors, other users or other individuals. Nor will we allow persistent “trolling” (posting off-topic comments, linking to external sites, advertising disguised as comment, etc)

2.  We welcome constructive criticism, but ask you not to misrepresent or smear Journeys, authors or other site users

3.  Please remember that everyone’s experience of depression is different – what worked for you may not work for another, and what works for someone else may not have worked for you. We appreciate that when topics relate strongly to your personal experience, you may wish to express strong views. However, we ask you to respect other people’s views and beliefs, and ask you to consider your impact on others when making your contribution. We will remove comments that are extremely offensive or threatening

4.  We will redirect or close conversations that descend into “flame-wars” (where contributors abuse one another rather than discuss an issue reasonably)

5.  Journeys recognises the difference between criticising a particular government, party, organisation, community, religion or belief, and attacking people on the basis of their disability, race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. We will not allow racism, sexism, homophobia or other forms of hate-speech.

6.  We will remove any content that might make us subject to legal action, such as potentially libellous or defamatory comments or material that may breach copyright.

7.  We will remove spam or overtly commercial posts. We actively discourage commercial bodies from passing themselves off as individuals, although we will consider allowing a commercial body to post a topic on the Opinion page, where other site users can view and comment on it.

8.  Stay on-topic. While we recognise that some discussions can be wide-ranging, it is important for other site users that posts are relevant to the subject heading

9.  Remember that an online discussion is not the same as a face-to-face conversation; humour and sarcasm do not come across well in text, and may give offence to other contributors. Try to be clear about what you are saying, but accept that you may be misunderstood. It helps all site users if you maintain a reasonable tone even in unreasonable circumstances

10. Journeys is providing this space to give voice to the needs and wishes of people affected by depression. But while the space is ours, the conversation is yours. We want this to be a safe, supportive and welcoming space for intelligent discussion, and would ask you to help us maintain this aim by notifying us of potential problems or abuse, and helping each other to keep conversations inviting and appropriate. If you spot a problem, please report it. If we all take responsibility for maintaining a safe space, the discussion will be improved and we will all benefit.