Depression Forums

I had a similar experience the first time I posted. I wanted to share a success story about a medication that others were interested in. Part of my post made mention of pretty bad headaches I got with draft beer and red wine. The words "beer" and "wine" got auto-changed to "alcohol" which made no sense at all! I thought I was crazy, and that maybe I was just tired and kept typing the word "alcohol"! It also confused me into thinking that the editing function was broken.

I came back an hour later and was unable to edit my post any longer. I started to ask the mods for help, and each time the story was the same: sure, I can help. Then I would give them my corrected text and they would just disappear. It's now 24 hours later and I have approached 7 moderators without success! I have now asked the board admin for help, which surely will ring the death knell for my account there.

The only useful info I have found out so far is that the forum software is set to replace the names of types of alcohol with the generic term "alcohol". This, according to site policy, is to prevent fragile ethanol abusers from hearing the trigger-word that their CIA handlers have implanted in them via mind-control techniques. Say "wine", "beer", or "Hennessy" and they will reflexively top themselves. FFS.

Update: I ended up in their "moderation queue" for being a troublemaker. As others have said, this heavy-handed approach is no way to treat people who come and give freely of their time for the benefit of other people in need.

This website is horrible, which is a shame because there are a lot of terrific people on there who I wish I could talk to some more.

On my first day, one of my posts was moderated. I replied to somebody who mentioned they want to stab themselves in the chest. They removed any reference I made to the act. I understood this at first, because there ARE suicidal people reading who might feel urged to hurt themselves.

But it just kept going from there. Nitpick after nitpick.

Their censorship policies are also very questionable.
At one point, I misspelled "post" as "pot" and noticed it was auto-changed to "urn." I questioned this, and they said that discussion of drugs is more or less forbidden on the forums. I found this hilarious due to the fact that not only is a "pot" a common kitchen utensil (and a topic that could come up in every day conversation,) but "urn" is nowhere close to being a suitable replacement for the word, and that for some, urn could be a reminder of death and a trigger.

I got a very snarky response back, this time from the founder of the site (meaning the person I spoke with about it actually relayed it back, as if I was some sort of a problem member) telling me nobody is forcing me to use this site, and that I'm lucky my username ("joshdammit" which she let me know she found offensive) wasn't changed, and that my "demands" are "unreasonable." She explained away her reasoning behind why "urn" is a suitable word ("you can also pour water in an urn." OH YOU CAN?) and ended with sarcastic "We hope you find this definition of the word suitable. We go out of our way to make sure you are 'comfortable.'"

Inexcusable behavior from the owner of a site that encourages its users to purchase premium subscriptions.

On top of this, the site is atrocious to use, bogged down with ads and needless coding, and difficult to navigate.

I will never return to this site again.

I wouldn't discuss the colour of orange juice with the admin of this website.

I was given a "warning" for daring to discuss with an admin (very clearly and abuse free) why I had started a particular thread under a particular section. When I then tried to message one of her peers about it I was sent back a "ROFL smiley" and told not to waste his time. When I told the website owner about this I was banned from the website altogether. No explanation no discussion. Poor.

You would think being a depression website they would be a bit more understanding but nope!