1. This place is meant to be supportive. Rude posts, harassing posts, flames, and threats are not allowed. Threads that are viewed to be inappropriate, demeaning or of direct insult to any particular member, religion, race, sexuality or nationality will be locked, deleted and/or edited immediately. All decisions regarding deletion/locking of threads, member accounts and the banning of members will be made by the moderators and administrators.  Please respect these decisions and forward any complaints directly to the Administrators or a moderator.

2. Please add **TRIGGER** to a post that you feel might trigger others. However, we all need to keep in mind that much of what you see on this board will be triggering. What constitutes a trigger warning?  Posts related to suicide, abuse in any form or self injury that are posted anywhere except in the applicable folders.  Keep safe and avoid the trigger topics if you are feeling vulnerable.

3. Please be respectful of different ways of healing. Not everyone heals in the same way.

4. Try to keep posts in the right forum. Not a big deal, but it's nice. Some posts may be moved.

5. Please remember that we all suffer depression in some form or another. Some things might anger you and you might want to disagree. Keep in mind that everyone who posts here is a person and deserves to be treated as such. If a post has you angry or triggered, take a moment to relax before replying, instead of lashing out.  Abusive posts and/or Pm's are not permitted.  Please report any to the Administrators or a Moderator.

6. Please, no suicide notes or good-bye due to suicide letters. If you are thinking of suicide, call the police or a local hotline. We understand that everyone isn't always in a happy mood, and you can definitely post about how you're feeling, but that does not include suicide notes. Most of the people here are not trained professionals. While we want to help you through your difficult times, the feeling of helplessness that comes with reading someone's suicide note online is incredible. Please seek help from someone who can help to keep you safe. The suicidal thoughts folder is meant for expressing a further pain and frustration we all feel from time to time.

7. Religion is a very controversial subject, one that needs a better forum than this to be debated. We are not trying to minimize anyone's religious choices or lack thereof; we honor all your choices. However due to the sensitive nature of our members and the topic, we do not allow any religion oriented threads, of a strictly debate or discussion nature anywhere on the board except in the opinion and debates area.  If you mention religion at all, please be sensitive in your wording. Try to avoid absolute statements by using words like "I believe," instead of stating your views as fact. Please keep religious postings in the spirituality folder.  Please bear in mind this is a depression support group and not a religious support group.  Postings containing topics of a  mainly religious nature are not permitted, except in the spirituality folder.  This may be a fine line at times, and we ask that you honor the decisions of the moderators as to the editing, locking and deletion of threads.

8. If you are having a problem with another member of the board, please email them privately, or email the administrators or moderators. All correspondence of this nature should be kept in private email. This is a place for healing topics and discussion, not for bickering or fighting between members.  If you can't resolve the issue with the member, please contact the Administrators or a Moderator.

9. If you have any sort of a problem with another member of the board do not post about without first discussing the situation with the administrators or a moderator. Posts that say e.g. "another member of the board has destroyed my trust" do nothing but fuel paranoia and mistrust.  Posts of this nature will be deleted immediately.

10. Please do not come here solely to advertise your message boards.  Posts related to this will be removed.

11. For research requests, please contact the board administrators at admin@beatingthebeast.com to seek permission to post about it, explaining what it is you are doing, for whom the research is for and all applicable links to questionnaires.  Posts made without permission will be removed.

12. Stalking of others, on our website or in other manners, is a serious offense. In many areas, such behavior is considered to be a criminal act and isn’t tolerated here. IP's and information is logged and viewable by administrators and moderators, so you may be reported to your ISP if we feel it is necessary.

13. Please use common sense when corresponding with people. You would not share your full name and address with a stranger you just met on the street, so please don’t consider doing the same to someone you just met on line.  We can not control who becomes a member here, and we cannot guarantee that anyone is who they say they are.  We suggest that if you wish to correspond with someone you do so by e-mail or chat on an IM program first.

14. Please remember that this is a support group atmosphere, not one-on-one therapy. No one here owes anyone else support. Anyone who tries to guilt members into giving them help will be asked to re-consider their participation in the forum.  Always bear in mind that some days are slower than others here and some topics hit home with people more than others.  The amount of support received will always vary from day to day.

15. Please don't bring your issues with other message boards here. We are all here to learn to heal from and cope with Depression and dragging other message boards through the mud isn't helpful or productive to our goals here.

16. We reserve the right to remove or move any post(s) we feel are in violation of our rules and guidelines, that is off-topic or not at all related to the board content without prior notification.

This board is not to be used in place of professional counseling or therapy. We are not professionals; we are survivors who can support one another through the healing process.

All posts and PM's are the property of Beating The Beast.

If you are feeling suicidal, please check this link and seek help immediately.  Suicide hotline