A different way of handling those who post about issues with depression

[Corran Orreaux]

I feel the way those who post about Suicidal thoughts and or self-harm are handled here could be changed. First off, I want to say I completely understand why those topics are generally avoided and I don't mean to shame or blame anyone on the staff; I just feel what is done now is not the best course of action for dealing with these issues.


I can only speak for myself and absolutely no one else but a long while ago, I posted in a journal issues pertaining to suicidal thoughts. I posted here specifically because I felt this was the only place I would be taken seriously. When my post was edited and I got a warning I felt a lot worse, like no cared about me or what I thought, this even resulting in me quieting the forum for a short while.


Now I repeat that this was a while ago and I'm fine now, but my point is that someone going through something like that may feel more depressed and upset when censored, even in a small capacity.   


Maybe a board where people can openly discuss these issues is needed, knowing at least someone out there is rooting for you can do a lot.   

[WingedZephyr]

I can appreciate where you're coming from, believe me, but there are other ways to ask people for help than by posting about suicide. There are also plenty of people that do it just for the attention, and honestly I have no way of expecting our moderators to know the difference between who's serious and who's not.

We already have a procedure in place where this is the message that is supposed to be sent when such a thing comes up:

[Name],

You are receiving this message because one or more of your posts have been moderated to remove discussions of suicide or self harming.

We understand that there are a lot of hurtful things that can happen in the world, and that you are in a lot of pain. Although we try to make the forum here as welcoming and supportive as possible for our forum members, the staff believes that serious discussions about suicide or self-harm are better left to someone who is trained to respond to such topics.

If you are seriously considering suicide or self-harm and you need someone to talk to, we strongly encourage you to chat with the people at IMAlive.org or to call a Suicide Hotline.

Regards,
The The Furry Forums Team.

I wrote that message myself for our staff to share in hopes of easing the tension that can come from this. I don't know when you in particular were warned about it, so I don't know if we had this message back then, but it's been in place for a while now.

Is this a reasonable course of action to you, all things considered?

[Corran Orreaux]

All things considered, I suppose I can't disagree.

[Tweak]

I just want to follow up on this as well as I think it's important to get my input as the owner.

WingedZephyr covers the points really well. I have been in a similar situation myself and I found talking to people helped, I would never have publically posted but that was just my personal feelings on the matter.

A major issue we face which WingedZephyr did not bring up is that of liability. We are not professional therapists or psychologists and therefore are not in a position to be able to offer advice in a public facing manner - if our advice caused further issues then we would be liable for it and could end up in a lot of trouble. However, I will never turn away someone who needs to talk, we all need an ear to listen sometimes and a quick PM or a message on Discord and I will be more than happy to offer some advice if I can.

I'm sure there are others here who feel similar. I don't want this thread to turn into a role call but you can always reach out to a staff member if you need help, they will either offer advice, forward you to someone they feel would be better equipped or point you towards other assistance.

Our warnings are not to disregard anguish or because we don't care - although I'm sure it feels like that sometimes - but it's to keep a community that is safe for everyone. I'd love to believe everyone is honest here but I'm sure some aren't and we need to offer a safe and friendly community. Any warnings are just that, a warning, if you feel it was wrong, then please message an administrator and we can investigate further. We're not nearly as scary as we look!

[anoni]

It should be noted as well that currently we generally don't give % points for suicidal posts (unless they're done excessively), so we're not doing this as a punishment but just, TFF isn't the right place for that stuff. We are not qualified professionals.