Possible Depression Section?

I actually think that particular clause in the rules is from a time before the sections specifically dedicated to those topics were created. Once upon a time, there were no blogs and no Community Help/Pinkie's Friends in Need/Staff Support sections. In those days, people just posted threads about feeling sad in the General Discussion section; there ended up being so many of them that the moderators in those times came up with a rule about how you could only write a thread about feeling down if you wanted something constructive to come of it, which is how we ended up with that particular rule you quoted there. I think it's kind of obsolete now since we have a section for that stuff and we don't have to worry about it clogging up other sections.

 

Can we not?

There are few things more infuriating than seeing teenagers piss and moan about their petty little problems like it's the end of the *squee!*ing world.

Seriously, kiddos. Until you're paying your own bills, shut the hell up.

You've got it easy, ya little freeloaders.

 

I would argue that everyone should have a right to complain, but it is up to you whether they deserve your attention or not.

I definitely know where you're coming from, and I will agree that quite a lot of the time, it can be annoying to see. It sometimes seems to be based on exaggeration and maybe even lies, to get attention (I know, I've been there, and feel very ashamed of doing so, and apologize greatly to those I did it to).
Everyone has problems of varying degrees though, and venting can help.

Besides, it seems like it hasn't stopped people from doing so in Profile Posts and Blogs.

 

I don't think it's fair to say people's complaints and worries aren't valid just because they don't seem significant to you; people's minds change as they develop, and they become more able to deal with stress and difficult situations (generally). I'm pretty sure everyone has at some point got incredibly het up about something which in hindsight, was not a big deal, but that doesn't mean they aren't worthy of support during that time.

All of these issues are tied up in perspective, and it's incredibly difficult to see something from someone else's perspective, as you'd have to know all the events that have shaped their world view, as well as their mood and mental state.

Besides, it's not like anyone's going to force you to look at it if you don't want.

 

At one time, I do recall, there was a thread made specifically for members to discuss and help each other out during some rather rough times. I believe it was made to prevent others from openly creating a mass of threads to talk about their depression or recent happenings, but instead try to maintain it in one central area. There were even instances of other members using those as bait for attention, too, which is likely why the rule was enforced at some point. (I wasn't around for a while since late 2012, so I wouldn't know much, really.)

I recall the thread because it was a very, very touchy area back then when I was on the staff team with several others. One of the things that constantly ate at me during my time on the staff, as a "Community Patrol Officer" if anyone remembers that term nowadays, was the fact that everyone was asking for help in that thread, but you did not always know how to help them, no matter how hard you thought about it. Not to mention, other members would try to help out, but they would end up worsening the case because they were uncertain of how to handle the situation they were trying to respond to. (There's a huge difference between telling someone to remain positive and hold on, and telling someone to not end it and stay alive.) Another thing about it, despite how serious these topics can be... is that they are often open season to those who enjoy other people's misery and make everything worse by ultimately bullying them and others. While bullying in any fashion is a terrible sport to begin with (and against the rules), there will always be someone who will try to break the cycle at some point.

I personally have no issues with having another sub-forum being made for this certain subject (provided it isn't on the main page), but as Tyro said, the Community Help and Support section will likely be the ideal place for these discussions to take place.

Depression has always been a touchy thing to exist in any community, which is why some sites prefer to stray away from a public display of assistance to it, and keep it to private messaging and whatnot.

 

Potential legal ramifications and potential hostility means: no.

Talking about clinical depression is a job for a therapist. Do not trust random people on the internet to help you with things like that.

 

Is the website liable for actions taken as the result of bad advice? I'm actually not sure.

This is sound advice.

I can actually sort of see where you're coming from there, but also if they just posted in a thread/section where only the moderators would see it the other members need not worry about being annoyed for having witnessed other people's problems.

Implying that other people's problems aren't as valid as yours is an endless staircase of illegitimate claims and hypocrisy. One could easily counter that remark in a back-and-forth, my-problems-are-bigger-than-yours until we reach, "Unless you're dying of cancer, shut the hell up." I don't think that's a healthy way to conduct ourselves in conversation.

 

Yes and no. While technically not illegal, people could sue and/or take various legal actions against the people behind the website. People do random lawsuits for everything nowadays. Best to be safe.

 

You're generalizing people!
That's... uh... specist!
I should sue!

 

Personally, I don't believe we need to make public "I am sad" announcements. It isn't conducive to good conversation, and generally it isn't solvable. It's something best left to blogs or PMs, or the chat room. Those places are more appropriate for it; making a thread specifically to tell everyone you feel sad comes off as self-centered and attention seeking.

And Ridley is right, it is obnoxious, even if they do feel sad, it probably is for a silly reason (if there even is one at all; I remember feelings sad for absolutely no reason all the time when I was younger). I'm not opposed to talking about stuff like that, but I don't think it merits its own thread.

 

Is it this one? Because if so, I can read it. Might wanna take care of that.

 

I am not too familiar with this site's history on the subject at hand, but I do agree with how the rules stand in the text quoted in the original post. Ultimately, depression requires professional treatment. Professional treatment of depression hasn't been perfected by any means, but it is the only thing that has a chance of working (I was fortunate enough to recover from the debilitating effects of Major Depressive Disorder and ultimately taper off of the medication). There is a world of difference between asking for concrete steps on how to improve a situation and throwing a "pity party" for the sake of garnering attention that will never prove to be satisfying anyway (the latter is essentially a variant of trolling with a "positive" spin on it).

 

^Everything Saikyo, Ridley, Legion and M14Brony said. +1

 

I think the issue is a bit larger than whether or not depression should be handled by professionals or not. Of course it should be, but it's not as though a person with depression always just stops being depressed once they've seen a doctor, and they certainly don't turn it off in all other situations just because they're getting professional help. I think having threads about that sort of thing can be fine in general because sometimes even people who are getting professional help need to feel like they're being listened to in other circumstances as well. I do, however, see the angle of the argument that would argue against any thread that actually hopes to make changes or give advice to members who have depression, because there look to be obvious troublesome implications there (not necessarily even legal ones, but of course having people give advice to somebody else on the internet doesn't always pan out even when depression isn't a concern). I think a neat way to address both of those objections might be to have a staff-monitored thread where staff can redirect possibly volatile persons to the proper resources. It's not a solution, but it's better than nothing.

 

My bad. Problem was that the second section still has threads that were there, back when it was only visible by staff, so I got a bit confused.

 

As Tyro said, this already exists: Community Help & Support
And yes, it is preferred they are in the form of a question of sorts as the rule states, so that it promotes healthy conversation.