Colin
Rules & Guidelines for the BenzoBuddies Community
Revised: 14th Aug. 2013
BenzoBuddies was established to provide practical help and emotional support for those wishing to quit benzodiazepines while verbally beating the fuck out of their doctors while stroking Colin’s ego. In the interests of engendering a harmonious and supportive cult-like atmosphere that fosters lunacy, you must abide by our rules and guidelines or face harassment and shunning. Please note, this is a public forum. Your contributions to the community are accessible by non-members, likely to be indexed by search engines and by Cesspool of Madness.
Forum Rules:
You must hate doctors.
You must hate psychiatrists.
You must hate anyone who works at a pharmaceutical company (and their entire families).
You must be 18 years of age or older to participate within the BenzoBuddies community.
You may create only one account with BenzoBuddies. You may not share your account or login details with anyone else. If for any reason you need to create a second account (for example, you cannot retrieve the password to your original account), you must inform a forum Administrator immediately upon creating your new account.
To help protect members against those who would seek to destroy us, misrepresent themselves or run several accounts at BenzoBuddies (please read the above rule), and to aid the forum team in managing the forum, members and visitors are not permitted to use a proxy server/connection to access the BenzoBuddies Community. Please use a regular, non-proxied connection to access our forum – no VPNs either.
Although we are not “an anti-benzo website”, we are dedicated to help those who wish to quit benzodiazepines. We therefore require that you do not promote the use of benzodiazepines within the BenzoBuddies community, as this would be contrary to our Mission Statement.
You must not knowingly post false statements, nor obscene, vulgar, sexually-orientated, hateful or threatening comments/material. Additionally, your contributions must not violate the laws of the United Kingdom, the United States of America, nor the laws of your own country or a list of Colin’s personal rules (list to follow).
Please do not post any fucking profanity – disguised or otherwise – at this forum. Members will have differing sensitivities to the use of swear words, so it is better to avoid their use altogether. The use of profanity can also contribute to a less calm atmosphere. If a swear word is mild and infrequent, or if the member is particularly upset at the time, we might choose to let the rule infraction go unchallenged or we might just ban you in the midst of a cold turkey. Do not take any such examples of such leniency as a green light to post more of the same. Do not disobey. The Great Oz Colin has spoken.
Although we deeply sympathize with those experiencing suicidal feelings or ideation, to protect the sensitivities of the greater majority of our members – and most importantly, for your own safety – discussions and commentary regarding suicide, suicide ideation, self-harm, or threats of self-harm are not allowed at this forum. If you experience such feelings or thoughts, you must contact your doctor or other suitable healthcare practitioner because we will ban you. You will find more information on our Suicide, Self-Harm & Threatening Behaviour webpage.
Whilst most of our members report negative experiences with doctors, psychiatrists, or the wider medical profession, and although we do not wish to outlaw comments about how members feel let down or mistreated in their personal medical care, you are not permitted to use this community as a platform to spread general anti-doctor or anti-psychiatry propaganda - be specific. Nor should you, unless you are posting a recommendation, name those involved in your healthcare. For more about this policy, please read our Anti-doctor, Anti-psychiatrist and Anti-medicine Comments notice.
You may not use the PM (Personal Message) system, Chat Room, or the Shoutbox for withdrawal or taper advice. These features are primarily intended for moral support, fun, and distraction. Please post your taper plan or withdrawal questions and concerns to the forum boards for wider discussion and feedback. Chat will not be back by Christmas. Stop asking about it or face permanent banning.
Do not denigrate specific religions, ethnicities or cultures. Do not disparage those of another gender, gender identity or sexual orientation. We are a support group for all those experiencing problems with benzodiazepine use or withdrawal – this is our common bond. We do not tolerate prejudice in any form. Just because Ray Nimmo had anti-Semitic cartoons of Jewish medical pioneer Dr. Leo Sternbach being boiled in oil at benzo.org.uk doesn’t mean you can do that here.
In addition, please do not use this community to promote or proselytize a specific religious viewpoint.
You may not post advertising or promotional content at this forum. Member contributions of helpful, relevant links are welcome and appreciated, but you are not allowed to link to outside resources for the purposes of selling products, services and/or requests for donations.
Never mention Cesspool of Madness. Doing so is an automatic permanent ban!
Be polite towards, and respectful of, your fellow Buddies. We do not tolerate attacks upon fellow members. Any account created for the purposes of causing arguments and/or ill-feeling will be banned.
You are not permitted to post your contact details to the BenzoBuddies forum. Nor should you solicit the contact details of other members. Links to, or requests to join, Facebook or any other social networking websites which might potentially identify members’ true identities are not allowed
Members of this community are not to be used as research subjects without the express permission of benzobuddies.org and each and every member/subject who might form part of the study.
Members and visitors to the BenzoBuddies website and community are not allowed to compile data, email addresses or personally identifying information of our members, nor solicit such information from our membership.
Where applicable, we will report such rule/ethical infractions to governing ethical bodies.
Additional Advice & Guidelines:
You are responsible for all your contributions to, and actions through, the BenzoBuddies website, forum and community.
We strongly advise members to remain anonymous. You should avoid creating a membership name which relates to your real name, or to names you use anywhere else online or in your real-world life because the sociopaths at Cesspool of Madness are always watching everything you post, everything you do and eager to find out embarrassing details about your pathetic lives.
Habitual and/or disruptive editing/deletion of your posts may result in you no longer having the ability to alter or remove your posts. This policy exists to protect the integrity of contributions from other members.
Please adopt a non-prescriptive writing style. Relating your experiences, stating options, or posting suggestions of what other members might do are all welcome. However, advising members of what they should or must do is against the ethos of the BenzoBuddies Community. Nor should you attempt to ‘diagnose’ medical problems or suggest medical treatments for other members. This policy also applies to members with medical qualifications. A more detailed explanation of this policy can be found in our Guidelines Regarding the Giving of Medical Advice document.
If it is determined that any of your posts, comments or behavior are in violation of our rules, are disruptive to the smooth running of this forum, or bring the community into disrepute, we might edit or delete your comments, and/or apply other, proportionate sanctions against your account.
BenzoBuddies reserves the right to move, remove, lock, or edit any thread (topic) or post for any reason. This can happen at any moment. How’s your anxiety now?
Rule breaking may result in restrictions being placed upon your account with BenzoBuddies.org (the removal of specific functions or features). More serious rule breaking, or habitual rule breaking, might result in your account being banned or deleted.
THESE RULES MAY BE UPDATED AT ANY TIME. NEW RULES TAKE EFFECT IMMEDIATELY, AND APPLY TO EXISTING MEMBERS. YOU WON’T EVEN KNOW IT’S HAPPENED BECAUSE NO ONE PAYS ANY ATTENTION TO ME – MORAN.