Welcome to FreeNAMI. This group is aligned with, but is not a part of, MindFreedom Support Coalition International, whose express purpose is to protect and defend our constitutional civil rights and freedoms as regards mental health issues. These freedoms have been attacked by many, including our last President, Mr. Bush, and continue to be attacked by the pharmaceutical companies. Many people, owning great amounts of stock in these companies, want to force mental health screening and treatment upon us. We say NO!

I have had several forums and groups over the past five years. I think it is important for everyone to just review our rules on occasion that will make this one of the best places to post about these topics. I hope everyone can agree to abide by these rules so that this forum will continue to be a pleasant experience.

1. New members' posts are moderated. Post something, and as soon as a Moderator sees the post, it will be reviewed (and approved, at which time your status will change to Unmoderated, or rejected, at which time your status will either remain the same or revert to Banned.) The reasons for Moderating or Banning you are violations of the remainder of these rules. As much as possible, these will be decided objectively.

1a. The main reason for moderation status for new members is to prevent spammers from posting.  You aren't here to read about dating services or sexual aids or drugs; you're here to talk about civil rights as regards mental health.

2. Obscenity, personal attacks, flaming, ridicule, taunting and excessive profanity are NOT allowed. Attacks or posts putting any member's race, creed, sex, religion or political beliefs in a bad light will not be tolerated. Trolling (the posting of "baited" arguments, flames, taunting or personal attacks for no other purpose than to annoy someone or disrupt a discussion) is also forbidden.

3. We are open to any and all suggestions on how to improve this forum. However, open criticism should be expressed to the host or moderators via email, not posted on the forum. Antagonizing other posters, moderators or the host, will not be tolerated and will result in banishment from the forum. Warning: Personally attacking the host will result in banishment from the forum. Any posts containing statements that put the forum, host or any moderator in a bad light will be deleted. When you have a personal disagreement with how the host or a moderator is doing their job, or about the policies of the forum itself, the disagreement should be kept PRIVATE by emailing the person with whom you have a gripe. If you have a problem with any other member, first contact that member privately in email. If you cannot resolve your difference, contact the host or any moderator. The host and moderators should not bring these criticisms up in public or criticize other moderators, and may lose their status if they do.

4. STAY ON TOPIC.  If you change the topic, change the Subject Line accordingly.  Excessive violations of this may result in Moderated status.  Nobody's perfect, we'll allow a few errors, but don't make it a habit.

5. Accusations against other forum members of using multiple handles and/or pseudonyms and hacking are NOT allowed. Those who are hackers AND those who make such accusations in public space will be banned.

6. Posting links and images are allowed, as long as they cannot be viewed as containing obscene material. Posting a message from another group will be immediately deleted if it puts this group or the original group in a bad light. Any picture that could be considered obscene by any member of the forum will be immediately deleted. We try to keep this forum family-oriented, where anyone over 15 can visit without finding offensive material.

6a. This group should pass attachments, but I haven't checked the settings.  If at all possible, include the entire text in the message.

6b. Respect copyright.  If someone reports problems loading an article on an external website, I will tolerate posting the entire article to the group (or post it myself); otherwise, copyrighted articles without express permission for reposting are not allowed.

7. Masked profanity, #@*%, is allowed. Don't get carried away with it. Excesses will be deleted and may be grounds for banishment.

Hugs,
zaivala