Naming Meds in the Forum
I've seen some comments editted for naming medications in the forums. Others remain for a long time right with it in the title. I see no rule about talking about specific medications in the forums, only in the chat room rules.
Can someone clear this up?
@Heather
@AffyAvo,
I checked the rules of engagement, and it has nothing about it in there. I think that was done in the chatrooms because it could be much more triggering in the chatrooms. For example, if a member or listener is like, I'm gonna use (medication), that could spur a whole bunch of stuff about "Nah, use (medication) instead. Do (this) instead."
In the forums, it's not really like that; the forums are not really done conversationally.
I do think we should have a concrete rule on it, though; as it stands right now I do not edit out the names of medication unless someone is urging others to try it, either recreationally or for mental illnesses, etc.
@Cadence That's how I took it too, but I've seen forum mentors make edits. They are doing so openly and transparently, so clearly not everyone is on the same page. I'd like it to be more clear before putting effort into certain forum posts!
@Cadence
Thank you Cadence for addressing this issue and for @AffyAvo for asking. I too have been confused if whether naming medications was against the rules on the forums. That clears up a lot, thank you! 
P.S. Is there a more comprehensive lists of rules for the forums? I've seen one before but it was vague and just mentioned respecting each other. I've also noticed that people's weight have been edited out and I was wondering if that is something we shouldn't say? I'm getting more confused each day with what is acceptable and what isn't! haha
@KindListening
As far as I know for the forums as a whole, the only rules are the community guidelines. So things like sharing contact info and flirting aren't allowed.
I think the eating disorders community has a few rules about avoiding certain triggers, so while someone may share their weight in the healthy living section or the chronic illness section, this wouldn't be allowed in the eating disorders section. At least that's my understanding!
@AffyAvo
Thank you! I wasn't sure if I was out of the loop when it came to some sort of comprehensive lists of do's and don'ts 
(I'm a stickler for rules lol) Overall, I'm glad that there isn't too many set rules on how to interact besides being respectful and keeping all conversations within 7cups.
@Cadence
I hope I don't get in trouble for this but :(
I'm unsure of what is being applied now as I'm not a forum mentor these days or a member of the forum team. There was a general rule of thumb around editing of the names of medications in the forums back in the day, however it may have changed these days. In essence, a general mention such as, "I started taking anti-depressant medication a few weeks ago" - was fine so long as it was part of building the picture for a wider story, i.e. it was an element of the story but not the focus of the story. Where things can go awry is when one of two things pop up:
1. There is specific advice about what medications people should take. This, quite obviously, should be managed by the relevant individual's medical professional and for obvious reasons.
2. Specific mention of pharmaceutical branding may be construed as encouraging one brand over another. This can apply in a wider context than just medications clearly.
In either case, an edit was appropriate with the relevant notation explaining why. In each case, the edit shouldn't impact the essence of the forum thread.
As I noted earlier however, this may have changed since I stepped down as a forum leader late in 2015 so it'll pay to talk to the existing leadership.
@Roadie
I think you and I have the same idea <3
And psh, regardless of whether or not you're a leader/mentor you're still very important in the forums. So thank you for posting this, sweets. <3
@Roadie laid out how I generally feel about it, but you're right that there isn't a clear rule, which is an issue! I'm of two minds about whether or not medication names should be allowed - on the one hand, I think it's awfully confusing to have very different rules in the chatrooms than the forums because it will always lead to some inconsistency about how they are applied by well-intentioned people who don't realize they are different. On the other hand, as pointed out, it is more of an issue in the chatrooms than the forums by nature of how those areas function. Let me circle back with Laura and see if I can figure out if there is a rule that I'm forgetting about, but then get some clarity in general to share with the community and make sure the forum mentors and teen stars are aware of so that either way we are being consistent!
And @KindListening - where you've likely seen weight being edited out is in the Eating Disorders forum - in order to keep that a safe space for all reaching out, we have a couple additional guidelines outside of the rest of the forum - specifically, avoiding mentioning specific weights or calories, which are broadly triggering to most in that area and can pretty easily be removed without losing any of the meaning or broader content in the post. Both are completely fine elsewhere on the site, though!
@AffyAvo @Cadence
@Anomalia
I thought that rule applied to every place in the community! Because you can trigger people everywhere not just in the chatrooms. So I am guilty of editing some of the forum posts :) but for sure I will stop doing that once we have a clear direction. :)
@cristiana33 - I think this is 100% a case of not enough clarity, so I completely understand why some people are editing them (and I have definitely edited my share, as well) and why others are not. Once we have a clear decision, I'll make sure we share it here and also send it out to all forum mentors so we are all on the same page!
@Anomalia @AffyAvo @Cadence @Roadie @cristiana33
I find it so amazing that just one question is making such a huge difference! I really admire each and every one of you for taking the time and effort to make this place wonderful! It warms my heart that Affy's question has been taken so seriously, you guys rock! Seriously, the dedication and love that is put into this website is outstanding xx
Adding @Laura and @MissZ to this thread.
If there are rules that apply to the forums beyond the general guidelines everyone who is capable of posting or enforcing these rules should be able to find out what they are easily.
I agree.
I'd go further and suggest that if there's something we don't want to support people with, we should tell them in advance. It's not enough to say to them, after their post has been edited, that they should have searched for and memorized some set of rules before posting.
Furthermore, we should refer them to somewhere they can get the support we don't want to give them. There are plenty of places on the Internet where people can discuss their medications, and it's right that they should be able to have those discussions.
@AffyAvo
I'm feel really frustrated by the way things are being handled.
There are rules stated clearly, right when setting up a profile picture that are not at all enforced.
I have seen mods, including one who is higher up the 'ranks' and friends with an admin state med names in the group chat rooms when it's not allowed. When it was allowed I was penalized though.
There has still been no clarification on the forum and naming meds.
I'm tired of having to guess at what's ok and what's not or maybe it's ok with person x but not person y. Can't follow examples of others who are given power.
Things are not being handled at all, as far as I can tell. It's not just this meds question. Maybe the problem is that any decision will be criticized by some people, and criticism must be avoided at all costs, so the simplest solution is not to make any decision.
@AffyAvo
@RarelyCharlie
Thanks.
There's a fair bit of talk about professionalism, transparency and quality. Talk is cheap though. I'm getting frustrated by being questioned or ignored by those who can make the changes when I bring up issues with the site. Especially when it's easy by making a decision and editting the rules if necessary as in this case.
I'm still annoyed by the Q&A I don't understand why it was so easy for them to rename the categories incorrectly but so difficult for them to be fixed.
Hi Everyone!
I am deeply sorry for the delay in reply here. It is my fault for not getting back to you sooner. Consistency is the most appropriate way to go here. As @Anomalia pointed out, different rules for different areas of the site adds to confusion & could result is a lack of moderation or inappropriate situations/ conversations. While there are exceptions in which talking about a specific medication may make sense in the forums, but not in the chatrooms, we still need to aim for consistency. So the guideline will remain the same for forums & chatrooms. This guideline is: "Please do not share names of drugs or medication with others."
Instead of giving a specific drug name, you could say "My anxiety medication..."
I will update our community guidelines to more clearly state this as well. Additionally, I will communicate this to the forum mentor team.
@Laura It's not a rule I care for and I think this contributes to the stigmitization of medication use, but I appreciate at least having clarity on what the rule is.
I completely agree. Having an explicit rule will be an improvement on what we had before, but the rule stigmatizes medication and the people who rely on it.
Of course, I appreciate that 7 Cups is a talking-therapy business. This rule moves 7 Cups in the direction of the anti-psychiatry movement, which I'm not particularly against, but it's an interesting move in terms of business strategy. I wonder whether our therapists are on board with it.
@AffyAvo
@Laura If this is going into the community guidelines, is that going to also be a rule for 1-1 chats?
@AffyAvo - @Laura will need to confirm, but my understanding is that it will not be a rule for 1-1 chats as the goal of the rule is to prevent others from seeing the medications and taking it as 'advice' to take the same without consulting a doctor. In a 1-1 chat, while your listener should not be delving into the specifics of their medications or recommending medications to the guest/member, it's appropriate for a guest/member to talk about theirs if they find it helpful or necessary in explaining what's going on.
So your understanding is that the "different rules for different areas of the site adds to confusion" approach described above is not real?
Is there evidence that seeing medications named on the Internet causes people to take them without consulting a doctor?
@Anomalia
@RarelyCharlie - I think it's unrealistic to say that every piece of the site will operate under precisely the same rules, but the goal is to create consistency to make things generally clearer. The line here is the difference between a public space where things shared can impact other guests/members (group support, forum, presumably feed would fall under this as well) and private space where it is just the person sharing and their listener (1-1 chat).
As for whether there is evidence, I'm not sure. I was not a decider on the matter of the rule, so I don't know the full details of the 'why', but am trying to help provide some clarity where I can, based on the information I do have.
Curiously, our new rule is in line with a recent trend in pharmaceutical advertising, which increasingly avoids mentioning the actual medication, according to something I read today: The rise of the "unbranded" pharmaceutical ad. This suggests that not naming the medication is a more effective way to persuade people to seek it out.
@Anomalia
Lacking any evidence on which to base an informed opinion, I searched an Internet forum that does allow medications to be named, looking for posts about a certain well-known medication marketed as an anti-depressant. I read the first 10 posts that contained opinions about it, a very small sample just to get a rough idea of what people had been saying.
All 10 posts said negative things about the medication.
Then I searched 7 Cups forums for posts about the same medication, and again I read the first 10 posts that contained opinions about it.
Again, all 10 posts said negative things about the medication.
In three of the threads, though, listeners made positive statements about the medication.
Despite the very small sample sizes, this exercise has given me little confidence in the theory that allowing medications to be named will cause people to take medication without consulting their doctor. A more robust response to listeners who give advice might be a better use of everyone's time, I suspect.
@Anomalia
@RarelyCharlie
Thank you so much for your feedback. You present some interesting ideas!
In terms of your study, it is not about a positive or a negative vantage point being portrayed about a specific medication, it is about any opinion, good or bad, pro or anti being mentioned which could change someones opinion about that specific medication. They're thoughts about a specific medication & how it works for them should be a private conversation between them & their doctor. It is not the duty of our forums to provide any counsel or opinions on medications.
@AffyAvo
Not a guideline for 1-1 chats & yes were working to update the forum guidelines.
This not meant to stigmatize medication or the use of medication. I believe that many people rely on medication & it is a great help to them. The goal here to not discuss personal experiences with specific medications. You are welcome to speak more generally about medication use, an example would be: "My anxiety medication has helped me...XXX"
@Laura That goal DOES stigmatize it though.
A big reason about why I came here is because of my personal experiences with administering a specific medication.
@AffyAvo
I would like to professionally agree to disagree with you on this. We are not saying you cannot talk about your experiences with medication. Those conversations are welcome. But we are asking that you don't mention the specific brand, name or dosage of the medication you are taking. You are welcome speak about these more specific topics in your 1-1 chats with listeners.
We have a diverse community, including users as young as 13. The goal is to create safe, thoughtful dialogue that educates across cultures, countries, languages, and age.
In the case you mention above, you are welcome to speak about your personal experience administering a medication. But keeping the name of the medication out of the post/ writing should be the goal. One way to do this would be to say: "I have struggled in the past with administring medication. It has impacted me and I am looking for support."
Speaking about personal experiences & offering opinions to others about specific medications could inadvertantly cause harm or the spread of mis-information,.
Shoot me a PM if you'd like to discuss further.
I agree. Personal experiences with medication are mostly about specific medication. It would make no sense at all to say, "My antidepressant medication made me feel worse but when I changed to antidepressant medication I felt better."
What might make sense, now that I know most comments about medication in forums are negative, is that denial of people's need to mention specific medications would facilitate future advertising or sponsorship deals with pharmaceutical companies. In the grand scheme of things that might be a more important consideration than the undoubted stigma.
@AffyAvo