Why aren't the names of medications allowed?
Hey,
I posted a thread and the name of a medicaiton was edited out as it's goes against the site rules I was told, and so I am wondering why ths is?x
Editing it out was against the published site rules, as far as I can see. But this has happened before and no amount of pointing at the rules ever led to the problem being fixed. So I am not hopeful that it will be fixed this time. [Edited for unconstructive comments against 7 Cups - Edited by SilentSerenityy]
@AngelFace97 @Laura @Anomalia
Lol no a mod is allowed edit out whatever they feel needs to be edited out, and I'm pretty sure they don't want people talking about medication because this isn't a doctor's office and they don't want to be held responsible for x person taking y drug because z said it was good. If you really feel that discussing the name of a med is important because you want to take advice from a stranger on the internet, you could always go somewhere else or make your own site with your own rules. *shrug*
Chill guys.
@Phthalo Talking about medication doesn't equate to asking for advice about it though.
There have been forum activities that I would have liked to particpate in, but I would have liked to discuss my medication as it related to the activity and couldn't. There are so many examples where I would like to talk about my medication that has nothing to do with asking for advice.
There are a lot of arguments to be made for or against the sharing of medication names, and I'll confess that I sit somewhere in the middle of the two sides in terms of what I personally think is best, but the official policy here is to not allow it, so all forum mentors are responsible for ensuring that's followed in the forums and editing as need be.
To read a discussion on this rule and debate about the sides of it, check out this thread.
What makes you think it's official policy? I have never seen the rule that you refer to. Sure, there's been a lot of discussion, but as far as I can see there is no official policy.
@Anomalia
@RarelyCharlie - I'm basing that on Laura's call in that thread where she says that we are going to have a policy not to name medications and that she will update the community guidelines accordingly. As a community manager, her decision functions as policy, though I agree that it is not well recorded or shared at this point.
Thanks for your question -
One thing to keep in mind here. We are in the middle of launching the sub-community update.
Part of this update allows for forum mentors to write guidelines for their specific community section. The 7 Cups house guidelines will always be in place & still exist. But for items related to specific types of questions or topics, the leaders will have the ability to decide what may or may not work in their sub-community. In deciding if a particular guideline is appropriate or not for their sub-community, they will need to specifically describe how that topic can/ cannot be discussed to ensure conversations stay safe & productive.
So for example: The medication question - As @Anomalia pointed out there are 2 sides of this. The idea with sub-communities, in particular with the sub-com guidelines, would be to let some communities decide that the safe discussion of medications is okay in their sub-community. We are still in the very beginging stages of figuring out how this process for writing and having your guidelines on a per sub-community will work. But the general idea is to give more autonomy to the leaders to decide what makes sense for the community they are leading.
1) It was something like advertising, thats against the rules
2) Sharing of improper/false information of medications would be very harmful to health
Those are the reasons I think
How about when it's sharing your experience, talking through it(needing a listening ear)and needing some advice?This could work.
@AngelFace97
You can always say "anxiety medication" or "antidepressants" when sharing your experience with medication and how it affected you. There is no need to mention the drug name.
@AngelFace97, it doesnot work well always, medicines dont affect any two people equally, hence a doctor can figure out the correct one after seeing / examining the patient fully, what worked well for you must be very good and you would certainly do a great job in convincing others of your opinion, but know that you dont know the real cause of their problems, different causes can lead to similar symptoms, so if they become convinced by your experiences then it could lead to problems for them if the meds start harming them.
So I request that you don't advise any medicines to anyone here ( in chatrooms or in 1-on-1 to members/guests/listeners )
For those who are so against mentioning medications. What about specific therapies, assistive devices, resources, or medical procedures? How are those any different from mentioning a med name?
@AffyAvo - I actually agree with you and think that it's a very small distinction from one to the next. What I would like to see (and what I hope we are moving towards with the development of subcommunities and the potential to vary the guidelines across each based on what makes sense there) is the ability to use medication names, but guidelines around what is and isn't appropriate (e.g., sharing specific dosages is more likely to cause issues than simply the name of a medication, telling people what to take isn't good since we are not doctors, etc.).
I do think there are concerns around it that are valid, but I think that many of them can be addressed with guidelines and monitoring for those situations, rather than an all-out ban on the use of medication names, particularly when it's so hard to define what would and wouldn't apply.
@Anomalia I really look forward to seeing what happens with the subcommunities!
@AffyAvo
You raise good points. I always enjoy reading your Posts. Thanks for your insightful thoughts on these Forums 👍
Hey All,
Thank you for the interesting replies.
The thread where I had mentioned medication was to see if it would help me accept it and come to terms with it. Also,we do not have all of the same experiences as others, it is helpful for us to be able to share experiences adn talk through these.
Surely there should be exceptions as to when the names of medications can be allowed or not?
Thank you
Hannah x
@AngelFace97
For now, we aren't meant to mention drug names, just like in the chatrooms. It's still early days though and things may and likely will change across different areas in the forums and subcommunities. We're all still working on it so this isn't completely final. ☺
P.S. I'm called Hannah too. :D
I wonder if Legal advice the administration recieved, led to the Rule prohibiting naming specific medications? Both Prescription and non-prescription drugs are advertised in magazines, and on TV. I think the Rule is being OVERLY Cautious (just my opinion)
