alt.support.depression.recovery FAQ
Revised July 19, 1998
Introduction
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lt.support.depression.recovery is a newsgroup for people who are fairly conversant with the causes and symptoms of clinical depression in any of its various forms, and whose major focus with respect to the illness is the utilization of depression management skills. This is a forum for discussing techniques, skills, books, speakers, treatments, changes in thinking and behavior, etc., that are geared toward living as "normal" a life as possible. By and large, the information shared in this group comes from personal experience and is for the benefit of the readers. Though majority of the participants in this group suffer from some form of depression, family and friends of those who suffer are welcome.
This group is a quiet, gentle place. Please help us keep it that way.
GROUP CHARTER
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lt.support.depression.recovery is and will remain an UNMODERATED newsgroup, an extension to the alt.support.depression heirarchy with a more robust outlook, for those proactively fighting against depression.
Almost anything is on topic if it pertains to dealing with depression: medication, therapy, coping techniques, etc. including leading edge research and alternative approaches.
While discussion is on topic, ADVOCACY, whether pro or anti, is *always* off topic, as are commercial posts, binaries and people asking for help with school or work related assignments.
Crossposting is not desired, but if done, should be limited to the alt.support* and soc.support* hierarchies.
Please attempt to header posts informatively to benefit those who have insufficient time or motivation to read the entire group. This will also assist those who may be upset by the contents, in choosing not to read the post.
Be aware that posters will suffer from some degree of mood disorder so expect strong language and strong emotions to be expressed on occasion. Should disagreements degenerate into ad hominem attacks ("flames") please adjourn to alt.support.depression.flame until you feel better.
Table of Contents
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. Questions
1.1. What is "recovery"? Does it include suicidal people?
1.2. How "recovered" do I have to be to join this group?
1.3. Are there any "rulers" here? Who are the powers-that-be?
1.4. What are flames and how are they handled here?
1.5. How are newbies treated?
1.6. What topics can we talk about?
1.7. What constitutes an "abusive post" here?
1.8. How does this group define spam?
1.9. Does this group accept spam canceling (retromoderation)?
1.10. Are any types of advertisements accepted here? Is there a periodic "advertisement" FAQ here in which people/organizations can list their wares?
1.11. Can I post binaries here? 1.12. Can I post my poetry? Song lyrics? Jokes?
1.13. Can I talk about specific medical treatments, such as meds, ECT, other forms?
1.14. Can I just shoot the breeze and not talk about anything serious, but just be frivolous and silly?
1.15. What about cyberhugs?
1.16. What is a spoiler?
1.17. Is there a policy on spoilers?
1.18. What is "splatting"?
1.19. What constitutes "flooding" here?
1.20. Are there any areas where people are permitted to stray from "netiquette" with respect to:
1.20.1 quoting posts in follow-ups?
1.20.1.1. How do I trim/snip a post?
1.20.2 cc'ing to email?
1.20.3 sigs?
1.21. Is there are procedure to be followed if someone posts a suicide note?
1.22. What are the rules regarding crossposting?
2. General USENET and Newbie Stuff
2.1. Why don't my posts show up?
2.2. Why don't I get any responses?
2.3. What is crossposting?
2.4. What is a newsreader?
2.5. What is a killfile?
2.5.1. What is "plonk"?
2.6. What does 'x-no-archive: yes' mean?
2.7. What is anonymous posting and how do I do it?
2.8. What is Nutella?
3. Depression Resources
3.1 alt.support.depression FAQ
3.2 Bev Thornton's page
3.3 Diane Wilson's page
4. Etc.
4.1 Disclaimer
4.2 Thanks
1. Questions
1.1. What is "recovery"? Does it include suicidal people?
Recovery is an ideal. Recovery is a process. Recovery is an attitude. It is different things to different people. In broad terms, recovery is the process of turning clinical depression into a manageable condition through the use of medications, psychotherapies and coping strategies that work for a given individual; the willingness to learn the skills and techniques; and the tenacity to keep trying, not perfectly, not every day, but over the long term. Suicidal people, those prone to self-injury, those who suffer any condition that falls under the blanket of clinical depression, are more than welcome here.
1.2. How "recovered" do I have to be to join this group?
There is no objective standard one must meet. This is an open forum for all who are recovering, as defined above, from all forms of clinical depression.
1.3. Are there any "rulers" here? Who are the powers-that-be?
None over 12 inches. There may be powers-that-wannabe, but most of us have far better sense. No one is king, no one is God(dess), no one is in charge.
1.4. What are flames and how are they handled here?
A flame is a rude remark that attacks a person as opposed to debating a person's point of view. To say "I find Christianity disgusting because it has been responsible for wars and prejudice," debates a point of view and is open for discussion, even if some readers may find it unpalatable. However, to say "Only a brain-dead moron whose parents clearly sleep with farm animals uses Micro$hit...get a proper operating system," is quite clearly an attack on a person [thanks to The Horse With No Name for the sample flame].
This is an unmoderated group in an international community and the tendency is toward the greatest possible latitude. We ask contributors to asdr to remember that there are people with feelings on the other end of that send button, and to confine debates to ideas. If two or more people are interested in a flame fest, they are to take it to alt.support.depression.flame.
Those who insist on attacking people will be greeted with cold, stony silence. Forever.
1.5. How are newbies treated?
Politely, just like everyone else.
1.6. What topics can we talk about?
With the recognition that anything can be related to depression, all topics are open for discussion. However, posts which attempt to convert or persuade others to a methodology or ideology are off-topic. Feel free to tell us what has worked for you, but please do not tell us what you think we must or should do. Many of us will find your personal perspective interesting and even helpful if presented as your own experience.
Commercial posts and abusive posts (1.7) are always off-topic.
1.7. What constitutes an "abusive post" here?
Net abuse comes in two flavors: abuse OF the net, and abuse ON the net. By and large, ISP's take care of flagrant abuse OF the net (spam, velveeta, mail bombs, etc.), because they own the hardware.
One of the best definitions of abuse ON the net our crack research staff could find was, "an action or communication that would be in violation of laws, norms, customs or manners regardless of the communication medium". We think that about covers it.
1.7.1 What can I do if someone is being abusive to me or my friends?
The very first thing to try is to ask them politely to stop. You might want to quote the guideline given above, and explain why you think they have overstepped its bounds. This may just solve the problem. If it does not, you can write to postmaster@isp.name and/or abuse@isp.name. Be sure to include the full, unedited post with all its headers, a short but descriptive summary of why you have a problem with it, and a brief statement of what you would like to have happen. Please remain polite when writing to the ISP people; that one of their customers is being a poot is not their fault.
1.8 How does this group define spam?
Substantively the same message posted to several newsgroups. There appears to be quite a debate on exactly how many newsgroups to which a message must be posted before it is considered spam. There is even a mathematical formula called the Breidbart Index: the sum of the square roots of the number of newsgroups to which each article is posted. The closer that number gets to 20, the pinker and more disgusting the subject matter gets. More information can be found in The Net Abuse FAQ, which is posted on news.admin.net-abuse.
1.9. Does this group accept spam canceling (retromoderation)?
Other than the normal cancelbots, which operate quite independently of us, no.
1.10. Are any types of advertisements accepted here? Is there a periodic "advertisement" FAQ here in which people/organizations can list their wares?
No advertisements of any variety are accepted here.
1.11. Can I post binaries here?
No. Absolutely not. It is forbidden by the group charter. However, you may post a message *about* binary file and give a url, newsgroup or email addy where the file can be obtained.
We would also like to point out that, Usenet being a text medium, posting HTML or MIME is generally considered poor form.
1.12. Can I post my poetry? Song lyrics? Jokes?
Sure, we'd enjoy that.
1.13. Can I talk about specific medical treatments, such as meds, ECT, other forms?
Any treatment of depression is on-topic. Please feel free to tell us what has worked for you, but do not tell us what you think we must or should do.
1.14. Can I just shoot the breeze and not talk about anything serious, but just be frivolous and silly?
Oh yeah; those are some of the things we do best around here.
1.15. What about cyberhugs?
Go for it. {{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{wombn}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}
All forms of expression, including cyberhugs and other emoticons are acceptable on this forum. Those who are bothered by these forms of expression may do well to identify frequent users of same and attempt to avoid their posts, or alternatively, practice tolerance of what is to many a legitimate form of support.
1.16. What is a spoiler?
This Usenet term refers to a warning in the subject header that the message body contains information, such as the ending of a book, movie or television show, that might spoil the book/movie/show. In terms of depression support groups, spoilers are warnings the message content may be upsetting. For example, a post that covers self-injury would contain the word "CUTTING" as a spoiler in the header.
1.17. Is there a policy on spoilers?
Some people use filters to either exclude or include certain types of posts, depending on how they are feeling, and employ spoilers as filter criteria. Others use them to avoid posts that would trigger strong, unpleasant emotions and/or memories. Additionally, a significant portion of the group pays for connect time by the minute, and spoilers can be a tremendous help in decreasing online time. We would therefore ask that spoilers be used. The following is a list of "basic spoilers": SUICIDE, CUTTING, ABUSE, HUMOR, POETRY, ADMIN, ME>
Transfer interrupted!
T, INCEST, RAPE.
1.18. What is "splatting"?
Splatting is when a poster uses foul language, but to spare either their own or others' sensibilities substitutes asterisks for some of the letters in the naughty word(s). Generally, the vowels are replaced by asterisks. Splatting is most definitely allowed on this group.
1.19. What constitutes "flooding" here?
Flooding is probably one of the most vague terms in Netspeak. Our crack research staff scoured Usenet and the Internet in an effort to find "the" definition, but, alas, it was not to be. From what our staff found flooding is, in a broad sense, many, many messages that are irrelevant and inappropriate to the group where they are posted; i.e., off-topic.
Given that the usual intent of flooding is to cripple the hardware, it falls under the category of abuse OF the net and would be handled by the sysops of the servers. If someone posts *any* number of irrelevant and/or inappropriate message(s) to asdr, it is considered off-topic rather than a flood.
1.20. Are there any areas where people are permitted to stray from "netiquette" with respect to:
1.20.1 quoting posts in follow-ups? Netiquette suggests including just enough of the original post to give a context to your reply, and that the context be placed at the top of your post followed by your response. The vagaries of Usenet, however, are such that replies are often seen days before the original post, if the original shows up at all. The ying and yang of Usenet are context and bandwidth.
Moving along quickly to a completely arbitrary guideline, if the original post is more than 30 lines, consider trimming (snipping) the original. If the original post is anywhere near 100+ lines, we urge you most strongly to trim it. If you quote an entire huge post and add a single line of comment, well, do so at your own risk.
Please remember the above is a guideline, not a law etched in stone. At one time or another all of us have, or will have, to deal with failing hardware and failing brains (hopefully not at the same time), either one of which can be responsible for a "Me too!" on a 150-line post. Users of Webtv are severely limited with respect to quote, cut and paste capability. Generally, these users post only their replies, which can be confusing or frustrating, but this is a limitation of the technology, not of the people who use it.
When snipping a post, please remember that an integral part of the context is the identity of the author. Please attribute quotes to the correct people, especially when quoting multiple people, to avoid confusion for subsequent readers of the thread. This includes removing the names of posters whose comments will no longer appear in the message after the trimming is complete.
Please *do* trim the sigs, the twwells information paragraph, and the like.
1.20.1.1. How do I trim/snip a post?
In the reply window where the entire post is quoted, highlight the text you want to trim and press the Delete key on your keyboard.
1.20.2 cc'ing to email?
Because newsgroup postings take forever to make the rounds of the servers, emailing a copy of one's response to the original poster is a courtesy that ensures the people who need support will get it in a more timely manner.
1.20.3 sigs?
Sigs are fun, they're cool, they're expressive. Netiquette holds sigs to 4 lines. In terms of this group, we would ask that you please try to get it said in somewhere around 10 lines.
1.21. Is there are procedure to be followed if someone posts a suicide note?
There is no official policy; this is a personal judgement call. If someone in the group has the poster's phone number, they may feel inclined to call the poster or they may not. It is up to each individual to handle it as they see fit. There are those among us who have pulled off some pretty amazing feats to contact the poster or summon aid. Please be aware that if you post a suicide note, you may find your local police at your door. **Please take this to heart. There are people on this group who will try their best to get help to a suicidal person as quickly as possible. This usually involves the local constabulary. Accordingly, if you are suicidal and do not wish to be stopped, do not post your good-by note here.**
1.22. While crossposting should be avoided whenever possible, the following subjects are considered acceptable for crossposting, but should be limited to those groups with relevance to ASDR and it's issues.
a. Information concerning meets being planned which may be of interest to those on ASDR.
b. Information of relevance to both groups, such as websites containing pictures, depression resources, etc.
c. Information concerning health issues related to depression and all associated disorders, such as self-abuse, obsessive disorders, etc.
d. Information concerning the health and well being of those people known to members of both groups.
e. Information concerning general health issues of interest to all.
f. Information concerning issues of likely interest to all, such as a new computer virus making the rounds and other computer related information. Many of our number utilize computers as a vital aspect of their personal support system, thus occassional informational posts are considered on-topic and relevant.
2. General USENET and Newbie Stuff
2.1. Why don't my posts show up?
This is always difficult to say. Some experts have postulated the existence of black holes in cyberspace into which posts are randomly pulled. Our best guess is that it's rather the same principal by which clothes dryers eat socks.
2.2. Why don't I get any responses?
First and foremost: it's not personal. Ever. Sometimes posts don't make it to everyone's server; sometimes people are uncomfortable responding to the subject matter. It is generally true that suicide and self-injury posts receive fewer responses than other subjects because of discomfort, inability to relate, or feelings of personal inadequacy. Sometimes people mean to reply to you, but lose all memory of that fact while they're waiting for their brain fog to clear.
2.3. What is crossposting?
The simultaneous posting of a message to two or more groups. Please do not crosspost unless there is a compelling reason to do so, such as an update on the health of someone known to both/all groups. If you are responding to a post which has been crossposted, please trim the other groups from the To: list. You can tell if something has been crossposted by looking at the headers. If you can't view the headers there is no way you can know, and you are hereby exonerated. Agent informs you that a message is crossposted as soon as you hit "Reply", which makes life very easy indeed.
2.4. What is a newsreader?
A piece of software such as Free Agent, Agent, Gravity, etc., that is specifically designed to read Usenet newsgroups. Some, such as Free Agent are free; others, which range from slightly more advanced to downright sophisticated, can be had for a price which ranges from reasonable to your first born and a player to be named later.
Perennial favorites appear to be Free Agent and Agent, which can be obtained from www.forteinc.com. Agent has killfile capabilities, Free Agent does not.
2.5. What is a killfile?
Killfiles, also called "filters", are screening devices that are present in some newsreaders. If there is someone who posts regularly on the group who really upsets you, you can put them in the killfile and the newsreader will ignore their posts. You will never see the posts. It will be like the person doesn't exist, except if someone quotes him/her. You can also filter on subject, or certain characters, which are good ways to filter out spam.
2.5.1. What is "plonk"?
It's the sound of someone being killfiled. Not that it really makes a sound, but "plonk" is the sound that is universally accepted as being associated with the act if it did make a sound. If one must say anything at all, "plonk" is generally the wisest and most polite thing one can say when one is killfiling another.
For you trivia buffs out there, "plonk" is an acronym for Person Leaving Our Newsgroup: Killfile.
2.6. What does 'x-no-archive: yes' mean?
Every article you post is archived somewhere. The two most popular archive services are Altavista, http://www.altavista.digital.com/ and Deja News, http://www.dejanews.com
If you don't want these two services to archive your posts, include this header in your posts. If you can't edit headers, make the following the *FIRST* line of your message followed by a blank line.
x-no-archive: yes
Once again, that's
x-no-archive:<one blank space>yes<Enter>
<Enter>
If you see x-no-archive: yes on the first line of a post you intend to quote, *please* honor the no-archive request. You do that by either putting your own request on the first line of your post (quoting a no-archive request will not work), or editing your headers. If you have edited your headers, it is considered good form to note that fact somewhere in your message, usually in the sig.
As stated above, every message you post is archived somewhere. Altavista and Deja News honor the no-archive requests, but many archive services do not. Though there is much less stigma related to depression today than there was in times past, there is still enough stigma so that some people are not comfortable with any archiving. Though you can't get around the archiving, you can be anonymous.
2.7. What is anonymous posting and how do I do it?
Essentially, anonymous posting allows you to post to Usenet, but your post's headers are altered/eliminated so that you cannot be identified or located on the basis of the headers.
There are a number of anonymous posting services available. A favorite in the alt.support hierarchy is twwells. Send an email to help@anon.twwells.com to receive an automatically returned help message that explains the service and how to use it. There are also any number of remailers such as iname and bigfoot, as well as nym servers.
2.8. What is Nutella?
Nutella, the official comfort food of asdr, is chocolate hazelnut butter and is about the consistency of creamy peanut butter. It is generally found next to the peanut butter at your local supermarket. You can put it on bread or graham crackers or what have you; quite a number of people enjoy it straight from the jar. The stuff will send you off to heaven. Your mouth will have multiple orgasms.
3. Depression Resources
3.1 The alt.support.depression (asd) FAQ is a wonderful compendium of information about the types, causes, symptoms, and treatments of clincal depression. Also included are suggestions for daily living with depression, a book list and a listing of Internet resources. The latest version of the FAQ can be found at:
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/alt-support-depression/faq/
3.2 Bev Thornton's page: https://members.tripod.com/~Veb/depres.htm
3.3 Diane Wilson's page: http://www.lava.net/~dewilson/asd/
3.4 Dr. Ivan's Depression Central page: http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.html
4. Etc.
4.1. This FAQ is provided as is without any express or implied warranties. While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this article, the contributors assume no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
4.2 Heartfelt thanks for contributing to this faq to (in no particular order): Orcan, The Horse With No Name, PitWithAVu, Grydove, Rain, Joyce, Diane Wilson, cowboy, wombn, Cyncyn1433, Xena, GreyAdagio, Seastorm, and Jon-Jon.