Rules

This chat room has been here for 6 years (on a different server), and the rules have been developed based on the experiences of the hosts (moderators) and long-time chat members. Arguing with or complaining to the hosts about the rules will not cause the rules to change and may result in your removal from the rooms. Additionally, hosts may not be questioned continually about their decisions (including bans or kicks).

Why We Are Here

The AnxietyPanicSupport.com Chat Rooms are intended for people with anxiety disorders; people who have recovered from anxiety disorders; and family/friends who are support people for people with anxiety disorders. Chat Room 1 is intended to be an unstructured environment where you can get to know people with anxiety disorders. Discussion of anxiety and related issues is always the first priority here, even during more social times. Chat Room 2 is for scheduled support group meetings. Our rooms are meant to be a supportive environment where you may freely discuss your problems and successes or just relax with friends who know how you feel.

Respect

We cannot be a support community if chat participants do not respect one another or the hosts. The following rules are meant to help the rooms remain safe and supportive:

• Respect your hosts and each other. Please remember that hosts are here for support, not to give medical advice.
  
  
• Swearing and other inappropriate language is prohibited. Hosts determine what is not appropriate. The use of curse words with certain letters blanked out (such as s**t) is not permitted.
  
  
• No personal insults or flaming. Rather than argue with someone who is bothering you, use the Ignore feature.
  
  
• Do not contact people via private chat unless you have permission. Hosts are permitted to contact any user via person-to-person or private chat at any time. Current hosts are listed on the profile page.
  
  
• Do not use our chat rooms for cyber sex. There are plenty of rooms online where you can do this.
  
  
• Do not use colored backgrounds for your text as they can cause headaches and eye irritation for some people.
  
  
• Do not use all capital letters.
  
  
• Do not use sounds in Room 2. If you use them in Room 1, please be respectful and do not use them if someone is in need of supportive conversation.
  
  
• Our rooms are meant for people with anxiety disorders, their friends and family, and people who have recovered from anxiety disorders. Hosts may remove anyone who does not fall into these categories; who is not using the room for the discussion of and support for anxiety disorders; and/or who is inactive (or "idle") in the room for an hour or more. Idle chat members will receive two warnings before being removed from the room.
  
  
• Because our rooms are for anxiety support, when you are in one of our rooms, we ask you are only in one other room at the same time. If a moderator asks you to leave a room because it is inappropriate please do not argue with the moderator. There are certain rooms that are just not appropriate to be in at the same time. If you wish to use another room that is inappropriate, that's entirely OK! Just please leave our room first. Note: Trivia and Lobby are both acceptable rooms, and you are welcome to use those two while in AnxietyPanicSupport.
  
  
• Members with nicknames may idle up to two hours, Guests will be booted in one hour. This is to help limit confusion by having a lot of people in the room who aren't available to chat. You'd not want to stand in a room where it feels like everyone is just staring at you, but not talking... It works the same in chat.
  
  

If you are in Crisis

If you are suicidal, you are in need of help from someone trained in dealing with crisis situations. The chat rooms are not equipped to handle such situations. Additionally, it is unfair to discuss suicidal intentions in the rooms when people cannot contact you directly (don't know your identity) or contact the proper professional help for you in your area.

• The chat rooms are for support only. If you have the need to discuss thoughts about suicide or self harm with someone, please use the Crisis & Suicide Resources available on the about.com site.
  
  
• If you are in crisis and come to our rooms, our hosts may remove you from the room in order to protect the other chat members.
  
  
• You should know that any personal information you've given to anyone in the rooms may be used to contact help. However, there is no guarantee that this will happen as we are not a crisis hotline.
  
  

Nicknames

Because it is our continued goal to provide a community of supportive friendship, we feel it is important that regular chat members use the same nicknames.

• Please try to use the same nickname every time you come.
  
  
• People who enter as "Guest" will be asked to use one.
  
  
• Nicknames may not be offensive.
  
  
• If you try to log in and it says that your name requires a password, add a number or numbers to your name and try to log in again.
  
  

Topics

To keep our rooms safe and supportive, there are certain topics which may not be discussed or which may be discussed with caution only.

• Triggering topics may be discussed only in private chat (with someone who has consented to talk with you) or in scheduled chats for that topic (if applicable). Triggering topics include suicide, self-injury, rape, sexual abuse, drug or alcohol abuse, and domestic violence.
  
  
• Although Room 1 is an unstructured environment, support should always come first. Having fun is permitted, but please have respect for people who need to talk about serious issues. Anxiety and recovery are the priority.
  
  
• Sex is off-topic unless you are discussing concerns with your anxiety and/or medication.
  
  
• Discuss controversial subjects such as religion and politics with caution. If your discussion is causing an argument, stop (if a host is present, you will be asked to stop).
  
  
• Offensive jokes (off-color, racist, homophobic, sexist, etc.) are not permitted.
  
  
• Do not diagnose other chat members or give medical advice. You may share personal experiences, of course, as well as research you've read (as long as you can cite the source of your research so that others may read it).
  
  

Safety

While we hope to keep the rooms as safe as possible, ultimately you must take care of yourself.

• Be extremely cautious when sharing personal information (e-mail, phone number, location).
  
  
• If you are being bothered in the chat rooms, use the Ignore feature. This is your best defense against troublemakers in the room. There is no reason for you to engage in conversation with people who are being mean to you. Just ignore them. When you engage in conversation with troublemakers, they are more likely to stay and create further problems.