The Rights(or lack there of) of the Mentally Ill

[clangfield]

I don't see every other website having any such thing.
Besides, if they have a duty of care to the mentally ill, what about other "communities"? Should CC have adverts for drink aware, gamble aware, drug aware, over eaters?
Unless there is any evidence that CC causes mental illness, or has an undue effect on the mentally ill (in the way that, for example, flashing lights could affect epileptics), then there is no obligation to do anything special.

[iAmCaffeine]

I think the fact that this thread is only being taken half-seriously reinforces the need for a private usergroup to discuss these circumstances.

[BoganGod]

I think we pick on Bruce because he/she is a good sport. Bruce's sincerity makes for an easy mark. Funny stuff folks. Disappointed no one is taking this seriously. I hope we can think seriously about this. Crazy good appears to be fine, but how about crazy bad? No one wants to discuss that.

Mental Health issues can neither be diagnosed or treated here, even by those who are health care professionals. All that can be done is moderate forums consistently, using policies set by the owners of this site. Anything more than that is well beyond the scope of an online gaming site.

Not suggesting that mental health issues can or should be diagnosed or treated here. Just posing question about people that have said issues, should they be treated differently? Does CC have a duty of care? I have had a few players tell me about their struggles with mental illness, including their illness affecting their gaming experience. Posting a string of over the top verbosity when one is hyper manic is unlikely to endear oneself to the community at large. Moderating forums consistently would be great if it happened. If and when this happens, would you be advocating the mentally ill be treated exactly the same as other users?

Even if I believed we should treat such individuals differently, how would you determine that a player is mentally ill? Nobody here has the ability, or right, to place such a label on a person.

How about when the individual chooses to disclose their condition? If they told admin about their health issues, would admin then have to treat them with more consideration? Would there be a burden of proof?

[BoganGod]

I don't see every other website having any such thing.
Besides, if they have a duty of care to the mentally ill, what about other "communities"? Should CC have adverts for drink aware, gamble aware, drug aware, over eaters?
Unless there is any evidence that CC causes mental illness, or has an undue effect on the mentally ill (in the way that, for example, flashing lights could affect epileptics), then there is no obligation to do anything special.

You have made quite a few good points Clangfield, thank you. I hope people take the time to read them through.

coffee boy, you are probably right. People find it hard to express themselves in a vulnerable way in public fora. I just have a distrust of private user groups as they quickly stagnate and don't often achieve much.

[Shannon Apple]

Okay, you want a serious answer.

I moderate, not a gaming site, but just a forum. Over the years, we have come across people who have posted threads about wanting to commit suicide. The only rational thing to do in such case was to ban their account and send them numbers for helplines that can help them. The last thing anyone wants to see is all the suicidal people coming together and making each other feel worse and God knows what. Moderators are just volunteers, and it's not their place to provide a councelling service, nor are they qualified to do so.

Similarly, if a user is making a complete nuisance of themselves, regardless of what his/her personal issues may be, then he/she may need to be removed from the site for whatever period of time is deemed necessary. There is no way to determine the difference between an excellent troll, a damn retard, or a genuine case of mental illness. You have to treat them all equally. Sure, in the case of someone that you know has certain issues, often times you find yourself turning a blind eye to some of the crap. But eventually, you may end up having to take action if the user experience is being ruined for countless others.

[BoganGod]

Okay, you want a serious answer.

I moderate, not a gaming site, but just a forum. Over the years, we have come across people who have posted threads about wanting to commit suicide. The only rational thing to do in such case was to ban their account and send them numbers for helplines that can help them. The last thing anyone wants to see is all the suicidal people coming together and making each other feel worse and God knows what. Moderators are just volunteers, and it's not their place to provide a councelling service, nor are they qualified to do so.

Similarly, if a user is making a complete nuisance of themselves, regardless of what his/her personal issues may be, then he/she may need to be removed from the site for whatever period of time is deemed necessary. There is no way to determine the difference between an excellent troll, a damn retard, or a genuine case of mental illness. You have to treat them all equally. Sure, in the case of someone that you know has certain issues, often times you find yourself turning a blind eye to some of the crap. But eventually, you may end up having to take action if the user experience is being ruined for countless others.

Thank you for a practical real world answer. I struggle with how do you help those that won't help themselves.

[Shannon Apple]

Thank you for a practical real world answer. I struggle with how do you help those that won't help themselves.

You can't.

9 times out of 10, if you try to help some of the crazier folk online, it just comes back to bite you in the ass. They're crazy, they can't help it. They'll either come to every time they're involved in drama for you to help them out, or they'll turn the drama on you. You learn not to get too involved so you won't get bitten.

Either that, or you'll end up grey, bald or both. The first from stress of dealing with the rants and the second because you pulled all your hair out in an attempt to alleviate that stress.

[HardAttack]

Okay, you want a serious answer.

I moderate, not a gaming site, but just a forum. Over the years, we have come across people who have posted threads about wanting to commit suicide. The only rational thing to do in such case was to ban their account and send them numbers for helplines that can help them. The last thing anyone wants to see is all the suicidal people coming together and making each other feel worse and God knows what. Moderators are just volunteers, and it's not their place to provide a councelling service, nor are they qualified to do so.

Similarly, if a user is making a complete nuisance of themselves, regardless of what his/her personal issues may be, then he/she may need to be removed from the site for whatever period of time is deemed necessary. There is no way to determine the difference between an excellent troll, a damn retard, or a genuine case of mental illness. You have to treat them all equally. Sure, in the case of someone that you know has certain issues, often times you find yourself turning a blind eye to some of the crap. But eventually, you may end up having to take action if the user experience is being ruined for countless others.

@boganGod
i admire and appreciate honest folks



for ur further inquiries, no hesitations to reach to god;
e.mail:bogan@godmail.com

[BoganGod]

Thank you for a practical real world answer. I struggle with how do you help those that won't help themselves.

You can't.

9 times out of 10, if you try to help some of the crazier folk online, it just comes back to bite you in the ass. They're crazy, they can't help it. They'll either come to every time they're involved in drama for you to help them out, or they'll turn the drama on you. You learn not to get too involved so you won't get bitten.

Either that, or you'll end up grey, bald or both. The first from stress of dealing with the rants and the second because you pulled all your hair out in an attempt to alleviate that stress.

So you can't save everyone and missionary work of any type is not appreciated eh? Your probably correct. Seems just a little bit sad that we can't make things better.

[Jdsizzleslice]

How would you tell whether or not someone is mentally ill...

[rhp 1]

Dear Gentle, and Gentile readers
I the God of the muttering floor pacing few have a question to ask the community. I have attempted to find the answer in all the official advertising pap clogging up this site, success was not mine. I contemplated opening an E-ticket, rejected that option the probability of me receiving a vague non committal a few weeks from now was too high. Eventually after much sole searching(splinter) I decided to ask here. Honoured readers, trolls, stalkers, ladyboys and bruceswar please help me resolve this important question.

Does CC have a duty of care to the mentally ill?
a) If the mentally ill refuse/neglect to take their medication does this void CC's duty of care(why help those who won't help themselves right? Even though not helping themselves is part of their condition......)
b) Is using mental illness as a reason to be treated differently, unfair to non impaired users?
c) CC doesn't appear to have a policy to deal with the mentally ill(according to some reputable research 32% of the population at some stage in their lives, and 11% of the population at any given time). Should CC have a mental health policy. Some members of this site have self harmed, or have been in danger of doing so. Some ex members are not ex members because of the ultimate self harm. What are the ethics of implementing a mental health policy on a voluntary site(all be it a pay for full use site)
d) Is it fair to ask volunteer moderators to accept even more responsibilities? A thankless task already, with people questioning their motives to begin with. How do you moderator/deal with someone that is unable to reason/accept logic due to mental illness. Moderator - "Your crossing the line and need to stop stalking BoganGod mentally ill stalker - Screw you chemefreak yoo ar jus liek evry1 else and are aginst me
e) Privacy concerns and getting what you pay for. If I'm mentally ill, and have been perma banned because of actions directly attributable to my illness do I deserve redemption/or a reduction in my ban if I can prove I'm seeking help? Does just refunding a sick persons money, cutting them off from the site and hoping they will go away seem like a reputable way to treat your customers?

A few examples
- . TinkyWinky* obsessively watches Bruceswar's wall, reporting every post and the time of each post. Making false accusations fueled by mania, paranoia, and a considerable dose of delusion This creates extra work for moderators, needless stress and time wasted for Bruceswar and generally just pisses people off.
- 0thought* reports every post in a thread, because his/her/its paranoia and inflated sense of importance leads him/her/it to think they are the only person on site worth discussing.So all comments must be about them obviously this reduces all other users enjoyment of the thread in question. Creates extra work for mods once again.
BunnyFooFoo* thinks she is God, and agitates against anything that her febrile imagination can misconstrue to be about her and against religion and spirituality Religion intruding in an aggressive way into what is essentially a secular site, is a violation of the rights of other users to enjoy the experience they have paid for. Free from proselytising, harassment, and fanaticism. How does the community and the moderators deal with BunnyFooFoo who genuinely believes she is God(most would agree in all probability a delusion on her part). Religion and politics have their place in off topics and private user groups. How do we deal with a spill over due to someone not understanding boundaries.

Thank you for reading, thinking, and leaving a considered response.

*Names have been changed to protect the ill and are used for example purposes only. With the exception of Bruceswar whose courageous and public battle with bi-polar and split personality disorder is an inspiration to those in his corner.

I'm not a fantastic speller by any means, and I found mild amusement in reading a few lines of this, but the typos were making my eyes water so I had to stop...

[BoganGod]

Typos deliberate in a serious attempt to get into character to make examples authentic. Sorry

[BoganGod]

How would you tell whether or not someone is mentally ill...

Difficult question. Hence my discussion topic here. I have had a few people on CC tell me that they are mentally ill. Problem shared, problem halved etc. Two of those people have then gone on to receive perma bans for actions that could probably be directly linked to their mental illness. Of course they could have just been messing with me and could in fact be as sane as you Jd. <coughs> How do you tell if someone is telling the truth without violating their privacy.

[fishydance]

How do you tell if someone is telling the truth without violating their privacy.

You hit the issue dead on. There isn't a way to know. Even if a person tells you, you can't be certain they are giving you the correct diagnosis. Even health care professionals struggle with a diagnosis, and that is with the patient right there in front of them.

[rhp 1]

Typos deliberate in a serious attempt to get into character to make examples authentic. Sorry

my apologies... I went back to read after your explanation... I "lol'd" briefly.. which is substantially more than is the norm for me... well done...

[BoganGod]

Typos deliberate in a serious attempt to get into character to make examples authentic. Sorry

my apologies... I went back to read after your explanation... I "lol'd" briefly.. which is substantially more than is the norm for me... well done...

Thank you kind sir. On topic, though exploring a tangent. Some scientists have hypothesised that laughter is a stress relief mechanism. Those that laugh too much are vainly attempting to deal with stress(artificial laughter). Those that don't laugh frequently often are realists, humourless or somewhere on the autism spectrum, or all three. Slay me now grammar Nazis for I have sinned.

[BoganGod]

How do you tell if someone is telling the truth without violating their privacy.

You hit the issue dead on. There isn't a way to know. Even if a person tells you, you can't be certain they are giving you the correct diagnosis. Even health care professionals struggle with a diagnosis, and that is with the patient right there in front of them.

Often the health care professionals have to rely on what the patients tell them. Other people's brains, the final frontier. What am I saying we will be able to download our memories on to flash drives a few years from now I'm sure of it.

[fishydance]

Often the health care professionals have to rely on what the patients tell them. Other people's brains, the final frontier. What am I saying we will be able to download our memories on to flash drives a few years from now I'm sure of it.

I have a sinking feeling that by then mine will only require the smallest of flash drives

[BoganGod]

Often the health care professionals have to rely on what the patients tell them. Other people's brains, the final frontier. What am I saying we will be able to download our memories on to flash drives a few years from now I'm sure of it.

I have a sinking feeling that by then mine will only require the smallest of flash drives

Nano tech my dear. Small can be really big....... Get your mind out of the gutter freakns

[The Voice]

Often the health care professionals have to rely on what the patients tell them. Other people's brains, the final frontier. What am I saying we will be able to download our memories on to flash drives a few years from now I'm sure of it.

I have a sinking feeling that by then mine will only require the smallest of flash drives

Nano tech my dear. Small can be really big....... Get your mind out of the gutter freakns

Doesn't that entail, therefore, that memories can also be uploaded? You end up remembering a life you haven't lived

[Shannon Apple]

How would you tell whether or not someone is mentally ill...

That's something that I answered in my more serious post. You can't.

There are three types of nuisance online...The excellent troll, the derp and the mentally ill. You can probably just lump them all together as trolls because they each have the same effect on a community. Shitposting and causing drama is the two things most of them have in common, and permabanning is sometimes the ONLY solution.

I've come across one or two people that claimed to be autistic and probably were, but their behaviour was really, really bad. You gotta do what you gotta do.

[BoganGod]

Often the health care professionals have to rely on what the patients tell them. Other people's brains, the final frontier. What am I saying we will be able to download our memories on to flash drives a few years from now I'm sure of it.

I have a sinking feeling that by then mine will only require the smallest of flash drives

Nano tech my dear. Small can be really big....... Get your mind out of the gutter freakns

Doesn't that entail, therefore, that memories can also be uploaded? You end up remembering a life you haven't lived

That would be pretty harsh, imagine having memories of Tom Arnold and Rosanne's wedding night up loaded as a punishment......

Shannon - So what happens when it is a mod that is mentally ill? Can't see someone perma banning themselves for being a monumental pain in the podex.

[BoganGod]

Does this thread need to be closed? Maybe someone has new ideas to post here. Otherwise in my limited and short sighted view maybe we have discussed most things relating to topic and are now in danger of getting a wee bit repetitive. Thank you all for contributing.

[KoE_Sirius]

Dear Gentle, and Gentile readers
Does CC have a duty of care to the mentally ill?

No it doesn't...lets move on

[Serbia]

Serbia contributes to this therrad!

Bollocks.