Please check the
tags for a quick guide to important posts.
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About this community |
| Basic information | ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) dont_cut is a safe space dedicated to providing support for former and current self-injurers who have decided that they are ready to try to stop self-harming
If you ever need to talk about something having to do with this community, please feel free to email me. By reading/posting/commenting to dont_cut you acknowledge these rules and are made responsible for them.
Some users might also be interested in this community's administrative journal, dc_maint. |
| How do I use this community? | This is an open-membership community. You can join and leave as you please and you can start posting as soon as you join. You can choose to join just to read hidden messages or to post. |
| Who is this community for? | Though the majority of members injure by self-cutting, this community is open to all people who intentionally injure themselves by any similar method. Though eating disorders and alcohol/drug abuse may be issues of self-harm, if those are your primary form of self-harm, you'll likely find a community that deals specifically with those issues to be more helpful. |
RulesI know that this looks like a lot of rules, but it's mostly common-sense stuff. |
| Not allowed | • Triggering images or descriptions This is a place for people to heal and triggering descriptions or images get in the way of doing that. This rule means that you shouldn't give in-depth descriptions of your injuries or episodes of injury, and you absolutely should not post pictures of injuries, scars, or weapons. Icons are included in this. For details on user icon rules, please go here.
• "Tips" Any posts that include "tips" on ways to self-harm will be deleted. We think of tips as comments that communicate ways to make self-harm more destructive or damaging. Sometimes tips include ways of concealing injury that amount to lying to your support system.
Remember, this group is not about encouraging, furthering, or aiding self-injury. I am not judging your stage or pace of recovery, but this community is for people interested in removing self-injury from their lives, not adding new ways to cause themselves harm. There are other places for that.
• Abusive notes, comments, or attitudes; homophobia, racism, sexism, genderism, transphobia, et cetera This is a place to heal. Abusive attitudes obviously infringe upon our abilities to do that. Any and all abusive posters and note leavers will be immediately blocked.
• Shame. We aren't proud of what we do. But shameful attitudes really are not helpful. Do not assign shame to others, and try not to wallow in it too much yourself. Please just keep it in mind.
• Formatted text. Changing your text formatting (through HTML or use of the Rich Text option) are not allowed. Changing your font size, face, colour, or any other attribute might make it more difficult for visually-impaired and other users to read your posts. Out of consideration to others, please do not change your font.
• Poetry may not be posted in "regular" messages. Poetry is a highly expressive medium and therefore highly volatile. It can be very triggery. Please feel free to post your poems using an <lj-cut>
• Suicide notes. If I see anything I even think is a suicide note, it's gone. These are so upsetting for obvious reasons, and this is one of those times when the safety of five hundred-plus members comes before one person. If you are concidering suicide, please read this. Still feeling horrible? Please call your local emergency line (911 in the States, or try 1 800 SUICIDE). |
| Encouraged | • Asking for help. If you need it (which I think we all do), don't be afraid to ask for it. That is why most of us are here-- we have trouble getting it in "the real world." So don't worry about asking us for it.
• Giving support. This one should be clear. Comment on posts. Comment a lot. No post should go without reply. You don't have to be able to offer anything profound or life-changing, but it's nice for users to get a comment showing them that they are not alone. Please comment when you can.
• Share triumphs as well as pit falls. Made it a week clean? A year? A day? Let us know when you accomplish something, or when something is going right. It feels good for you, and it helps to inspire everyone else.
• Clarity. When looking for advice, it helps us if you can remind us a little about who you are and give us a view of the situation. We have a lot of members, and it can be hard to remember everyone's situation. You'll get better input if you remind us.
• Information sharing. If you read and article or see a special on self-harm, let us know. Be sure to give us your opinion on it, including if it was triggery.
• Keeping an eye out for yourself and others. Learn to be an advocate for yourself, and for others. If a post makes you feel unsafe, let me know. If someone is being a jerk, call them on it. Too many of us end up taking this stuff out on ourselves. Learn to take care of yourself, and to be strong for you. |
| Other | • <lj-cut>s. Longer messages or triggery posts, as well as poems, warrant the use of the <lj-cut> tag. This shows up as (Read More...) If you would like for it to say something other than read more.. use <lj-cut text="CHANGE THIS TEXT"> Most people use this tag to explain why they are putting up an lj-cut. It might be very long, or might be a poem, it could be triggery, it might be embarrassing. Please include a note before the LJ-cut saying why the post is being cut.
• Editing and deleting posts and comments. Please see this entry for information.
• Rules on user icons. You can review the rules on icons here.
• Tags and memories. There are tonnes of helpful information in the tags and memories. If you see something that you think should be added, please contact me. You can read about our tagging system here.
• Surveys. Surveys may only be posted behind LJ-cut, with no pre-amble. You should use the following code: <lj-cut text="Self-Injury survey. Please click for more information"> The overwhelming majority of posters do not care to see surveys. Any surveys posted in any other way will be deleted.
• Research. If you are interested in posting to this community about research surveys or other related opportunities, please contact me first. I dislike feeling like the members of this community are under a microscope, so I like to vet requests. Please contact me at dont.cut.lj@gmail.com Include your IRB information if you have it, or explain why you don't.
• Grammar, spelling, and language. As a courtesy to other members, please try to use proper grammar and conventional spelling. This will allow others to understand your post more easily and will thereby enable users to respond more helpfully. Also, avoid excessive swearing, as it can be alienating to others and read as hostile. If you need to post a rant or vent that is going to contain very coarse language, please post it after an LJ-cut with a warning about the language.
It's my impression that the majority of users here speak English as their primary language, but we absolutely welcome members who do not write English, or write it as a non-primary language. |
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| Final notes | • Being safe on dont_cut. Please bear in mind when posting that different people are triggered by different things. Please try not to read this when you are feeling unsafe because no one can promise that you will not be triggered by something in here. I encourage all users to be aware and to advocate for themselves and others in this community.
• Maintainer-deleted posts and comments. I save back-ups of everything that I delete. Further, when I delete a post or comment, I will attempt to get into contact with you to let you know that I did so. Out of respect for your privacy, I will not comment on your personal journal unless I see references to self-harm on it, and if I e-mail you, I will refer to the community as "d_c". You may contact me for a copy of your deleted post or comment.
• Issues with others If you have a problem with a user who you feel is being rude or posting things you feel are inappropriate, please tell me at one of the links above. I would be glad to help. Even if it is low-level drama that you feel you can handle yourself, I like to know, just for my own peace of mind. |
Thanks.
--Eli (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) __recidivist) |
Last updated: 30 June 2008
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