Remember to be respectful of others. Choose your words carefully, remember we are all struggling or have struggled, or are supporting people who are struggling. Some people may be sensitive or be having a bad day. Treat others with the respect you would wish to be treated.
Numbers: Numbers including weight, BMI, fat percentage etcetera may be discussed until further notice or unless someone specifically requests to not discuss them. Requests are granted at the discretion of the channel and can't always be a guarantee.
Think before you speak. Abusive behaviour toward others in the channel is not permitted. Threats, harassment, actions that imply threats, personal attacks, clear manipulation or insults are considered abusive. Channel operators and superoperaters (ops and sops) deserve the same respect as all other users, and attacks on them will be taken seriously, although constructive criticism is welcomed. Neither Ops nor Sops are exempt from the guidelines.
Graphic sexual talk regarding abuse, rape, violence, bestiality etc. is not permitted as some users may have sexual abuse issues or feel uncomfortable with these discussions. This is not a channel for picking up people. Hitting on members and lewdness toward other members will not be tolerated as it is considered harassing behaviour.
Both tip giving and method sharing are under no circumstances permitted here. We are a support and recovery based channel, and if you want pro-ED information, look elsewhere.
Suicide threats, graphic descriptions of self injury or other wounds, abuse, purges, binging or actually hurting yourself while in the channel are strictly forbidden. Asking how not to do the aforementioned acts is fine. We all get urges sometimes. If you cannot control your urges we request that you remove yourself from the channel and come back at another time.
Political and religious discussions are discouraged as they can move to the abusive side of things. People are permitted to hold them, but if anyone asks for them to be stopped, please stop instantly, or take it to PM.
Channel operators reserve the right to take necessary action in order to uphold the rules. We want #ED to be a safe and pleasant place for people dealing or having dealt with eating disorders. If the channel operators decide to exclude someone from the channel as they are too volatile or harmful for the channel a ban can be put in place as a last resort. If this is done, logs of the conversation should be sent to edircchat@gmail.com immediately.
Choose a username that is not graphic, e.g. does not mention self-harm, food/eating issues or suicide. Some things can trigger others, so you may be asked to change your nickname if it is deemed inappropriate. Please also choose a nickname that is unlikely to upset or concern others (e.g. nick|hated might be inappropriate). Sops and Ops have discretion over what is and isn't okay at any given time.
You may find yourself in a conversation that is something you find hard to deal with, but is allowed within the guidelines. It is acceptable to tell the channel in a polite manner you are not comfortable with the topic, and they may agree and change the conversation. If the conversation is wished to continue you can use /part to leave the channel for a while and ask someone to send a private message when the topic is changed. The ignore feature is helpful for this as well. The channel is under no obligation whatsoever to change the topic of a discussion permitted within the rules.
Ignore is your friend. If someone disturbs or offends you but isn't breaking the rules type /ignore theirusernamehere so you can not see text from this user. If you want to be able to see messages from them, just type /ignore theirusernamehere again, and you will be able to see messages from them again.
For legal reasons we ask our chatters to be ages 13 and over.
To help keep the channel safe do NOT give out any personal information as this is the internet and you have no way of knowing who you are really talking to.
Do NOT join this channel looking to get an eating disorder or asking how to become eating disordered. There are websites available with that information, and our focus is entirely on recovery.
Do not discuss thinspiration, whether in the form of link sharing, discussion of people who you consider to have an enviable shape, or any other form. This will not be tolerated.
Links to “pro-eating disorder” sites are forbidden. By definition, a pro ED site is one that contains tips, tricks or thinspiration. A good judge is, if you wouldn't be allowed to say it in channel, don't link to it in channel. Links in general are welcome, but you are asked to explain what the link says, so people can make an informed choice whether or not to view it.