I have posted regularly in two other forums so far. I belong to some others but traffic is slow there; I like to be where people are really talking.

One forum is full of info that I feel is very important. However it's hard to have a voice because the list owner reads everything and approves it for posting. That is necessary for that particular forum but it curtails freedom to discuss too.

On another forum i have been posting for almost 3 years. I have got into my fair share of disagreements. I advocate anti-drugs and alternative medicine there and have occasionally been gang-lambasted when I have tried to help people. No doubt the ones there who are mega-pill-poppers really hate what I am saying, and they do tell me how my so-called advice upsets them, is illogical, encourages people to distrust their doctors (heaven forbid), makes me sound like I have all the answers, ad nauseum . . . I do not stop my occasional posts there just to please them. I also do not start inflammatory discussions, and if someone wants specific help with psych drugs I usually PM them now.

My main point here, again, is that topics which may upset people are confined to a few threads which people are free to choose to read. If someone is upset enough by something to be willing to quit the forum then I think it's important that people hear about it. I know that when a person is ill and suffering it can be hard not to get emotional about things, I've been there too. But there's a line that needs to be drawn, I think, between speaking freely and stepping on someone's toes (it happens), and writing something that is personally very offensive. Any number of topics are potentially upsetting to people, as many topics as there are members of this forum probably, so which of them are we going to ban in order to protect everyone?

If people are resorting to actual name-calling then I think they ought to be reported to the moderator. People here, on the whole, seem to be good about that sort of thing. I do actually see a lot of respect and support here. I can't see any place where anyone has flamed you recently Tracy, I think people here feel for you and are sad to see you going through so much suffering. I don't know why people you know are quitting the forum or why you feel we are responsible for making you lose your friends, could you not explain more about what the actual issue is?