Bipolar World's Chat Room Guidelines

The goal of all interactive pages within the Bipolar World community is the comfort and safety of all who choose to participate. You must be 18 or older to be in any of our chat rooms. With all this in mind, the following are the guidelines enforced in the chat rooms.

1. Treat each other with respect, i.e. as you would like to be treated yourself. Flaming, hostility or harassment
will not be tolerated.

3. While a “light touch” – joking etc is an important part of sharing and support, if someone needs special support
please make it a priority.

5.  Difficult or trigger topics such as self-injury, abuse, suicidal ideation, alcohol, etc.: private message the chat
       operator and let them know you would like to be able to discuss a particular topic. The chat operator can then
       poll the room and determine if it's okay. To learn how to private message, click here.

6. Disagreements are permitted…arguments are not. Topics which frequently cause disagreements such as
politics and religion are permitted when they directly pertain to bipolar episodes, specifically delusions. Use
good judgment and be respectful of all.

7. No foul language permitted. An occasional “slip” won’t get you banned but beware of abusing it. Many
people are offended by foul language.

8. Select a nick that is in good taste and avoid frequent nick changes. Changing nicks is confusing to many.

9. Disruptive or obscene topics and discussions will not be tolerated. These behaviors, which include lurking or
idling will not be tolerated.

10. As non-professionals we can not and must not give medical advice including encouraging people to change and/or add a medication etc.

11. You are expected to observe all guidelines both during opped chats and unopped chats.

12. Use good judgment when you chat.

13. We reserve the right to remove or ban you from the room for violating any of the above guidelines or for any other behavior which is deemed to be
inappropriate for our rooms and the ban can be on a permanent basis.

14. Finally, we retain the right to update and revise these guidelines as we see fit.

Bipolar World is a privately owned site(s) and is operated strictly by volunteers, which includes the owner and partners. We strive to offer concise and verifiable information about Bipolar Disorder, but we are not professionals. Do not use the information in this web site in any way to replace the advice of the doctor or professional who is caring for you. Always talk to your doctor before changing medications or dosage, or if you experience any serious side effects or questions regarding your health. Do not attempt to diagnose yourself based on the information presented, or attempt to treat yourself.

All interactive areas within the Bipolar World websites operate on a peer to peer basis. The site owner, partners, chat operators and supervisors, forum moderators and supervisors, and email group moderators and supervisors are all volunteers. None have special training in their area, other than their own personal experience with the illness (and this can vary from one person with bipolar disorder to another), personal education, and empathy for others.

Bipolar World accepts no responsibility for information posted in our chat room, forums, or email list. The opinions expressed in articles within our site are those of the writers, and may not reflect the opinion of Bipolar World. We are not responsible for the content within websites that are linked to or from Bipolar World. We retain the right to reject materials that we feel are inappropriate, or to ban individuals whose behavior is likewise inappropriate within the interactive areas.

All individuals with Bipolar Disorder are welcome within our community at their own discretion and at their own risk. Upon entrance to Bipolar World, and upon use of any of its information and/or interactive areas, you agree to release and hold harmless Bipolar World, it's owner, partners, and all of its volunteer representatives from any and all damages and liabilities that may arise from your participation at our online support sites located at http://www.bipolarworld.net and http://www.bipolarworld.org.

The chat room may be reached by one of three ways. For the java chat room go to http://www.bipolarworld.net and choose the chat room you want. Bookmark the main bipolar chat room at http://www.bipolarworld/Community/webchat.html For those with a mirc client: the name of the chat room is #bipolarworld, the port number is 7000 and the server is webnet. Anyone wishing to obtain a mirc client or a list of commands for mirc see http://www.mirc.com .

The chat room is open 24 hours a day. You are free to arrange to meet bipolar friends for a chat at any time. Operators are in the room according to the schedule posted on the Community Support page. Anyone wishing to obtain a mirc client or a list of commands for mirc see http://www.mirc.com .

Chat Operators are Allie, Blackdog (David S.), John H, ez, choi. dpool, jduffy, Mimi, Missyk, Puppy80, Rednut and Vicky..

Register: If you wish to register your nickname and its password, this is how to do it. Type in:

/msg NickServ REGISTER mypass myemail (where mypass is your chosen password and myemail is
your email address)

Private Message someone: /msg nick your message or click twice on the person's nick in the list of chatters
and a separate window will open where you may talk
privately.