Welcome Angela....we are a CP board and you have CP...sounds perfect to me!

Many of us are at a loss...just as you sound like you are...as to why this member gets banned and others do not. It feels more like a game of Duck Duck Goose.

HUGS to you!

Yes, Welcome Angela, if you have pain, then you belong to us! Well, in reference to the banning, what surprises me is; that the trouble makers get to stay, and the helpful one that was here for everyone is banned, I think is unfair, and also I would like an "official" answer from DS Adminitrators, telling us what the results of their "investigation" is. Is that too much to ask????????????? I don't think so!

Take care and welcome to our family!!!

Millie

I'm disapointed that DS only scratched the surface of this whole issue and when a number of us complained we were ignored.
Then there's the ignore feature that several members complained didn't work.
We've lost a valuable member because she loved this site enough to stand up for what was right and wasn't afraid to speak the truth. Now everyone is afraid to write what they really think and when they do they say thier goodbuys because thier afraid of being banned.
WTF?
What has this done to our group? It used to be a place where we could vent and give our opinions right or wrong. Now it's a place where people are afraid to speak.
This is so sad.
And DS continues to not respond.....

Amen to that Kansass!! Do I hear another Amen from the gallery???!!!!

Amen! And, I agree, Angela, please join us, you made some great points on your banning discussion and we would love any tips and pointers that you can lend for dealing with chronic pain. This is really a great, caring group and have learned alot from everyone here.

DS has us on ignore.

The reason the troublemakers get to stay is that they are good at lying and milking us for sympathy...they have had years of practice...kinda like addicts are good at manipulating...so are they...it's not our fault that we always try to help...that's in our nature...and sometimes we get duped...But just because I was manipulated into believing someone's sad sob story it won't make me change who I am..I will continue to try to help others and hope that I can see through the crap if it's there...

Being good at lying isn't a trait that I want...but being good at giving advice and helping is...so I will keep doing it...

Hi, Angela. I read your posts on the other group too. Welcome!

Marcia

@angela:

welcome! i would love to see you join the board, and am anxious to hear your ways of dealing w/pain. i hope you'll like it here!

@spider:

lol, literally! good one. =)

xo, misa

Thanks for the welcome everyone. We also did a mass mailing to DS to try and get our friends back in bipolar. None of us even got a "we're looking into it" type of reply.

My theory is that if a member is banned, there is nothing to look into from their point of view. The problem in bipolar is one of our friends came back. He is quite humorous, and often inappropriate. So very obvious who he was. And someone recognized him (really hard to miss actually), and then he was gone. And again, and again.

It seems like there is no appeals process.

I get scared reading your board. I am in denial. I like to pretend I am normal. I work hard at it. Just because I can barely walk the pain is so bad, doesn't mean I am not normal, right? I'll join, but I can't promise I will stay unless it is lots of fun.

I am just a party girl at heart, looking for some excitement. Since I can't really party anymore, DS is my second choice. And I do promise to be nice. LOL

I understand all the frustration and confusion with why certain people were banned, not getting answers from admins, etc., but I think it has been made clear that nothing is going to change at DS. Yes, it's unfair, but there's nothing we can do to force the admins of DS to hear us out or even consider what we have to say. Don't take this the wrong way, but I think it's time to move on. Rehashing the issue over and over and over again all across the boards won't do anything but promote negativity. And while I totally agree with your side, it's safe to say that the admins are unwilling and probably will never give anyone the legitimate answers that they're looking for.

If a bunch of you are really passionate about keeping everyone on board in the forums and online, then I suggest making your own forum. Why belong to a site with rules that you don't agree with or understand, and admins that don't seem to care? I say we create our own network and make it bigger and better than DS, with rules that are fair and admins who care. At least it would lead to something more positive.

Hi Angela...welcome to our group! Sorry about your pain. I am happy to hear you are a party girl. We need someone else to help liven up these parties...we all know that David likes to party too. Right David? LOL...I bet a lot of us here at DS are party animals. I mean, c'mon! Just think about our "Floggin' parties". Those get so wild that some of us duckies end up sitting on buckets of ice! ....
-Jennifer

Angela,
I would like to say welcome and that you should fit right in. Just read some of the flogging party posts, and I am sure that you will see that you will fit in like you have always been there! This group is pretty awesome and we all support, love, help, and laugh with each other. As you can see by this post, we also stick by each other and try to protect one another. Please do not be afraid to jump in with anything funny, helpful, supportive, or even off the wall. We love to laugh here and some of us have even spit stuff at our computers from laughing so hard! Which is why I quit drinking when reading posts here. LOL. So once again, I welcome you to our crazy little family and hope that you find some help and have many laughs with us!
Kansass,
I just wanted to say AMEN to that one post. I could not have said it any better. I know that I am a little late, but I always want to show support to my friends. That was such an awesome post! You rock, but I am sure that you already know that. LMAO!!!
DS,
I am not sure why you have not come back with any answers, replies, anything to let us know that you are not just listening to people that are claiming abuse, that you also listen to people with real concerns. As you can see, now people here are afraid of saying anything because they think that they will get tossed just for disagreeing with someone. Is that what you call a support group? I know that this was not what I had in mind when I joined. I came here looking for honest, down to the point help, and support. Even if it meant hearing something that I did not want to hear. I got that from ChronicIL and some other WONDERFUL people here. We may not agree on everything that is said, but that is what makes us a family. Wouldn't you agree? Show me a family that has no problems, or arguments and I will show you a FAKE family. You guys were so quick to ban Erika but have said nothing about the baiting that goes on or anything. Why is that? Do you not see it? As you can see, people are so worried and frustrated, they are talking about leaving here and maybe making they're own site! I don't think that is a bad idea ( jumpingfences, let me know ) maybe then, the people in charge will actually answer member's questions and not judge BEFORE they ban!
I am sorry to my friends if I get kicked for this. Pain is at a 10 today and coming here and seeing once again that there has been no response, is making me crazy. You all know how much I care for you and how much you will be missed. I will end this by giving my email address ( not afraid of someone writing to me, I can always block them, I am a big girl ) If you don't see me on here for a while, write to me and i will let you know what happened.
SIncerely,
A very frustrated Member

The reason members keep adding to posts like this is that even if it doesn't allow a loved member to come back it makes clear that on the issue of banning many are not happy with the status quo. This issue is apparently not just effecting this board but others as well.

If the only change that comes from this and other like threads is that DS reviews it's policy of sending a generic form letter to offenders or take into consideration whether the reporter of abuse may be just as guilty if not in that particular thread but elsewhere. Ideally DS would look for patterns of abuse in decided who gets banned and who gets warned. Banning is not evenhanded and the American in me gets upset at that. Letting threads like this die out is like saying it's okay and everything is fine. It's not.
Amen.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any additional questions or feedback.

Best Regards,
??????????????

We're trying. You guys are great, and no matter what, we are still people who make mistakes.

Painfully yours,
David.