Hi @Captain24 sending you cheers a a warm hug... it's hard being in a dark place and i hope you have some glimmers during your day. I know what it's like to be stuck and I'm happy to sit with you however long it takes. For me it's been years.

@espressologic I'll try to address this in detail as you ask, but to be thorough I'll have to repeat some points made earlier.

The brevity and negativity of the guidelines mean they seem overwhelmingly discouraging and disparaging of lived experience.  You've given justifications for some but taken at face value the guidelines seem to mean

The forums are for people with lived experience or carers not supporters or allies.

We don't want to hear from you if you have suicidal ideation, thoughts of self harm or are experiencing family violence.

Don't describe any events or experiences that could be deemed traumatic or abusive.

Don't reflect or describe your thought processes, especially if you're an introvert, as we don't like rumination.

Please report troubling posts as moderators don't take responsibility for monitoring posts.

Don't share the names of services you may have found helpful even if they're community and government services listed in public directories. Don't mention or seek support for indictable behaviours or identify as someone with alcohol or drug dependence or anger management issues.

Take care when tagging people or encouraging participation (no pressure)

...You use the heading "no self-promotion" but I suggest unpacking the content under the heading. In the past the rule under this heading about promotion of research has been  taken out of context and applied more broadly to rule out sharing with peers about government inquiries. And there can be egregious promotion of alternative medicines and New Age products that isn't self-promotion for commercial gain but perhaps self-aggrandisement.

Every statement of fact must be supported by evidence or a link. (See Wikipedia for examples of how to do this. )Take care not to identify people products or services when you do this.

Please don't raise any problem issue or feeling more than once, we get tired of hearing it. Yawn. Just go away.

Just stick to light social chitchat and banter. It's what we're promoting as the purpose of the Forums after all - connection and chat.