Don't forget to add yourself to the Members Map at the top of the page~~
it's interesting to see how far and wide our community can reach!
Keep your profile page updated~~
It not only helps everyone to get to know you, It helps when you ask us a question, that we know of meds you take or injuries that you have. We try to give you helpful links, and the first thing we do is look at your profile.
Check out the Groups~~
The tab is located at the top of the page, and there some really interesting and fun places to join!
Remember, we are a group of patients that are here to support each other~~
As patients on a group like this, we do not know the situation of the person we may be responding to. Because of that, it is never safe to give medical advice. Besides the possible legal ramifications, it can be extremely dangerous.
Keeping that in mind, we need to remember to be responsible in our comments. Telling someone "Don't take that, take this. It works better", or "you need to go to the emergency room" is not acceptable. You can explain what works for you, or WHY you think the emergency room might help, because it's offering your opinion. Telling someone what they should do can be detrimental to their treatment.
We have had a few members who were desperate for help stop their medications on the advice of others. Thankfully they were caught quickly, and no harm was done. We have also had someone go to the emergency room on someone's advice, and get stuck with a bill. We don't want a bill to be forwarded to Ben's Friends because they felt we were responsible for it!
So just be aware that we really don't know the person on the other side of the conversation, and we don't know how they will respond, so we need to be careful with our words of advice.
Because we are all patients first, including our volunteer Moderators, no one here has the credentials to give you any type of medical advice, and we are not equipped to handle any emergencies.
Ben's Friends is a community of patient-guided support groups. It is not meant to be a source of emergency help. Due to the type of community this is, there are many times that there won't be a Moderator available. The Mods will always respond to messages left for them as soon as they are back on.
~~If you have a MEDICAL emergency, please call your doctor, or go to your local emergency room.
~~If you have a MENTAL HEALTH emergency, please go to your local emergency room, or call:
- In the United States: 1-800-273-TALK
- For all other countries, go here: International Mental Health Contacts
~~For US VETERAN related crisis, please go to the emergency room, or call:
- Veteran Crisis Line: 800-■■■■■■■■
Thanks!
Renie & SK