After discussion with many members and our community support team, I've come to the conclusion that it seems best to keep the majority of political discussions out of the Current Events forum. There are literally hundreds of online communities you can visit if you're into politics. We are simply not set up to best serve our community's primary mission -- helping people with mental health concerns -- with the time & energy it takes to oversee such often-times rancorous political discussions.

You can continue your political discussions in the social group that a member setup to have them.

We will allow for limited political discussion that is directly related to a mental health policy or advocacy issue (or similar topics, like psychiatry or psychology) in the Current Events forum. It has to be DIRECTLY related to such topics. For instance, discussion of the 21st Century Cures Act in the US would be appropriate as a new topic for the Current Events forum under this policy, since it included a significant mental health component in the law. This policy takes effect Jan. 1, 2017.

I appreciate this will make some members unhappy and we do not do this lightly. But the community support team and I all feel it is in the community's best overall interest.

Best,
DocJohn