Healthful Chat

So, let me begin by saying that I originally came here to discuss philosophy in the philosophy room -- it was one of my majors in undergrad and after I moved to pursue education in a different field, I wanted to find a place to discuss philosophical concepts and applications.

It wasn't until much later that I came to discover there are over 50 rooms with all sorts of peer-support topics. It's lovely to see chatters coming in to the rooms in search of support and other chatters welcoming them and talking them through whatever they are going through. It's distinctly Not a paid or professional therapist site, but I think many people benefit from being listened to and supported here. There are many great, welcoming, friendly people on here, both mods and chatters alike. It's refreshing to see strangers reaching out to those in need by lending a helping hand, sharing personal experience, or servinf as a listening year and sounding board.

It should also be noted that the depression room is a completely different site, with their own team of moderators and their own rules and guidelines. They really should have separate review pages in virtue of this.

I feel very attached to this site as I have been coming for a long time -- I feel like I have grown up here, had meaningful conversation, supported those in need, and made friends. It is my opinion that community is one of the most important parts of being human, and this place facilitates that.

Honestly I think the sites intentions are AMAZING. The site is trying to help anyone with any issues about anything, by having people talk about it, and is succeeding most of the time :).

But I do however think some mods are definitely a little unfair. I wouldn't say all the mods are unfair, because that is not true. 90% of mods are so nice, so amazing, and always gives people second chances even when they are being put down.

I have been banned for "creating clones" because my friends were over and they wanted to go on the site too. And, to be fair, I 100% understand why multiple logins from one wifi network is against the rules.

One of the mods just told me I couldn't do multiple logins, in a nice, but stern way, which I think is a really effective. But before I had the chance to tell my friends to we had to log out, another moderator muted me and everyone else using my wifi network. Then 5 seconds later, he banned my network from the website FOREVER. (not even a 48 hour ban?)

Then a few days later one of my friends invited me to her house, so I used her wifi and tried to find the mod that banned me. I found him and tried to explain the situation to him but he wouldn't listen. Instead he banned my friends network from the website forever too.

You might be asking, "Were you and your friends rude to the people on the website?"
And I would say definitely not. Everyone was just chatting and having a great time, which I think is what this website should completely be about.

I've been permanently banned from this site and I greatly depended on it. Now thinking even more about suicide. A chatter named ShadowOfLight who now goes by a different nickname (because everyone hates him, and even more so now) is the one who lobbied admin to get me banned. Reading the reviews, it seems I'm not the only one who has a problem with Forever, I don't want to talk too bad about her though, cause I'm convinced she is intellectually disabled, she just shouldn't be a mod. My permanent ban came out of nowhere, I litterally had just entered the room.
I've lost friends that meant so much to me now and am hopelessly alone, all because some loser couldn't make friends on his own merit. The things I did were so little, sure I got out of hand a time or two but its a mental health chat, isn't that to be expected to some extent? Not only did they ban me they said I was disgusting, abusive, and shameful. (of course they get to have the last word).
I'm so angry and helpless. They have completely disregarded what this will do to me. I wanna move on but I hate them so much. I hope something bad happens to them, I really do. That may sound bad but given what this will do to me, I can't help it. They've shown me 0 kindness or understanding.
P.S. They are now using MODS that are not known to chatters and they will mute you without you even knowing that you've been muted/banned (if you suspect this try logging on to another channel). Look our for mod name MOB, he's a $#*!

There are mutiple things wrong with this site. I have worked for a crisis chat line last year and have battled with mental health for many more.
The chatrooms i went into (requested from calm because i cannot do phone calls because im hard of hearing) were seemingly completely unmonitored, bots kept popping up asking you to donate to the shambles of the website
No research has been done around the postive and negatives around having mutiple people woth the same underlying issue they clicked on for help may i add in the same chat room. Everyone was triggering each other there were no professionals or systems in place to stop people or remove even after someone has said to not talk about a subject mutiple times. There is no monetising around potentially harmful subjects which is why 1 to 1 chat services with a trained professional is much more effective than alot of unwell people all in one room with no supervision (much like in a pshych ward with no staff) its not going to go well for anyone.
Made me so much worse when i just wanted to talk to someone about my situation and feeling because i have no one to talk to and i hate to think about how many more people are being made so much worse when clicking on this site
Absaloutely disrespectful and my complaint message wont even allow me to contact them.

There are a couple of moderators that are ok, a couple that never seem to do anything and then there's a bunch that should find something else to do.
Not interested in drama so never had a problem with mods, but seen the cause problems with chatters and some clearly got beef with guests.
Mods gang up and they have favorites, Stayathome who is on a "break" from moderating but is still just as snarky and Jameson and Forever too. Recently Forever and Stayathome are like a wrestling tag-team setting chatters up.
Forever and Stayathome actually have ongoing petty arguments with chatters, one time in anxiety they did this with a chatter who's a nurse and basically waited for her to say something about her job and then said stuff like "glad I'm not one of your patients" and then the other said something else and they just kept taking turns in taking shots for over an hour.

Mods are chatters who volunteer for the site. Some mods have mood swings and openly admit to being in bad moods and then start muting and kicking as a way of projecting that bad mood.
If you remember that mods have issues that include personality disorders and depressive disorders, bipolar and adhd then it's not exactly surprising that their behavior can swing so much.
The site could use more mods who are more professional and less personality.
Best advice, avoid the drama and don't let moody mods spoil your time.

I've been a regular user of this site for quite some time. I have witnessed trolls coming in and out. The moderators can definitely abuse their power and oftentimes do for very trivial reasons. My "favorite" experience on this site consisted on two trolls spamming in the chat, saying inappropriate things, and harassing other users. Two moderators on the chat, however, decided to ban a regular user for no apparent reason besides the fact that he was telling the moderators to ban the trolls who wouldn't stop harassing other users. I do enjoy chatting with some other regular chatters, but I will also agree that the site (and moderators) need major improvement. I have literally witnessed pedophilia and perverted discussions, but the moderators are not online 24/7, so there is no watching out for the younger and more vulnerable chatters. It's disgusting. If you are looking for emotional support or advice, then this is obviously not the best site to use, so I would recommend sites such as 7cups or other chat rooms.

I have been using the depression chat room for several years, on and off.
The chat rooms on healthfulchat, in particular the depression chat room, is constantly trolled by people who seek to bring emotional pain to those already suffering from mental ill health.

The website is advertised as a safe, moderated site where people can access peer support.
However the site very often has no moderator(s) online at all, and even when moderators are online they are not very good at dealing with the trolls.

As other people have said in their reviews, there are a few well known users that regularly troll the site but they are not dealt with.

Some of the moderators also behave like children themselves, and should not have been given the position as moderators. Culprits include 'BlueGobi' and 'SPP'.
Despite people complaining about how the site is moderated, or complaining specifically about individual moderators, the owners of the site do nothing simply because the moderators are volunteers.

The site is outdated and poorly run, soif you're looking to connect with people for peer support, try somewhere else.

I'm Brumble in this old screenshot, I'm transgender.

How is this site still up? Cyber bullying is illegal in the united states, they need turned in.

A lot of trolls in there and when you say hi they just ignore you, not helpful at all. Mods don't do anything about bullying.

If I had a partner who told me I couldn't stand up for myself against people who were constantly abusing me I wouldn't stay with them and this is what this chat does. Chatters are banned for weeks at a time for lashing out at the trolls who run rampant here. The mods do what they can but they can't do much against the actual problem so they are told by the site admin to go after the chatters who interact with the trolls. The admins get snippy if a chatter doesn't agree with everything they say. Even when you try to be polite and just say you aren't happy with the situation they jump on you telling you you are wrong and the mods and site admins are always right.
Am I disgruntled? Yes. Am I bitter? Yes. That doesn't mean what I have said isn't true.
It's a decent site if you can stand the abuse from trolls and not react. It's a decent site if you want to interact with people who may have similar issues. It's by no means a professional ran site but, aside from the issues I stated, it's an okay site. I mean aside from being told you have to shut up and take abuse and hope a mod is around to take care of the troll.

Hi I just Wanted to say that how healthful chat has helped me everybody is very friendly I love being there. I look forward to being there every day and spend hours just talking to people everybody is very helpful. Everybody has the same issues as I have and that is one thing that I love about this website everything that I have been going through the people in the chat room. Do understand what I've been through and they are very helpful. Very pleasant. And very friendly they do not judge. They are very helpful people. I look forward to going every day. I look forward to seeing everybody every morning every afternoon and every night healthful Chat is one place I feel safe. Health, full chat is the one place I will always be thankful for them. They have saved me from the brink of disaster if there's one thing, I would love to say about h healthful chat if you come in and you have a problem that you need somebody to talk to they are always there to help you. I'm always there to help. I am very happy with this place and I would never trade it for the world. Hopefully you consider us. We are an awesome site. I speak from experience everybody like I said, it's very helpful very pleasant and I'm very very pleased with everything. All the mods are very helpful. Everybody is helpful in that chat room. They understand you they understand what you have been going through. They understand that life is hard, but you know you will get through it. There is nothing I wouldn't do to be a great chatter. I have been in chatter since October 21,2019. It is an awesome, awesome place. If you come in, you will be greeted with a lot of love support and gentleness. This place has saved me and I'm very thankful for that. Thank you so much Healthful chat for all you've done to help me survive very thankful

Hello it will not let me get on and it taking to long for it to load and it usally let me get on but today its acting up

Just a comment on Marie B's review because when I try to leave a comment there it doesn't get posted.
No offence but that post looks like nothing more than a promo for the site because it doesn't address any of the following.
1. It's a UK site so the legal age is 16 but the fact is it should be for 18 yr and older. There's far too much talk about porn as well as other "adult" content subjects.
Keep your kids safe, you don't want them being befriended by men in their 30s and 40s or older.
Moderators agree that 16 is too young for the site.
Protect your children from being exposed to people who could be there to groom them.
2. Typically on about 12-15 of the 50 channels are ever used so if you're looking for support for BDD, Autism, Parenting, Stroke or a bunch of others including fitness then you'll be out of luck because those rooms never have chatters.
3. Well moderated should be defined. For a start, there aren't always moderators on the site so it can't be well moderated if nobody's there to do it.
4. The standard of moderating depends on the moderators personalities and that's a big issue. Some moderators don't get involved unless there are rule breaks but others behave like chatters and then will use their role as a moderator if you disagree with their comments.
5. It's clear some moderators and room assistants have favorites which means it's not done fairly.
6. A lot depends on the which people are on, some people treat it like a social thing and just want to talk about food and movies so if you come in with an eating disorder or bereavement don't expect much compassion or understanding. But if you come on at a different time when some really nice understanding people are there, then you'll get understanding and compassion.
7. It gives company the way that a tv gives company but it doesn't give companionship because that's about a relationship with another person and if you want to invest hours each week building relationships with people over several months then you're likely to get something that looks like companionship.
8. Respect for all is a joke, some people including moderators are respectful and some people including moderators are rude and disrespectful
Just like in real life.

Sadly helthfulchat and depression chat is a very dangerous place for those struggling with mental illness while some chatters can ve very supportive and nice this is overshadowed by the moderation team who are not very nice at all if you are autistic and show that you are struggling you will get banned by some moderators etc. Astrid, BluGobi, LadyBernie, if you question a disission you will be banned, also don't bother contacting them as they are very unprofessional they constantly ignore reports about online harassment, one admin said that i was allowed back but then when i came back i was banned despite being told a lie that i was allowed back. I have been bullied by the moderation leading to me harming and punching myself, please if you are a venerable user especially someone with autism and depression stay away form here because there is a good chance that the moderation team will emotionally miniplate and bully you especially if you struggle with sucidal thoughts and self harm, Ignore the biased reviews these have most likely been posted by the staff team to try and overshadow the disturbing abuse that goes on behind closed doors. Its really sad where society is going if it is now nornal to bully depressed people especially when people ae allowed to mislead the public by claiming to be a depression support group but instead bullying genuine people looking for support while allowing trolls say the most disgusting comments and employing trolls to moderate this chatroom, law enforcment needs to be contacted.

I came to this site for several years and then stopped because it became so toxic. I thought I would try again after being gone and within 10 minutes of signing into the lounge this is the conversation I saw today 4/12/22 with time stamps:

12:15:05Depressedkween Omg men are stupid
12:15:05Arapaima396 Noice
12:15:16lifeless Daniela1: yup
12:15:21Depressedkween Men are mass shooters
12:15:28Guest*******?
12:15:31Arapaima396 Yes we are but its rude to point out the obvious
12:15:38 * SneakyWeasel shoots up the room
12:16:01Depressedkween I'm so nice wdym
12:16:01Arapaima396 Oh fer cryin out loud...
12:16:22Sebas pm anyone
12:16:38frenchsoap hi Angel

Despite the presence of several moderators and room assistants no one said anything. Imagine for a moment what would happen if a guy said all women are stupid and baby killers/mass shooters or whatever. That person would be kicked and banned (I hope).

This is a site where people come for emotional support and many things trigger an emotional reaction. I'm sure some people will say "it was just a joke". But this is exactly what all sociopaths say when you point out their bad behavior - and this site has more than its fair share of sociopaths who fly under the radar because the moderators and assistants at this site have no mental health training whatsoever.

Once again my vote is to avoid this site at all costs.

Like Emily said the moderator Forever is on a power trip and a complete bully, one of the worst moderators along with CGJ.
She's well over 50yo and you'd think kindness would come with age, but it seems like it's bullying instead. Forever bullies by muting chatters and then keep them muted until she logs off. The other moderators won't unmute you while she's there which means she can keep chatters on mute. While you're on mute she either ignores your messages or just PMs snarky comments like "so how are you?" or "you seem to think you have a lot of fans here" or "not much going on with me". It's part of the bullying to avoid talking about why she muted you and to provoke you. She keeps you on mute and then logs off and you have to wait until another moderator comes on and ask them to unmute you.

The rules about warnings, kicks and bans are supposed to be: 3 warnings then a kick and then 3 kicks and then a ban. But a new moderator rule stated by CGJ who's a bully depending on what day of the week it is, means the moderators can kick or ban you straight away without warning "if they feel like it". Those were his exact words.
This means the site's rules cover any action the moderators and room assistants take, it might as well say "moderators and RAs can mute and kick whenever they "feel" like it and don't need to warn". That's fine when you have trolls coming trying to get nude pics of chatters, but it means that regular chatters can be kicked or banned whenever a moderator "feels" like it, even if it's just for disagreeing with them, which is now what happens.
If that's not rule that encourages bullying, then what is?

The moderating is awful.
CGJ Swamptoast really dislikes anyone who has an intelligent opinion and calls out their hypocrisy or their failure.
CGJ will come into the room half way through an argument and immediately shadow ban and shadow mute guests. One minute he says he is retired and the next he says "I'm a site Mod". There's no point trying to explain anything to him because he doesn't care about resolving anything, he just likes to shadow ban/kick and talk about the weather.
The way to get him on your side is to compliment him and then he'll let you get away with anything. The guy is incompetent and will let his friends do anything but ban anyone who he doesn't recognize as well as falsely claiming that you're already permanently banned when it's only your second time there lmao.
Swamptoast routinely lets chatters repeatedly use racist and homophobic terms (the n word and the f word) and when you tell him, all he says is "be respectful", if you then quote the rules which say it won't be tolerated he then threatens you with blocking your ISP. BUT he routinely lets two permanently banned chatters stay and swear all the time and talk about banned topics and only says to them "if you want to be here then behave"
There are two well known chatters who are permanently banned but show up all the time and Swamptoast says things like "I'll let you stay if you behave". What's the point in permanently banning people if you then let them come back?
When you point out this hypocrisy he threatens to ban your ISP for "arguing" with him and says things like "I'm tired of your complaining" and tells you to go to another site if you don't like it there. The guy pretends he gives so much of his time to the site when really he just spends his time there chatting about movies and gets annoyed if you interrupt that.

So at this site the moderators and RAs or room assistants are basically chatters who also volunteer for the site this means they can keep acting as chatters one moment and then act as moderators the next. Nothing wrong with this until you come across the likes of Stayathome78 and CGJ both of whom are RAs - here are examples of how they do their job:
CGJ says things like "Shut it, just shut it! Be respectful" to chatters and then mutes them when they tell him to "get lost" in response. Anyone else spot the hypocrisy in telling someone to shut it and then telling them to be respectful? Probably just likes to throw weight around because he can get away with it.
Stayathome78 says things like: "Kiss my a**" and "I wish people would remove the stick from their a** when they come to chat" he also has long slagging matches with chatters in the anxiety support room. Yep people who are having anxiety issues can go and watch as he fights it out about veganism and other pointless topics. But to his credit Stayathome does pretend to be helpful and says hi to everyone who came to the room in between throwing snarky insults: "Hi, John, welcome to anxiety support... why don't you kiss my a**... hi Jane, welcome to anxiety support"
What was ironic is that CGJ is apparently a senior RA and had to tell Stayathome78 several times to ignore the chatter so the fighting would stop and another moderator had to keep telling him to stop fighting with other chatters.
How can someone be an RA and not even keep the rules they tell others to keep.

If you find chat room catfights fun, then this is the place for you, but if you actually want anxiety support, then find another site.