first things first
- before you post
basic rules and information about the board. - administrivia and technical support
news about changes and fixes to the board, and a place to post any technical queries.
- bodies under siege
Also called 'main,' this was the original forum on the board. - coping
A place to improve your ability to deal with difficult feelings and to manage the consequences of self-harm in your life. Even if you're not trying to give up self-harm, you can share ideas and information and learn helpful techniques here. - before and after
Intended to help you manage self-harm urges, this forum has tools for assessing urges before you give in and for understanding and learning from lapses after they happen. Everyone is welcome to join this group. By posting here, you're saying that you are serious about exploring the feelings behind your self-harm in depth, whether you're ready to stop hurting yourself or not. To request posting access, click usergroups above and request membership in before and after. - the workshop
An area for working on specific issues in your life. Unlike before and after, this forum is not limited to troubleshooting urges; it's about identifying what you want to change in your life and working to make those changes happen. Posting here is a request for feedback and constructive criticism, and posting access must be requested. Anyone who's willing to really listen to responses and try to make changes is welcome to join this group. Click on usergroups above and request membership in the workshop. - life after self-harm
Explore how to live without what used to be your main coping method and talk about what life is like once you've stopped. This forum is for discussing the problems we face once self-harm has ended and is open to anyone who has made the commitment to stop self-injury, whether you last hurt yourself 5 minutes or 5 years ago. - down the long day's arc
This forum was created primarily for people who are past university age. All ages are welcome, though. Topics include work, parenting, relationships, relating to your parents as an adult, and the unique problems faced by people in their mid 20s and older who self-harm. - sourcebook
A collection of useful posts and frequently-asked questions moved here so they don't get lost on the other forums.
- families and friends
Families, partners, and friends of people who self-harm can find help understanding and coping with self-harm in a loved one. - family and friends private space
A members-only forum limited solely to friends and family of people who self-injure. Membership to this group is not open to everyone. For details on joining, see this post in the families and friends forum.
- expressions
Poetry, prose, artwork, music and other expressions of creativity. - distractions
Ways to distract yourself when you feel restless or unhappy.. - games This forum has many posts but few topics
It's for games, with long-running threads on what you ate for breakfast, counting backward from 1000, continuing stories, etc - random weirdness
This may be the strangest bit of the board, and anything you say can and will be twisted into forms you'll never recognize. Beware of threadjackers, running jokes, marmite, and, um, <i>eccentric</i> people.
- place
Place is all about you -- you can create your own spot on the board and own a thread about yourself. The bus quote and picture collections live here, too. Please read the first post in this forum before you start a topic here. - spirit
No matter what you believe, your understanding of yourself as a spiritual being often affects how you feel about self-harm. The precise purpose of this forum is being defined at the moment. - challenge me!
A forum for discussing controversial questions and personal philosophies -- here you will find others interested in examining their beliefs and opinions on religion, politics, current events, and how the world <i>should</i> operate - everything you're not meant to discuss at dinner. - please be healthy
In this forum, we try to regain balance in sleeping, eating, and taking care of our bodies. Access is by membership only; to join click on usergroups above and request membership in please be healthy. Everyone is welcome to join this group. - the nest
If you feel vulnerable and want to be reassured that people care and you do matter, come here. You don't have to justify wanting this; just ask. This is also a good place for people who want to be supportive but aren't quite sure how.
- suggestion box
Help build a better bus by letting the staff know what you think needs to be improved. - welcome wagon
An ongoing project to help new members navigate the board and feel at home. To join, use the usergroups link above and request membership in the welcome wagon group. To join this group you will need to have 75 posts or have been here 6 months.
Usergroups
Usergroups make it possible for some forum access to be restricted. We use them in some forums (such as the workshop) which have very specific purposes and in others (such as please be healthy) which have very specific rules. Members have to request access to in order to see these special forums, but aside from the private family and friends section, anyone is welcome to join these groups provided they can post within the guidelines and rules for each forum.
There are five forum-related usergroups: before and after, the workshop, families and friends, please be healthy, and welcome wagon. There is a challenge me usergroup but at the moment you can post in challenge me without being a member (it is open to anyone who has access to BUS). For details, see the forum descriptions above.
There are also three groups that exist just for fun: SHACA (Self-Harmers Against Cat Accusations), BABS (BUS Association for Bush Scars) and Revenge of the Zombies. BABS is temporarily unavailable. Joining these groups does not give you access to any additional forums, all that happens is that your name is added to the memberlist of the group.
You can find more information about usergroups here.
Deb