Legal
People come here carrying things they've never told anyone. That takes courage. The whole point of unburdening is making it possible to say those things without being judged, performed at, or sold to.
These guidelines exist for one reason: to keep this space safe for the next person who needs it. Read them. Most of them are obvious. A few aren't. All of them apply equally to everyone here.
Share what you're actually carrying. That's the heart of this. Don't invent struggles to fish for sympathy, manipulate other users, or test how the app responds.
And when you connect with someone, bring the same honesty into the conversation. People here are trusting you with real things. Don't perform empathy you don't feel, and don't use someone's vulnerability against them.
The whole community is built on anonymity. Even though we strip identifying details before confessions are shared, you may notice something that feels familiar. Don't try to confirm it. Don't ask probing questions designed to pin someone down.
If you genuinely think you know someone in real life, the right move is to disconnect, not to confront. People share here because they aren't ready to be seen elsewhere.
You're a person, not a professional. Even if you have training or lived experience, when you're inside unburdening, you're another anonymous user. Telling someone to stop their medication, file a restraining order, leave their marriage, or take any other serious action can cause real harm.
Share what helped you. Encourage them to talk to a professional. Be a witness, not a prescriber.
unburdening is not a crisis service. Neither are you, and neither is anyone else here. If another user tells you they're considering hurting themselves or someone else, encourage them to reach out to a professional immediately.
In the US, that's 988 (call or text — 24/7). Outside the US, findahelpline.com can find a crisis line in their country. If you believe someone is in immediate physical danger, encourage them to call emergency services (911 in the US).
You can report concerning content in the app — we'll review it and reach out to the person if appropriate.
Sharing that you're struggling with self-harm, suicidal thoughts, addiction, or disordered eating is welcome here. That's the whole point. What's not welcome is content that encourages, romanticizes, instructs, or glorifies those things.
You can disagree with another user. You can find what they shared uncomfortable, foreign, or hard to relate to. What you can't do is attack them for who they are.
This isn't a marketplace. It isn't a recruiting tool. It isn't a place to drive traffic somewhere else.
When someone shares something with you in a connection, that's between the two of you. Don't screenshot it and post it on social media. Don't share it in group chats. Don't write a blog post about your "anonymous app conversations" with the actual conversations included.
The fact that the other person is anonymous to you doesn't mean their words are yours to redistribute. Treat what you read here like you'd treat something a friend told you in confidence.
Every confession in the feed and every connection has a report option. Use it. Reports go to a real person on our team who reviews them within 48 hours.
Report any content that violates these guidelines, especially:
You can also report users directly. Reporting is anonymous; the person you report isn't told who flagged them.
We review reports as they come in. Depending on what we find, we may:
For severe violations — anything involving threats of violence, sexualizing minors, organized hate, or doxxing — we skip the warnings and go straight to permanent termination. We also report to law enforcement when required by law.
We use our reasonable judgment about which response fits which situation. We don't operate a formal appeals process, but if you believe we've made a mistake, email hello@unburdening.org and a real person will look at it.
Thank you for being here, and for being thoughtful about the people who showed up before you and the ones who will show up after.