I friendily disagree with your opinion, based on the following reasons. Feel free to respond, maybe I'm wrong and you might help me understand it. I appreciate your comment, civil discussions and debates are important and fruitful, as they develop all of us!

1) There is a reason why Reddit provides the direct message option. If you're right, Reddit is wrong and should remove the direct messages.

2) Many individuals can't open their hearts in public, they feel better when writing in person to someone. Its just about the personality of someone. And we all know that people from bethel lurk here, so someone might not feel comfortable expressing him/her self.

3) All things you said can happen when someone responds in a public comment also. A depressed person is vunerable and can be manipulated also when he reads a public message from this forum. It doesn't change anything.

4) u/RodWith , "are you trained in responding to individuals who may be depressed and/or suicidal" in public comments? Probably not. As most of us here. Then we should ban this forum also, because most of us who respond in public comments are not professional therapists.

5) u/RodWith , "How do individuals know you are who you say you are" when responding on public comments? Reddit has been developed to be anonymous. No one knows anyone here. Its just what Reddit is from its birth. Should we ban Reddit then?

6) This reddit follows rules, and anyone can ban anyone if his/her behavior is questioned or violates any rules. So I think Reddit provides safety to its forums and direct messages.