Query on Scope of Rule Prohibiting Professional Advice

[TheBaffledKing]

Hiya. I have questions as per the title, please.

(1) Do the rules regarding professional advice proscribe the provision of medical opinions regarding fictional characters? In other words, would it be acceptable for a medical professional to say "were James Bond a real person, I would diagnose him with [injury/illness], which is a diagnosis I am qualified to make IRL as a [job title]"?

(2) What limits are there on semi-trained quasi-professionals? For example, would it be acceptable to say "I am not qualified to diagnose or refer a real person regarding [injury/illness] but, in my opinion, were James Bond a real person, he would be diagnosed with [injury/illness]"?

(3) Is it acceptable to elaborate by saying "I base my opinion/diagnosis on:

(a) [Diagnostic Tool]"; or
(b) this entry in [Diagnostic Tool], as follows: [paste]; or
(c) my professional experience in [non-clinical role] with a demographic with a high proportion of [injury/illness]"?

(4) Do any of the verdicts differ if the character is an OotS character?

I hope that made sense! Thanks in advance.

[Anymage]

Professional Advice: Please do not give any form of professional advice to other posters, whether it is solicited or not, even if you are a licensed professional in that field (and especially if you are not). This includes (but is not limited to) legal, financial planning, psychological, and medical advice. As a rule of thumb, if you need a license to practice such a profession, you can't practice it here. You may suggest that someone seek out such a professional away from these message boards, but you may not actually dispense any other guidance. This rule is to protect those who need such advice from the possibility of being misled with faulty or even dangerous suggestions - however well intentioned - and to protect both you and us from unforeseen liability.

For #1, you're free to give your opinion of fictional characters. We could discuss what personality traits might drive Bowser to keep going after the Mushroom Kingdom, or how jumping away from an explosion like an action hero would cause major internal damage from the shock wave. A professional can state what their background is and why they're saying as much, although be aware that this is the internet and there's no way for us to know for sure if you are in fact the world's first dog to earn an MD. Just be cautious of going from discussing the problem to discussing the solutions; one of the major points of the rule is to prevent people from making major decisions based on authoritatively claimed bunk, and if I claim as Doggie Howser MD that the cure for cancer is chasing cars there's a risk that a real cancer patient might forgo actually useful medical treatment in favor of something that made its rounds on the internet.

For #2, ditto. It's nice if you'll claim "I'm just some guy on the internet" if your qualifications are not up to par, but since most smart people realize that any rando on the internet can claim to be whoever they want the two situations are largely the same.

#3 you can certainly share links, although be mindful of two things; a random blog post or video somewhere is not necessarily a solid source (there are plenty of videos and sites arguing that the earth is flat), and that actual solid sources are likely protected by copyright which is another thing this board takes seriously. So while you could point to how a character is a textbook megalomaniac according to the DSM-V, you can't just copy/paste the text directly to the board.

#4, not really different. Although since OotS characters are stick figures in a magical world that runs off of narrative contrivance at least as much as physics you're likely to have people point that out if you try to get too real-world logic about the whole thing.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff: I'll update if I have more to add but the above seems accurate.