Encouraging suicide

[A new life]

I've been shocked by a few heartless souls (a judgment on my part)
who have posted replies like "Go ahead and off yourself" when someone in pain has suggested that they might commit suicide.
My question to you is:

Should those who encourage suicide be banned from sites like this?
OR
Are they simply calling the bluff of someone who really isn't serious about ending it all in the first place?

 

[EveWasFramed]

Just FYI:

People who do this are generally only given ONE warning before being banned from the site. Encouraging suicide is not tolerated here.

 

[Ghost]

I'd say they should be banned outright. Encouraging suicide is never acceptable.

 

[Ladysphinx]

Telling someone to off him self is a dangerous thing to say. Using it to call someones bluff might just end in a suicide. They clearly don't know anything about what goes on in the mind of someone stating they wanne kill them selfs. Yes I think someone making such a statment should be banned as they are a danger to many ppl on this forum struggling with theses demons

 

[Badjedidude]

Ban 'em.

 

[EveWasFramed]

It depends on the context in which they said whatever they said...some people are stupid, not malicious.

 

[MOKX]

/Target suicide Encourager
/Ban
/Print "now u go off ur self"
/run
/end

lol

 

[A new life]

It depends on the context in which they said whatever they said...some people are stupid, not malicious.

If a person is in a suicidal frame of mind,
their judgment is already bad.
Will they have the good judgment to know
the difference between stupid and malicious?
Will it matter?

 

[misa]

personally i keep out of those threads because i think they would be so depressing. either the person writing them is in such a sad state of mind i don't feel i would be qualified to assist them or i would probably think they are being whiny drips and not want to.

in light of all the attention some suicides have gotten because of their support on forums, i think the banning policy is a good idea.

 

[Stephanie]

I also avoid any threads where the subject line implies or outright states anything about suicide. Those who are serious about it do it and there isn't a **** thing any of us can do to prevent it. Those who aren't serious about it are usually attention-seekers looking for external validation instead of doing the hard work necessary to feel better from within. My self-esteem may not be perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I have enough to know that life is worth living and I don't need to make attention-seeking posts on internet forums getting people to tell me that my life is worth living. Maybe I'm just cynical, but I've talked to enough people who claimed to want to commit suicide to know that most of the time, no they really don't. They just wanted someone to pay attention to them and feel important. There has been enough media attention paid to suicide that by now, everyone should know that if you're having suicidal thoughts or even just wishing for death every day that you need help because chances are, the unshakable thoughts of wanting to die implies a chemical imbalance in the brain that requires medical attention. Wanting to die is not natural. Humans are hard-wired for survival.

It is my opinion that people who make those kinds of threads do so for attention but they don't realize (or care) just how scary that is for those who read these threads and believe that someone might really kill themselves. It evokes a sense of helplessness and fear in people who are already suffering with their own pain that can be unbearable and even worsen an already poor frame of mind. Some people are so compassionate because of their own pain that they just cannot ignore that sort of thing and will reach out to that person and if they feel they failed to help someone and then that person disappears, they always sit and suffer wondering if that person did kill themselves. To me, that is the worst kind of troll.

This forum is an easy target for trolls and predators preying on vulnerabilities of people in pain. Hell, my original intent for registering here had been to troll the crap out of the pity party people just because I do not tolerate it - I never pity myself and I sure as hell am not going to pity anyone else. I can just imagine someone reading some of the posts here and thinking it would be funny to pretend to want to commit suicide just to see how riled up they would get people.

Do not feed the trolls. Smash 'em with a ban hammer.

 

[WishingWell]

A suicide threat should always be taken seriously.

If someone posts they are going to kill themselves, they need professional help.

If someone is just posting it as a tool to get attention, they shouldn't get attention.

I believe they should be banned. I believe there is someone on here that has been going to take his/her own life for almost a month now. I can't believe that they haven't been banned by the Forum.

 

[Sci-Fi]

I agree with Stephanie, except for doing the trolling part. There are people who do, do it for attention. I had a friend who told all her friends (except me for her own twisted reasons), she told her parents, she told guidance councilors, teachers, anyone who she figured she could get attention from. She would even call people up telling them she is going to cut her wrists. It got to the point where some of us didn't believe her, and those that did eventually felt foolish that they did. She never did a single thing to harm herself as she threatened she would.

Normally when a person is serious about taking their own life they don't go around telling every single person they know, they might tell one trusted person or maybe even come to a place like this where they don't know people.

I'm not saying not to take people seriously when they say they want to take their own life, but there comes a point where we have to decide if this person is serious or just doing it for attention. Then get them the help they need.

As for banning a person, if they are trolling or doing it for attention then yes I agree they should be banned. It's hurtful to put people through things like that when you are only doing it for attention. Their attention is best suited elsewhere with people who need help.

 

[EveWasFramed]

I believe there is someone on here that has been going to take his/her own life for almost a month now. I can't believe that they haven't been banned by the Forum.

And who makes such a decision? Who are ANY of us to think that we can judge a person's suicidal intent 100%? While we sometimes close a thread if it gets out of hand (suicide threads), or may appear to be merely a troll, I refuse to carry around the guilt of possibly banning someone for threatening suicide, when they might possibly need help, or at least some support.

I'm very confused here. I thought this thread was a stance about people who "encouraged suicide", not people who threaten it. Am I missing something?

And everyone who reads this, please remember than there is an "ignore" function on the forum. If the darker threads offend, they (and their OP) can simply be ignored.

 

[A new life]

You're not confused Eve.
The thread has wandered off topic.
I was just interested in those with the cavalier attitude "go ahead and kill yourself"
and what (if anything) should be done about them.

 

[Sci-Fi]

Gotta love when a thread derails.

I think anyone who would say "go ahead and kill yourself" to someone, if they think they are serious or just being a drama queen needs to have their head examined more than the person who's thinking about suicide. It's sick. That person should be just outright banned.

 

[freedom]

it really depends on the situation. i think that any threat of suicide should be taken seriously. you never really can tell when someone is serious about their threat, but do you really want to find out the hard way if they were serious? on a lighter note, i've read that most suicide attempts go without success, so a person who has intended to take their own life before should definitely be taken serious any time that they make a threat.

to answer your other question, yes, people that encourage suicide should be banned from these sites.

 

[Stephanie]

My apologies for going off topic. I misread the original intent of this thread. But I definitely agree they should be banned.