Is is inappropriate to have thread titles talking about suicide?

I am [shocked] that the OP works in this profession, is it any wonder that desperate people are turning to internet strangers, when this is the attitude of a professional?

I'm with Seeker on this one

This is a classic AIBU? Yes? thread.

I think it's inappropriate to have thread titles about turds or diahorrea when I come on MN in my lunchbreak, but I just HIDE the ones I don't want to see

"active talk of thinking of suicide IMO is wrong"
The biggest potential benefit of being able to talk to someone about your feelings - especially suicidal feelings - is that it may help you to put all your jumbled thoughts and feelings into some kind of order and possibly to realise that suicide is not the only option for you

If you are worried about people being taken advantage of then perhaps we should never have done things like the MN secret santa

Seeyou - I fully understand where you are coming from. However the consensus (sp?) here is that these threads should not be deleted. There's no need to namechange and withdraw, unless you feel you've said all you have to say on the subject.

I don't know how long you have been on Mumsnet, it could be way longer than me for all I know, but I would say this is a subject that has been debated many times and the outcome is always the same.

You are not the only one to have these concerns but you are in the minority and so I feel you just have to let it go.

Exactly a dragon.

I can't help atm,toomuch stuff going on in my own life, so I avoid the threads and trust to goodness (and MN) that soemone else will find the time.

I am never bothered by the trollers tbh- I offerd support the Queen Troll and I was more than happy to find she wasn't really on the edge;what sort of parson would I be to be annoyted by that? 'Damn you being a pisstaker, I wanted you suicidal and desperate ion a Hellish situation'

Er.....

wannaBe - yes, there will always be possible problems, in fact you can find problems with any source of support if you look hard enough. That doesn't mean those sources of support should be closed down.

not sure how i feel about this, but from a practical point of view, if any thread mentioning suicide was deleted, then they'd be replaced with threads titled "I'm feeling very very low", "Nothing can help now..." and everyone would be trying to figure out if that's what the OP's referring to.
Can't see that being a good thing.

As I have said before. A Mner's life was saved by such a thread.

If you don't agree with them or can't help, click hide.

I agree about the tangents wannabe

But the advice- all it needs to be is 'that sounds really togh, are you alone right now?'

IME in the time it takes someone toread and respond then they are moving their mindset on and then far more likely to speak to the real people about actual advice etc.

It's bridging it.

at the OP!

I agree with daftpunk. Not only that, I think that there are a lot of people on here who se themselves as somehow being able to help people in ways that might previously not have been possible. Have lost count of the number of posts saying things like "the person may not have anywhere else to go." I think there is a real risk here that we give this site more credit than it really deserves.

I think the internet is a great place to get advice in some circs, to find other like-minded people for eg in cases of sn/miscarriage to name just two examples.

But suicide is IMO not the sort of thing that can be helped online. A because we are not qualified to help, and B because there is no control over who posts what, and although posts can be deleted, this tends not to happen in the dead of night, so by the time the posts are deleted saying "don't be such an attention seeker/why not just go and kill yourself then/", it's too late and the op might have seen them, and more importantly, the thread will have taken of on another tangent where everyone has forgotten about the op and is berating the person who dared to comment...

I don't think the threads should be deleted.

Nor do I think other posters who don't like them should start a thread about them....particularly when one is ongoing.

I don't post on them, because I don't consider myself qualified (or indeed empathetic) enough to take part. I have nothing but admiration for the MNers who do sit there and talk to these posters.

So, basically, also what Seeker said, pages back.

Seeyounext - your last post actually makes you sound bloody insensitive and completely unwilling to give proper consideration to other people's opinions. 'Hey ho you are entitled to your opinions ' - very nicely put, when writing to people whose family and friends have committed suicide. Not self-absorbed in the slightest. I do hope you're not a counsellor; if you took that attitude with your clients I wouldn't expect particularly positive results.

don't worry nobody here is going to sack you for temporary empathy loss

Kathy has a valid point; Dh never saw anyone above GP level becuase it was all accessed though Psych referral and the Psych was off on long term sick ()

Its not unusual for statutory systems- SSD being a currently famous one- to collpase and leave people without somewhere to go.

I can't help wondering if the people who advise only 'professional help' have a rather idealised view of how easy it is to access and what it entails.
In practice there is often a wait of several weeks or even more to get any kind of counselling at all - or even up to a week just to see a GP to try to get referred (or longer if you don't feel up to fighting the receptionist for an emergency appointment). And that's even assuming the quality of the help is up to scratch once you get it, and frankly there are some bad counsellors out there as well as some wonderful ones.
It can also take a good few weeks of weekly appointments before you feel any better; sometimes you even feel worse to start with.
Anti-depressants - well, sometimes the danger time is the few weeks after you've been on them when you have the motivation and energy to act on your suicidal feelings where previously you've been too lethargic.
The Samaritans are great but sometimes it is easier to talk to MNers who at least don't feel like complete strangers. And sometimes advice and empathy from people who've been there is more use than people with 'training', no matter how good the training and how lovely they are.

Plus, MNers can give great advice about how to access professional help and what it entails. A lot of people are scared stiff of, or cynical about, anti-depressants/therapy, and can be helped greatly by MNers who are able to share their own experiences.

AH DP I feel we've chatted (for which read disagreed) about how much people should rely on internet fora before.

Poeple who have ionterested family and peers are lucky, not everyone does,and after a while even the closest of spoouss orfriends needs a break or gets bored. Mn is exactly right for that; there's no one peson who ahs to open every post and respond, but becuase of the huge net of users there is almost always someoen there ready whom ahsn't ben exhausted by your problems.

Hopwfully after enough of that you might get ideas about where to turn but even if not, its up to people where they get their support, and anyone who has an issue can surely read a different post instead

Its not a choice between mumsnet and the Samaritans ffs.

Its one of many options for people just to have a chance to talk about things. What on earth is wrong with that?

"people are starting to rely too much on the help and support of internet strangers"

qualify 'too much' for me please i have lost my copy of 'legalities and sensibilities of internet useage'

The Psych we saw about ds3 this morning said something about how we are operating in a void,and that much as we are getting it right, without feedback at any stage you start to self doubt and get into all sorts of stressfulmiondsets.

I know that summed up exactly how it is for me dealing with a difficult situation and no support bar DH; I imagine if you are depressed and alone it is much the same.MN isn't a void, and to a large extent when I am really low a response- any response- about the boys is enopugh; I assume its the same with depression as well

seeyounext - if this is your line of work, then why on earth do you think you have a right to tell people where they should and shouldn't seek support? Who the hell do you think you are? If you really are working alongside people who are suicidal you should know better. You sound incredibly insensitive and completely lacking in understanding of suicidal people. I am starting to think that you are the one who is being inappropriate, not the threads you're questioning.

OK daftpunk so what do you do? You have moved to a new area, your partner has sodded off, you've got no money and no support.

Go along to a toddler playgroup and hope to make some friends who might come and chat about it this afternoon?

Get real.