I don't know if thisa is the only time it has ahppened in a chat room here but very shocking

[zippitippitoes]

..a man committed suicide with a live webcam

not on a suicide site

apparently it is a growing phenomenon

story

is it just a sign of the times or is it an extension of the fame for 15 minutes which the ointernet allows

does the internet encourage people to think of suicide more? is the outlet for depression threads on mn good or bad too?

God I was so shocked when I heard this on the radio!

The internet's a wonderful thing but without proper regulation I can't see how this kind of thing could ever be controlled.

I do have mixed feelings about the feeling depressed board on mn and thi just made me think some more

It makes me feel sick that people do this.

Just curious, why do you have mixed feelings about the MN board?

because of the ptoential for misuse

I need the depression threads - it gives me somewhere to talk things through a bit (even if its just to myself)

Zippi, for that very reason I don't get involved in depression threads on any forum, makes me feel very uncomfortable.

well i sometimes think one thing and sometimes another

I do feel that they shouldn't really be a lifeline for people with serious problems and or there are risks

and ..well i was interested what other people thought

Dear heavens!

How sad!

I think for those who are close enough to the edge - the forums etc wouldn't make a blind bit of difference to sending them over, they could stop it though.

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I don't see how you could ever stop someone from suicide on a webcam tbh!

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The stopping it was really only for those who are still hovering enough to be talked down (does that make sense?) Once they had decided then that would be it though

Only someone with a political agenda wouls commit suicide live.

Most people who commit suicide are desperate and lonely. They do it because they can see no alternative and/or they can no longer bear to be part of society. They have no interest in other people watching them.

what a tosser

The watching thing was wierd. When i was at Uni I worked for nightline and we had someone call up and say they were taking tablets as we spoke to them. She hung up before we could persuade her to get help I think it does happen that people call the Samaritans etc not necessarily to be stopped but just so they feel they are not alone while they die.

pmsl laughing at essbee "where is my brian?"

Selfish prick in a last minute bid for fame.
That's not far from where I live, actually -and dh works very near there.

. generally, people who are going to commit suecide do so on their own. people who are determined to do it don't want to be talked out of it so they don't tell anyone they're going to do it and often it comes as a complete shock to everyone around them.

And generally those who tell the world they are going to kill themselves are doing so for attention. They crave someone to tell them that they don't want them to do it. I used to know someone who was constantly telling everyone she was going to kill herself. her msn name read "just want to die" and "I've ordered the pills on the internet, only days to go now" and so on. this went on for months. to my knowledge she's still alive and well.

But sometimes people just do want someone to know. my mum had a friend who used to go on about killing himself, no-one took him seriously. And then one night he had a massive party, invited all his friends, and after they'd all gone home he went into the garage and gassed himself in his car. He hadn't talked about suecide for months, and no-one had ever thought he would really do it.

We never know what people are thinking really.

And who knows what would inspire someone to kill themselves live on a webcam.

Don't knock the depression boards, whatever you do. As someone in recovery from serious depression, it is essential to have some sort of outlet, preferably one that is even more removed than a telephone support line. Unless you've suffered from serious depression, you don't know what other people are going through, and as flamey said earlier, people can sometimes be dissuaded from doing things they would later regret.

Frankly if they are absolutely determined to kill themselves, there's not a lot anyone can do about it.

But please don't disparage the depression threads

I'm not knocking the depression boards I'm expressing a concern which has bothered me before about real life help and the internet and how we use the internet and the interaction between people and problems in that medium

Zippi I have similar concerns too, about groups in general that self support things like depression.

Sometimes it's just so sad to read/listen to people who are not happy and spend time talking about very sad things. I think it's important that there's someone around who can help point out something a positive or be an example of a good outcome.

It's not easy to explain how I feel in writing. But as an example when DD was diagnosed I joined an internet group which I left after only a short time because I began to feel there was no hope and really I needed to feel alive, energetic and perhaps angry rather than flat and depressed and hopeless.

After a while I looked at it again and found the group was in a more positive frame of mind and there were success stories and then I 'came out' and both took and gave support.

I don't read the depression boards on mumsnet as a rule because I like to come on here for frivolous things, if I'm honest.

I don't know what research has been done if any on dperession outcomes and depression boards...but I know that music with depressing lyrics of the nirvnana and manics kind has been shown to exacerbate depression

I think it is quite a dangerous thing...I do have ambivalent feelings

how awful, so sad

and people cheering the 21 yr old that was overdosing on a webcam - f-ing sickos, whats wrong with people???