Suicide and self-harm on instagram

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

I thought this was a really interesting study about how closed online communities can impact young women. This particular story is about suicide and self-harm, but it is very easy to see how other issues like ROGD could be exacerbated. Also interesting that it is primarily women and girls impacted.

www.bbc.com/news/stories-50261937

This support is what users feel is the positive side of online communities. Ingebjørg says they can be a place to feel heard and be understood when others, especially adults and health care professionals, may sometimes appear dismissive or judgmental.

But these Instagram networks are anything but safe spaces. Whatever good some people find in them is outweighed by the bad, Ingebjørg says.

There is a reward for posting extreme thoughts and images - the darker the thought, the deeper the cut, the more likes and attention you receive, she says. They can foster a sense of competition, and act as a how-to manual for ways to harm or even kill yourself.

"I think the communities make people worse because they give you ideas on how you can kill yourself, how you can starve yourself, or get rid of the food you eat, and how you can hide your illness from people," Ingebjørg says.

Most of the accounts were held by girls with an average age of 19. Most had some sort of mental health issue, which ranged from feeling a bit down to severe depression and anxiety. Many had been in and out of hospital.

They all have in common that they don't believe they can get help anywhere else. So they meet up to try to help each other and support each other on their darkest days."

But the journalist could also see the network's danger. She noted how the darkest or most suicidal material received the most attention. Supporters would post heart emojis and phrases like "keep strong" or "hold on".

Because the network was so private, there were no outside voices moderating the content or providing helpful or professional advice.

Agree, this was an interesting report.
In days gone by, desperate young folk would sacrifice themselves and join religious cults like People Temple/Children of Christ ( look up Jim Jones and Jonestown ). Wasn’t There a mini suicide ‘infection’ in Bridgend, recently.
Suicidal inclinations and dramatisation, vulnerability to extreme beliefs and Solutions are a factor in adolescence.The Instagram route, maybe takes less effort and less real social interaction, which can burst the bubble.

Closed communities on social media are a huge problem in many ways in my view. Social contagions have always been more prevalent among teenage girls than teenage boys and we are seeing that played out as pro-ana, ROGD, self harm etc groups online but there are also areas that teenage boys are vulnerable to. The grooming of boys by Islamic extremists springs to mind.

I have long thought it is an area that needs serious research and proper regulation across the piece but politicians don't seem interested. Indeed they seem to be caught up in their own echo chambers, egging one another on to their own extremes. If adults fall so easily into more extreme behavioural patterns when engaging in social media we can't really be surprised that adolescents do.

Arnold etc
So, you are in agreement that monopolies like Facebook, Google etc should be broken up and regulated like other media are ?

That's a bit of a jump and I don't see how it would help. It might even make specialist groups easier to hide.
Platforms do have a certain amount of responsibility but ultimately all they can do is block users and shut down accounts.

This has been a known problem for decades, and we should be tackling it in schools and with parents.
But there's a big problem for girls in schools atm dealing with sexual abuse, and that should be a priority. Abuse is known to contribute to other problems including issues of self esteem and mental health.

How any schools can turn a blind eye to the abuse going on right under their noses is a mystery to me.

Inebriate , hello, yes but look to the facilitators...
I am not happy for FB et al, to be the ones who decide who to block users etc Like tobacco companies, they push addictive algorithms which ‘feed’ their addicts, with bul**hit images of perfect celebrity life and physiques, porn and downright lies.
Yes, Schools should have the law behind them to ban students having smartphones on their premises. And parents should have some legal responsibilities laid on them for their children’s internet usage. So, they are more wary.

Inebriati apologies for last misspell.
Under fear of big fines, Corner shops were banned from selling cigarettes to minors; the same should apply to internet companies promoting porn etc to minors, facilitating self harm groups.