(TW) How do you feel about suicidal threads?

Personally, I'm torn between being genuinely concerned about the person, feeling angry and manipulated, and feeling that this forum is not trained/equipt to handle those kinds of crisises, no matter how much posters might want to help. I find I'm afraid of saying the wrong thing, and yet afraid of saying nothing.

What do you feel the response should be to those kinds of threads?

I've posted a few threads earlier where i was suicidal and i got helpful response. for me this forum was mostly a venting place. i dont post much now.

i never got triggered after reading a thread on suicide.

I have 2 views

1. As a member
I have found this forum very supportive when i was feeling low and had nowhere to turn
if it wasnt for the members and this forum i think i wouldn't be here

2.As a mod
yes its very hard reading other people tormented lives and its heartbreaking to sieve through all the horror people have to cope with in daily life, but they have a safe place here to tell their story, and i think its helps a lot actually.

feeling that this forum is not trained/equipt to handle those kinds of crisises

I have to say that i dont agree with you here (sorry)
i know a lot of members that have actually been helped here. not just from me but from other mods and members of this site.

People dont expect all members to post advice for them ...just knowing someone is there is sometimes enough. No one expects you to post if you dont feel equipped to do so ...
just maybe a "im not sure what to say right now" but i wanted you to know i did read".

I know it bothers me too the "no replies" in threads, but many of the visitor numbers are from "guests" and guests cant reply without an account here.

Echinacea wrote:
People dont expect all members to post advice for them ...just knowing someone is there is sometimes enough. No one expects you to post if you dont feel equipped to do so ...
just maybe a "im not sure what to say right now" but i wanted you to know i did read".

I'm glad it's doing some good. I don't want to tell people not to post, particularly if they have few other resources. My concern is not that I'm not emotionally equipt to deal with the situation, but that this isn't a crisis center. Few of us are trained to deal with someone with true suicidal intent. I can imagine someone trying to help, saying the wrong thing to an unstable person, and having that go really badly.

My feeling is that someone displaying suicidal intent ought to be directed to a hotline or crisis center, not encouraged to start a thread about it. Just my opinion, of course.

perejil wrote:
My feeling is that someone displaying suicidal intent ought to be directed to a hotline or crisis center, not encouraged to start a thread about it. Just my opinion, of course.

A moderator PM the person and gives them the phone numbers and contact details to the person in crisis. ofc that is in PM not out in public always (you cant know that ofc) but you do know

Sorry, i just read your post like "people in crisis shouldn't post here coz we are not trained"
moderators behind the scenes support PIC and drrect them to the right place
(IF) they take the advice is up to them, but we ALWAYS speak in private if we need too.

There's a lot of feeling suicidal on here; some more serious about it, than others.

At moderator discretion, they remain where they are, or get moved. If they detail a plan, then they automatically get moved to Cutting & SI, and the thread is locked with a moderator admonition to seek professional help. And as Ech said, we'll attempt to follow up.

So no, we don't do suicide counseling per se, because we're not professionals (and any professionals are not allowed to act in such a capacity) but we're not going to shut folks out, either.

I'm not sure why anyone should feel manipulated; ultimately the OP is responsible for themselves. There's only so much that can be done thru an anonymous forum, other than to provide encouragement, and I'd like to think that's one of the main purposes of PF, anyway.