Internet lacking on suicide prevention
Anyone who's contemplating suicide needs help. They need someone to help them realize that whatever difficulties they're facing, they aren't trapped. They can get through their problems with someone by their side. Most teens who have attempted suicide state that they didn't really want to die, they were just trying to escape from a situation that seemed unresolvable at the time. But if someone turns to the Internet for help, researchers from the UK's University Bristol, Oxford and Manchester have discovered that they're likely to get the wrong kind of help. The researchers entered a dozen suicide-related search terms into four Internet search engines to see what results they would get. They used the first 10 sites from each search for a total of 480 web sites. Out of those sites, only 13% were geared toward suicide prevention. Only 59 sites strongly discouraged suicide. The remaining sites offered information on suicide methods -- not the type of information that someone who is contemplating suicide needs to read.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please seek help immediately. See a counselor, talk to a trusted adult, visit your religious leader, or call a suicide crisis line (1-800-442-HOPE) or your local emergency number (911).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-11-2008 @ 2:53PM
Vishaal said...
I was extremely suicidal in the latter years of high school and in college to the point where I would fantacize about the event, planning and making notes to be as far away from hurting my family as possible. That was how I would fall asleep; I would think about taking pills on the side of a freeway at night. I actually had a handfull of pain pills one night, but stopped myself because i didn't want my family to find me like that. It was the gay thing that made me so suicidal.
Music (especially Madonna), dance, yoga, and friends helped me out of it. I did it without anyone knowing. I always had a sugar sweet happy positive shell when I was with people. Inside I was dying.
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4-11-2008 @ 2:55PM
Maggie Vink said...
Vishaal,
I know exactly what you mean. I went through a period of depression quite a few years ago. My family and friends all knew I was depressed. But when I was seemingly happier and perkier and brighter -- that's when I was actually at my worst. It was as if I knew I was SO low that I had to fake it.
I'm so glad you stopped yourself and pulled out of it. Look what an interesting, funny, and personable guy the world would be missing out on.
Thanks for your comment. And your bravery.
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