Fortunato Posted:

Killing yourself is one of two things: a desperate bid for attention or a sign that you have problems that need working through with someone else irl. The internet is just about the worst place you can come if you’re really having suicidal thoughts. Although I wouldn’t exactly be happy about it, I certainly wouldn’t be sympathetic.

This. Ideally, people ought to be more sensitive to things like not going above and beyond to cause someone to commit suicide, but it’s really ultimately the suicidal person’s responsibility (and to a lesser extent, the people around him/her) to make good judgements – and going on the internet is generally not a good judgement call. Personally, I always think suicide encouragement is over the line (at least, my personal line) as far as trolling/flaming goes, but if someone was being a total male reproductive organ I might consider it.

Which is why… I’d feel bad if someone killed themselves because someone told them to do it and it was clearly not warranted, but I’d feel significantly less bad if it was someone who was asking for it. But either way, they shouldn’t have been anywhere near an internet forum, so… meh.

Having dealt with suicidal tendencies myself, I can say with some certainty that it is possible to get out of those moments of weakness (or obviously I wouldn’t be posting this right now) but it does take some wherewithal to acknowledge the problems that cause these feelings, and to put yourself in a position where you can’t hurt yourself out of pbumion. There is no reason to actually go through with it, especially not because an internet post triggers something.

And honestly, how hurtful could it possibly be for a stranger to tell you to go die? Really.