2 ms·

Social media urged to take 'moment to reflect' after girl's death

3 points by laurex 7y ago

Nextgrid 7y ago
Maybe a controversial comment, but is suicide really that bad? I had my share of bad things happening in my life during my teenage years. I was contemplating suicide. I am here so obviously I didn't do it in the end, but I am grateful that I had the choice - it was my own life and suffering, it should be my choice to decide if I should end it. We seem to approach suicide from our perspective as bystanders, but never consider the perspective of the victim itself. What if, indeed, the victim is better off being dead (or whatever is out there, which will depend on your religious beliefs) rather than suffering for an unknown period of time hoping for things to get better? In my opinion depression and suicidal thoughts are often the symptom of a deeper problem, one that therapy or medication won't actually fix, just like putting tape on the check-engine light doesn't stop your engine from still breaking down a bit later. In my case it was something that only something extremely improbable (similar to winning the lottery) could fix. It happened, and by pure chance I was able to start anew in a different country, but if it didn't then I would completely understand suicide if I still were in that situation. I don't think people just go on social media, see a depressing picture or story and commit suicide. The problem has to be brewing for long before that, and again in my opinion it isn't something therapy or meds can fix - there is a root cause and some root causes are hard or next to impossible to fix, and unless fixed, the person might still be miserable - is a life full of misery better than a quick death? I think it should be left to the person themselves to decide that. There are many problems with social media, privacy, spreading scams/malware, misinformation, anti-vax and dubious health claims, but this seems like a non-issue. To me it feels like the family can't accept the shit that just happened and wants a scapegoat to blame it on. Yes, there are tons of depressing and pro-suicide content online and some accounts have tens of thousands of followers and yet I don't see people committing suicide in tens of thousands.

3 points by laurex 7y ago

Maybe a controversial comment, but is suicide really that bad? I had my share of bad things happening in my life during my teenage years. I was contemplating suicide. I am here so obviously I didn't do it in the end, but I am grateful that I had the choice - it was my own life and suffering, it should be my choice to decide if I should end it. We seem to approach suicide from our perspective as bystanders, but never consider the perspective of the victim itself. What if, indeed, the victim is better off being dead (or whatever is out there, which will depend on your religious beliefs) rather than suffering for an unknown period of time hoping for things to get better? In my opinion depression and suicidal thoughts are often the symptom of a deeper problem, one that therapy or medication won't actually fix, just like putting tape on the check-engine light doesn't stop your engine from still breaking down a bit later. In my case it was something that only something extremely improbable (similar to winning the lottery) could fix. It happened, and by pure chance I was able to start anew in a different country, but if it didn't then I would completely understand suicide if I still were in that situation. I don't think people just go on social media, see a depressing picture or story and commit suicide. The problem has to be brewing for long before that, and again in my opinion it isn't something therapy or meds can fix - there is a root cause and some root causes are hard or next to impossible to fix, and unless fixed, the person might still be miserable - is a life full of misery better than a quick death? I think it should be left to the person themselves to decide that. There are many problems with social media, privacy, spreading scams/malware, misinformation, anti-vax and dubious health claims, but this seems like a non-issue. To me it feels like the family can't accept the shit that just happened and wants a scapegoat to blame it on. Yes, there are tons of depressing and pro-suicide content online and some accounts have tens of thousands of followers and yet I don't see people committing suicide in tens of thousands.