Comments are marked as dead (can only be seen by people with showdead set in their profile), but appear visible to the user so that they may not realise why nob

Comments are marked as dead (can only be seen by people with showdead set in their profile), but appear visible to the user so that they may not realise why nobody responds to them or upvotes their comments. Normally a punishment for bad behaviour or poor commenting, but seems inappropriate in this case.