Yep. There's a bit of cyber-bullying happens on this forum from time to time, and even if you're playing a role H it's still bullying. Makes me wonder where to draw the line as moderator sometimes.

But it also gets us back onto the topic. There was a recent example of a child who committed suicide after being bullied by a neighbour http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10313304-38.html. In these days where much of the content on websites is user generated perhaps the thread needs to be interpreted more broadly. What responsibility do commenters owe as well as the publisher? And not just for perhaps talking about suicide, but for actions which might precipitate one?

GY:“Yep. There's a bit of cyber-bullying happens on this forum from time to time, and even if you're playing a role H it's still bullying. Makes me wonder where to draw the line as moderator sometimes.”

Put the boot in Graham wooohooo! (I’m so going to get you Houel for that snipe at me in articles)

“…What responsibility do commenters owe as well as the publisher? And not just for perhaps talking about suicide, but for actions which might precipitate one?”

[cough] Who in general is held accountable for content on a site? A suggestion that there are moderators would make one assume that they are in fact there to moderate. Are bouncers at a pub ultimately responsible if they stand back and let a person get victimized? The law wouldn’t say anything even if the owner might sack them?

I would like to request that any future talk of spiders is banned across the country, it upsets me.

This is a bit of a jumble as I tried to find if internet information or communication was a common trigger for suicide. The only thing I could link to suicide was maybe on line you could be humiliated. But suicidal people first usually had a variety of stuff wrong with them.

From googled stuff:

Suicidal thoughts are troubling, especially when accompanied by depression, other mental illnesses, alcohol or drug abuse, or plans for suicide. This situation demands immediate evaluation. These thoughts can indicate serious illness.

The critical distinction is between a person's thoughts regarding death and suicide, and actually wanting to die. When doctors hear that someone wants to die, they refer to these thoughts as suicidal ideation and divide them into 2 categories.

• Suicidal ideation can be active and involve a current desire and plan to die.

• Suicidal ideation can be passive, involving a desire to die but without a plan to bring about one's death.

Triggers:

The break up of a close personal relationship (e.g., engagement or marriage), losing old friends, or interpersonal conflicts

- The death of a close relative or friend

- Suicide loss, especially a child, parent, spouse, or sibling

- Financial loss or incurring major indebtedness

- Rejection (e.g., not getting a job or promotion, not be accepted to a college or graduate school, etc.)

- Loss of self-esteem or status (e.g., losing a job, failing at school, being cut from a team, etc.) or feeling humiliated

- Becoming seriously ill or disabled

- Facing arrest, trial, prison, or other legal difficulty


These Aussie’s if you need help:

http://www.lifeline.org.au/find_help?gclid=CP_76on64ZwCFQ0aawod-RfhBA

PP
Most times the call was various stages of calling for help.
We were taught to use non directive counseling. With comments like 'hmm' and "could you tell me why?" or 'what has caused this frame of mind." etc.

The real scarey one were the ones that were calm and said it as a matter of fact. but that often happened after a few calls. The caller that was calm rational was often this way because they had made the decision and just wanted someone to know or notice.

The key to being a counselor is the ability to deal with the callers problems from their perspective and put your views etc aside. They are important not you. Your focus is crisis intervention not solving
the problems. If you thought it appropriate you encouraged them to come in and see a social worker/counselor who were specially trained.
You were always anonymous. Does that help

Pied P. - Where've I been? Ahh - well you might not be aware of this, but I've been in China. Yep. China. For the past 4 years, actually.

And the first time I put my foot back in the water (all the way from China, mind you) a bloody pirahna bit it.

So this time I'm off (all the way to China!). Over the years I've seen all the moderate and the best eventually give up on OLO for sites where ideas and not people are what are debated.

I used to wonder where they'd gone as people were constantly saying here (though not in China) that this site was a walk in the park compared to the abuse etc. that goes on in other forums.

But now I've had a look around and found this isn't actually so. The Net abounds with forums where people treat each other with respect, crack jokes, talk about stuff other than "I've been done wrong an' now I'm gonna hate everyone else" , and aren't fixated on Immigrants.

I do feel passionate about the subject of suicide and have had a bit of experience in this field. (An "interventionist" gets called out to the site and is supposed to talk the person back. Trouble is, I was so busy big-noting myself every bugger jumped so I was finally shipped out (to China, actually) as part of the Aussie Defence's War against the Yellow Peril to be an interventionist here.)

I simply don't have the energy to start fielding a personal attack which has absolutely nothing to do with the serious content of this thread.

Anyway, girl, you seem to have a pretty good handle on it - as you do on most things. I'll leave it to you. Best wishes. c

ps Did I happen to mention that I live in China? Apparently that's a pretty big deal,so I'd hate you to have missed the fact.

I couldn’t be a counselor Exam. I like to solve problems and then make the person listen to why my idea is the right one for them.

I had a counselor here today with a reluctant client. The client says to me “tell her to go away”, okay it was in much worse language. So I head them off at the gate and tell the counselor that client doesn’t want to talk today and they say they have to hear it from the client. When the counselor asks the client if client wants to come talk to them and the client meekly goes “okay”.

After their chat I get a lecture from the counselor saying I have to parent this client. Then after that the client is upset cause why didn’t I defend client and make the counselor go away. I told client to grow some damn balls (my problem solving in action).

I’d bet ten dollars that counselor goes back to government and says I tried to obstruct counseling though.

This method of non directive counseling…. Is there other effect methods? I think I’m asking if this is one that works on the phone and anon and are there other ones where you know the person or are with the person where other methods are better?

Hey Romany I think it is seriously cool you live in China. I know nothing about the place except it’s big and there is some very cool food to be eaten there.

What is big-noting? The way things are going right now I have been told to watch for – well they never said suicide but severe depression. No training just some vague “if they sleep too much” type thing.