yes i feel the same way, but alot of times i think people are just looking for attention...

I understand how you feel, but the snappy comeback for this is: What part of messed up in the head don't you understand? Looking for attention? Well duh, if someone is that depressed they're not going to get out of it by sucking their thumb.

I understand your point but I knew someone who worked at a suicide hotline and she told me that many times clients are put on hold for up to 20 minutes and most of the time the person at the other end does not care!!At most they'd try to gather information about the person and just call the cops on them. Sad but True!

I hate 'suicide' questions, there is always a very small chance they are really hurting, and there is nothing we can do to help, and if it's just a cheap joke, they might laugh at our answers.

While I do agree, getting professional help to be the correct solution, calling potential suicide victims a moron is unproductive.

i always wonder what if they are afraid to admit to loved one and this is their cry for help.. better safe than sorry.

If they were effective at searching out the correct information, they may not be suicidal. Not everybody is as literate and well-informed as you apparently are, oXoGINAoXo. Perhaps you could point them in the right direction rather than pushing them off the bridge?

Because maybe it's not a strong feeling and contacting a professional or a hotline is a lot to ante up, might make the feeling seem stronger than it actually is. Doesn't just about everyone wonder about suicide at some point? Should we all immediately rush into therapy when that happens?

It depends on what the suicidal person intends. He may not want to be talked out of the decision to end it all. He or she probably wants to get a few things off his chest. Maybe he wants sympathy. Conversation is very healthy. Insults are just hurtful, especially to someone who is suicidal.

its called empathy.....sometimes things feel so awful you just need someone, anyone to say "dont do it, i am here, and altho this is a strange relationship, i care"-if that is too much for you to extend to someone who is in great pain, spare them your cynicism.

Yeah its really annoying but its not nearly as bad as the people who ask are they pregnant because the think a complete stranger is more effective then a test!!

I think it is very different and depends on the person. Everybody contemplates about death sooner or later. For example I am a person who rather talks with friends about such issues, I would feel foolish talking with a professional about that. But maybe other people have another relation to their friends and would much rather talk with a professional. It is very different.. :/

Not at all. In many cases, it is a cry for help. At the very least, they need attention. If it bothered me, i would just unwatch this thread. They should seek professional help and/or call a suicide hotline. It don't hurt to give them links, numbers, or other resources once they are here though.

I have only seen a few of those here, but I have not been a member very long. Do I think it is "stupid"? Not necessarily. When people are desperate, they tend not to think things through in a rational way. It has made me feel sad. I have no idea what to say to someone like that in a place like this (anonymous web site, where I have no real ability to help someone), nor do I know whether the person asking is truly in need of help or just out to gain attention. I do not have the formal training to know what to say and I guess my fear is that I might make things worse, or that the time that they spend talking to me might keep them from getting real help somewhere else like a hospital. So far, I have tried to stick to questions that I feel I can answer, or simply comment on answers that I feel compelled to enter the discussion.

As some one who has used a suicide hotline, i can tell you for a fact they are NOT very sincere or very carring at all. All they are there to do is call the cops on you if they think you might injure your self. they are really quite uncarring. Sometimes venting on the internet is a way of coping with suicidal tendencies, even if no one listens, its out in the open. Its a call for help but also a release for desperation in my opinion.

no the very opposite actually. it is much easier to write a random thing in cyberspace and get honest and anonymous answers than to call a helpline and have to actually speak to sum1 or even harder to go meet sum random person with a certificate.

yeah i'm starting to see it that way.you can't tell whether they are for real or mommy didn't love them enough and they need that kind of attention.i may have stopped caring.

I simply ask what is the difference if they ask online or use a phone to call someone?.....the bottom line result is whatever works in "communicating or "talking down" a person who is thinking about suicide is what the goal point should be. So no I guess I dont feel the same as you. Real people with real problems are not morons either! They are simply real people who need help.

When people are at perhaps the lowest point in their lives, they may not have the internal fortitude to reach out to actual faces and actual voices- but they may have just enough strength to reach out online. And if they choose AB, then I certainly would hope that people would be compassionate enough not to judge them or call them names. A kind word or a kind thought could make all the difference. You just never know. Could be a family member or friend of yours one day;)

Let me tell you that professional means nothing. Most of them are uncaring, uncompassionate and really could care less if you kill yourself or not. They just want their money. I have seen numerous therapist and most of them have been that way. They have not been interested in helping me with problems. My last one made a point in being sure that he let me know my problem was that I was just too lazy to get out and meet people. I have posted suicide questions on here and If you think that makes me a moron..so be it but I have NOBODY to talk to ..NOBODY and AB is my only help right now and It's hard for some people, like you, to understand that not everyone has someone available to them. Some times they ask questions for attention but sometimes they are serious and judgemental people who name call and have no empathy are exactly the reason people kill themselves. We hear it all and then people wonder why we think nobody cares.

Well no, i dont think its stupid. I think they would benefit more from a crisis line but they are trying to reach out. So how is that stupid?

ouch. thats harsh. first off, i think you should cut them a little slack because they arent thinking clearly if they are suicidal. secondly, suicidal people are usually depressed and that often makes them want to isolate themselves. they might prefer the anonymity of the internet over seeing a psychiatric professional in person or talking to a person over the phone. they might feel great embarrassment or fear of judgment by a mental health professional in a face to face meeting. they may also feel similarly about talking to someone on a suicide hotline ~ its a more intimate experience and maybe they arent mentally prepared or have the strength to face that. talking to someone over the internet allows them to maintain a safe barrier. i definitely dont feel the same way about these questions. please dont judge them too harshly in the future. its like kicking someone when theyre down. i would hope that if someone in need comes to answerbag, that people would feel compassion for their suffering and would reach out to help them. based on advice ive heard from mental health professionals, every suicidal question should be taken seriously. many are not just cries for attention.

My guess is that fortunately for you, you've never been that low down in your life that suicide started to feel like a viable option for you and I hope you never do. I also hope if you ever find yourself in that situation, you will find someone that will show you the compassion you'll require instead of them telling you to sh*t or get off of the pot. I can't believe how cold-hearted some of these replies are. In my lifetime, I've known 8 people who've committed suicide. One of them told everybody, except a professional; and they didn't pay any attention to him because they didn't think he would do it! Then when he did they acted stunned. When people are that down they can't always find it in them to contact a professional, and if they are reaching out to anyone, it's because they are hoping someone will be compassionate enough to give them the help they need. I may be wrong, but I feel that we are all here to help each other through life. I couldn't turn my back on someone that needed help and tell them to sh*t or get off the pot. To me that's almost like putting a gun in their hand and telling them that you could give a sh*t so go ahead and do it.

No. I think the person needs help, and maybe the only place they feel safe to ask for it may be answerbag., or other internet sites.

Many people consider AB their online family. I usually try to answer their questions accordingly.

Some people like anonymity and find talking to a professional or on a suicide hotline uncomfortable. Where ever they go to seek help, I'm Ok with it and I hope that they find it.

There is nothing moronic about asking for help. A hot-line may not be the answer for some. A non-depressed person will never feel the same pain that we feel. We know that everyone feels pain. Physical pain and emotional pain are different. It's sad but true. You don't understand how we deal with emotions. We are more affected than "you". A lot of us care too much, hence our problem. I don't even know how to finish this. Maybe someone else with the "affliction" can answer. The stigma "moron" is very insulting and degrading.

i believe AB can be a great source of support for someone that has lost a loved one to suicide. i do wish that when someone contemplating suicide came here expressing such desires that everyone would encourage them to get professional help...that frequently does not happen. i have seen people be encouraged to kill themselves and i've seen people tell the suicidal person not to trust trained professionals. it is very sad...

I agree. They should just kill themselves and save us the trouble.

In my opinion...it's simply a cry for attention from someone that is considering suicide...but highly unlikely to go through with it. Looking for someone to talk you out of something that you would have done already if you were serious about it...just says I want the attention. According to everyone else we are horrible and heartless. Apparently they've never dealt with the plethora of people who cry suicide every time they aren't getting the attention they think they deserve!

No!, sometimes people want to hear from ordinary people and not someone who has been trained to say the right things without compassion. More people are helped by ordinary people than some trained monkey on the end of a phone, many of these hot line people have NEVER had any real life experience... this is the big difference and thats why people ask on line. Also they get a lot more views from a wider section of the community online

They are just fools trying to get attention from strangers online. If they actually wanted to kill themselves, they wouldn't be talking to strangers about it over the net. That is just a way to get attention and feel like people care. If suicide was their true intent, they would do it, not talk about it.

Some people don't have anyone to talk to about it like family or friends and prefer to talk on AB instead. It's more confidential because although anyone can see what your talking about, nobody knows who you are. Some people are still trying to find a point to their lives and it is good to talk about these things. Don't get me wrong many people do it for attention but some don't. It can also be a symptom that comes from depression. Don't be so quick to put everyone in the same boat.+

I don't, but I do find your attitude towards people like this insensitive.

No, it doesn't. Those people are obviously reaching out because they need support that they aren't getting at home. I see nothing wrong with it, and it doesn't bother me. You can always just avoid responding to the question if it bothers you. There are plenty of other questions on AB that I find offensive, but I am not going to dwell on those.

No,because alot of these people are reaching out,and may not HAVE a hot-line number to call,so seeking help from any place regardless,is the best that they can do.Personally,I'm glad that they do,because I feel that people need to know that there is still some love left in the world,and on AB,they may find some.:)*+++++*

Yes. But in point of fact, many people who are feeling totally helpless and hopeless are also people who can't get anyone to pay attention to them. They're not looking for help, per se; they're looking for acknowledgement and attention. Your suggestion that they call a suicide hotline is exactly right, but only people who either want to actually solve the problem will do that. It's tough to know how to react to these folks.

I haven't run into an on-line suicide question yet, but then again I'm not really looking for them. It seams really sad to me. YES i feel the same, but, we all seam to reach out vie answerbag when we're feeling a little down. Some people just to get confirmation that their not wrong about something, others just vent. Some people i would Imagen just want to feel connected. The people that talk suicide on-line are probably the same people that do it in "real" life, and i have no patience with most of them. I'm really tempted to just say "do it then" but i don't.

Woo Hoo....Marked as offensive, and I got it put back up!!!!!!!

I have been to Professionals and its always the same old thing. These Professionals learned their knowledge out of text books. Very few have reached a reality level. Hotlines, the person does care, but its just human nature to prevent someone from taking their on life. Reaching out online brings people together with similar problems and backgrounds. It helps when you talk to people that have been there. So the answer to the Question is: I think you have to be in the same situation as the person that seeks answers online.