Rather than attention whoring, I see this as a cry for help. Unfortunately, he made his cry in the wrong place and to a bunch of assholes.
Been known to happen.
Well, given that he apparently had a history of trolling, it certainly lent credence to the theory that it was just a hoax. Based on that, some people think that his death was the result of a an attempt to make a suicidal gesture rather than an actual desire to end his life.
And if he was totally sincere with the suicide note, it’s bizarre that he chose to copy and paste something with that degree of specificity. It’s not just a page of generic “woe is me” – even though it doesn’t name names, you can see that the author of the note was thinking about specific details while writing it.
We had a guy write a suicide note on a forum I help run. YMMV i guess. A bunch of members called him, the cops and/or his girlfriend. His life was saved probably because of that.
I don’t think the message board users are at fault. This guy alone chose to kill himself. He is the only one to blame.
Sucks for him, but oh well.
He is to blame? He is to blame? Well, how are you going to do that? He is a piece of meat in the ground or ashes on the wind. How about you cut him some slack just this once?
When people threaten suicide, please, please pay attention. That is exactly what they need. Where did we ever get the idea that it is wrong to pay attention to some one who is seeking it in this way? The person may not even halfway believe it themselves, but they are telling you that they are miserable and need help and don’t know what to do.
One of the saddest things about it is that maybe people do kill themselves accidentally trying to get attention.
If they have clinical depression, they may not know it because their brains are so out of sink that they can’t judge their own conditions. Please don’t expect someone who is talking about suicide to be rational. It is like walking in a fog or being a little brain dead.
That person may somehow be depending on YOU to be rational. But if you are into doing dancing kicks to Singing in the Rain as your posting style, I would say that you bear some responsibility too.
How fucked up is it not to understand that the internet is “real life”?
Do you understand were he was posting?
You can bet your ass he sure did. Miscers are a predictable bunch.
He wanted to **“become an hero live on webcam.”
**
If he expected anything other than doitfaggot or some other expected meme he was already drugged enough to die.
teh internets is were some go to die. No different than The Golden Gate Bridge. At “The Bridge” you get a nice view and a bit of drama, certain places on the net you get some validation of your feelings about yourself. People confirming that you are in fact a piece of shit, and you get to become an hero. Some people share their last moments with only the demons in their head.
I didn’t say it wasn’t, nor do I believe it isn’t. But the fact is if your only interaction with someone is through a screen it doesn’t have the same emotional impact as if you had met the person. Fact.
When it comes to this issue, no, YMM certainly NOT V. Vulnerable human beings should be supported and protected always. There is no ethical ‘‘IMHO’’ for what the people on this internet message board did. And ‘‘he would have killed himself anyway’’ is a piss-poor excuse for the total lack of empathy displayed here.
(not trying to single you out, just using your post as a jumping off point for my own horror about this.)
Though given what I know about social psychology and the internet, what happened on the board is at least cognitively understandable. What happened to the jumping guy, in public, is one of the most horrifying things I have ever heard, and unless alcohol was heavily involved raises some serious questions for me about the way we as a society are changing.
I attended a suicide assessment and prevention training where one of the speakers had interviewed hundreds of people who tried to commit suicide in violent ways (demonstrating serious intent) including one guy who jumped off the Golden Gate bridge and survived.
The speaker said that all the people who attempted suicide stated that even until the very last second before their suicide attempt that all of them wished that someone would save them and none of them really wanted to die.
Also I want to point out that all people who express suicidal feelings should be taken seriously because even people who make fake attempts (and there are really people who do this) sometimes accidentally kill themselves in the process.
I was thinking the same thing in relation to this story. This guy Abraham had previously attempted to overdose himself so it’s very possible he had accidentally taken more than what he thought he could handle. It sure would suck to fake a suicide and in the midst take in excessive amounts of drugs for a surreal trip but unknowingly kill yourself. By the looks of it (his username/Myspace layout/photos/convo’s/etc) he was a drug user so it’s plausible.
Survival Instinct’s a bitch.
One of the reasons that I enjoy the SDMB as much as I do is that this is the non-internet internet. This is an oasis of decent spelling and grammar and relative kindness. This is a unique place because that’s not the way things go on the rest of the internet.
The internet is not Serious Business, but it is a scary and strange place. Probably the last place I’d go looking for sympathy or caring.
Horrible.
I agree with all those who point out that someone who is saying the will commit suicide is looking for attention and for someone to stop them, but I want to add a caution.
About 6 months ago I noticed a poster on the local Craigslist saying he was going to commit suicide. Others were egging him on, of course, but I wanted to prevent it if I could. I started a private conversation with him and tried to convince him to not go through with it. He started to ask if he could call me to talk, and I luckily said no. The conversations went on all weekend. He kept me updated on where he was and when he was going to do it. His last email to me was on a Sunday evening, where he said he was on his way to do it.
I had of course called the cops with what information I had (I found out his name and birthdate, but that’s all I knew), but the police couldn’t find anything in their records for that name and birthdate, and even if I did know his address, I didn’t actually KNOW him, so I couldn’t even authorize them to kick down his door if they went by his house and he didn’t answer.
Anyhow, I was obviously curious and needed to know what happened. Through some creative google-fu, I figured out his brothers name and where he lived and posted a note for him to contact me on Craigslist for his city. About 3 weeks later he emailed me.
The brother (suicidal guy who I contacted) had very severe mental issues and is a con artist and has a history of stalking. He advised me to make a police report and notify my workplace that this guy might come looking for me. He also said a friend of the family had talked to him within the last week and he most certainly was not dead.
I suppose the moral is that, yes, generally it is a good idea to answer the cry for help when they post stuff like that online, but make sure you remain anonymous and watch what you say. Remember that they obviously have mental problems, and that might include stuff like trying to get that sort of attention JUST to get your information.
Has anyone considered the possibility that maybe he did actually want to die? Or that, even if that wasn’t the case here - which only those close to him could possible answer - that there are suicide threats made where people aren’t “crying for help” but in fact truly wanting to kill themselves?
No, if *your *only interaction with someone is through a screen it doesn’t have the same emotional impact as if *you *had met the person, I’m prepared to believe. Nothing wrong with that. But please don’t generalize your experience to me.
I was, for example, more emotionally impacted by ** David Simmons**’ and Askia’s deaths then other acquaintances I’ve met in real life. Not friends, sure, but they were two internet acquaintances I felt far more connected to and affected by than 98% of the people I know but don’t love in real life. If you, Illuminatiprimus, were to die tomorrow, I’d probably cry. I can’t say the same for my lab partner in Anatomy class.
Generally speaking, the ones who really have decided they want to die, don’t advertise beforehand.
They go to great lengths to hide their activities from everyone, and you don’t know until after the fact.
The caveat to that is I learned this way back before our society started becoming mass attention whores. But my guess is, he was wanting someone to stop him. Even after to take the pills there’s still some time before the end is inevitable.
Of course, if you factor in the idea that he knew this particular website was full of unsympathetic, uncaring assholes then maybe he did want to die. 
This whole thing makes me sick.
“This study examines 21 cases in which crowds were present when a disturbed person threatened to jump off a building, bridge, or tower. Baiting or jeering occurred in 10 of the cases. Analysis of newspaper accounts of the episodes suggests several deindividuation factors that might contribute to the baiting phenomenon: membership in a large crowd, the cover of nighttime, and physical distance between crowd and victim (all factors associated with anonymity). The baiting phenomenon was also associated with warm temperatures and long duration of episode. These factors suggest leads for more systematic investigation.”
That’s… a very sweet thing to say. Thanks WhyNot, I’m extremely touched. 
EmAnJ: Yes, I remember that. Interesting, in light of this discussion, to read the replies in that thread.