# A Facebook Friend is threatening a murder/suicide...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-facebook-friend-is-threatening-a-murder-suicide/542719>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 10, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-facebook-friend-is-threatening-a-murder-suicide/542719 "2010-06-10T23:42:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\
**Post date:** [June 12, 2010, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-facebook-friend-is-threatening-a-murder-suicide/542719/21 "2010-06-12T04:49:55Z")

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**WhyNot** , your sensitivity and deligence may have saved two lives. That is just amazing. You did what many of us would not do: you risked looking a little silly if he was just trolling.

There is so much mental illness out there and such actions can be so impulsive. Never, never assume that someone is just kidding.

I heard someone in my family say that if she had a gun she would kill herself. Someone else in the family contacted her husband to see if he had heard it too. He said, “Oh yeah, but she says that all the time.” I wanted to strangle him.

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**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\
**Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-facebook-friend-is-threatening-a-murder-suicide/542719/22 "2010-06-13T01:09:04Z")

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> [@hajario](#):
>
> You are being trolled.

Assuming that is why people die. Which is worth more? The potential to save someone’s life, or the satisfaction to know you weren’t tricked?

And that’s not even factoring it the “What if you’re wrong” part.

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**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\
**Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-facebook-friend-is-threatening-a-murder-suicide/542719/23 "2010-06-13T01:16:35Z")

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> [@Zoe](#):
>
> I heard someone in my family say that if she had a gun she would kill herself. Someone else in the family contacted her husband to see if he had heard it too. He said, “Oh yeah, but she says that all the time.” I wanted to strangle him.

I had a boss once whose favorite expression during times of stress was, “Just shoot me now. Or bring me a gun.” She’d often say this before disappearing into her office in a black funk and not reappearing until closing time.

I understood she was joking, but it really bothered me. A lot. She also had a history of depression - how the hell am I supposed to know when you’re serious if that’s your default expression of frustration? How is someone who doesn’t know you well supposed to know you’re not being serious? After repeated explanations of why I didn’t like it when she said that to me, she finally switched to something more innocuous, but it took literally years to break her of the habit.

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**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [June 13, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-facebook-friend-is-threatening-a-murder-suicide/542719/24 "2010-06-13T05:11:18Z")

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Since the OP is asking for advice, this is better suited for IMHO than GQ.

Colibri  
General Questions Moderator

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