Do you think what is said in goodbye threads is considered ‘encouraging suicide’?

[KTbear]

I feel like I'm not being understood in this thread. I'm not saying everything that is said in goodbye threads is bad like the example you gave which doesn't sound like encouraging whatsoever. But there are other examples that people say in goodbye threads that could be mistaken, misinterpreted, or actual seen as encouraging by people outside this forum. I'm just trying to do damage control or whatever it's called cause I feel like since this site is getting more publicity there should (in my own stupid opinion okay) be some changes. I know none of y'all will listen but I just simply feel if this site is to survive then it has to adapt somehow just like how the mods added a recovery section so it doesn't make this site look pro suicide.

Circles, I understand you 100% and avoid commenting in goodbye posts (and try to be as careful as possible in my other posts) for exactly this reason. Many laypeople don't understand how innocently intended words can be mischaracterized in legal proceedings to create liability (or at least the potential of it).

 

[lessthanperfect]

I say, no more compromising. People here used to be very polite and showed a lot of empathy for these complaining parents and relatives, but since they kept name calling us over and over again, and lying endlessly, I have lost all sympathy and respect for them and their grief. They can fuck off with and even choke in their pain.

Someone commented in hateful disagreement, but I think it's important to remember why you feel this way before judging you or calling you "immature".

These friends and families think they care about their loved ones and miss them when they're gone, but if they'd really cared, they wouldn't be trying to ban the one community that helped their loved one and many others find comfort and support. Sure, they'd still be grieving, but they'd respect the choice their loved one made to CTB.

They don't care about their loved one; they care about the mentally sound, happy image they created of said person.

My point is completely evident in all of the sob stories I've heard about how the person was "completely fine and happy" one day and then suddenly suicidal and falling apart in the time between discovering this site and deciding to CTB, because it just isn't possible for them to have been suffering before and for everyone not to notice. /s

The site doesn't encourage suicide; it supports people who are struggling and, if someone show signs of being unsure, will discourage them from CTBing until they are sure it is the right choice for them and their situation. It's extremely unlikely for someone to find and begin to post on this site if they aren't struggling already.

I still have sympathy for these people, but it is very thin and overshadowed by my disapproval of them due to the way they're trying to take away resources for the rest of us just because they don't respect the suffering of their deceased loved one and think they should've "pushed through" (like, obviously, that's what they've been doing their whole life up until that point).

 

[lessthanperfect]

This is accurate enough but there's a huge difference between a goodbye thread and a liveblogging, some goodbye threads have come across like lab experiments with the nature of some of the responses, I've made this point elsewhere but not all comments in these threads are appropriate or respectful imo, in fact quite a lot of them are very much the opposite, and it wouldn't do us any harm if the site used the description provided in the quoted post as the enforced standard, and removed any posts that fell foul imo.

Meh. There's also a huge difference between interrupting someone's "goodbye"'s and "safe travels"'s just to say "at how many approximate minutes did you experience x, y, and z" or commenting it on a post that states they're comfortable with answering questions in the process.

If I say "Goodbye, CTBing with [method], any questions are fine," I don't see why you'd have a problem with that, because the person chose to answer questions about their method and their death. However, I would agree with you if this was only about people who said "Goodbye, see you on the other side" and people suddenly started interrogating them about their method and what symptoms they experienced at which point.

 

[momdontcryplease]

After reading a few threads, I can see how it can come off as encouraging. Some posts were a little iffy and it almost felt like how should I say it... like as if someone was ctb in public and they were just surrounding them and filming them and going like "wow, how does it feel?" "ya dead yet" and stuff like that. I don't know; I can't explain myself properly. But the vibes in some posts definitely felt a little off. But I'm a hypocrite since I just asked someone what kind of opioids they used.

 

[RainAndSadness]

There is a difference between encouraging suicide and respecting someone's voluntary and well-thought-out decision to exercise their right to die.

 

[Someone123]

I thinhk most of the comments learly don'y encourage suicide, they just hope that the person can find peace, that they can find relief from their suffereing. Some of the comments could be interpreted one way or another, but generally just seem to be caring and not encouraging of this. I cannot recall seeing any comments on a goodbye thread that clearly encouraged ctb- I have not seen every goodbye thread though. Wishing them a safe journey to me means just hoping they can find peace, though some people interpret it as encouraging ctb. I typically use the hig emoji, if anything, just meaning that I care and I hope they find peace somehow.