Discussion How has SaSu actually affected your thoughts or mental health?

[whosready4tmrw]

Media will say we're an evil, pro-suicide site that plunges people into despair; devoted members will say we're a safe space that only helps or gives people relief and autonomy. So I wonder, how has being a member of this forum *actually* affected you personally?

 

[muu]

sasu is a double-edged sword in my opinion

while it DOES provide community and a safe space to talk about an otherwise taboo topic it definitely can make your mental health worse, even if you don't realize it. i do appreciate sasu tho

 

[Gangrel]

i appreciate the little community this is, i come here to commiserate about feeling bad, it's nice, i think about many of you even if i don't say anything

 

[darksouls]

sasu helped to give me a space and I am thankful for this supportive and friendly community

 

[UserFromNowhere]

It's... difficult to describe how exactly I've felt on this site. I've certainly felt the same fear-ridden anxiety prevent me from commenting, from chatting, that prevents me from sending messages in other spaces. I've also felt that I've made others feel heard, or that I've been heard through the posts I write, I don't think SaSu is dissimilar from other social media sites in this regard just because we're allowed to actually talk about the subject without fear of being reported for it.

I don't know what effect SaSu has had on my mental health, whether it's helped or hindered. I've found myself slowly getting better, but that feels because of internalized debates with myself. I will say that this site has provided any number of resources and recommendations (books, music, other media) that helped me with the inner struggle. I find it hard to know whether I would've come to my current perception of life if it hadn't been for SaSu being here, providing an open space for such discussion.

Overall, as to whether this place has a positive effect on the people who visit it, I can't say. But I don't think it's some mystically evil existence that causes people to take their lives. The people that hate sites like these point at it and make that claim, but the bigger problem is society falling around us spurred on by the exact rhetoric they use to try and censor this website, not that the website exists. If anything, the existence of this website is evidence of their failure to make life bearable, trying to take it down while refusing to fix the more significant issue does nothing to help. It only kicks the can down the road, as they've been doing for years.

 

[ForestGhost]

Being able to speak honestly about things in a like-minded community has helped, befriending people and watching them die has hurt

 

[Pluto]

 

[itsgone2]

Being able to speak honestly about things in a like-minded community has helped, befriending people and watching them die has hurt

I've not had a friend die yet. If that happened to you, I'm sorry.
And I'm so sorry but i like goodbye threads. Theyre successful. It must be amazing. Especially things like sn that are normally peaceful.
I'm sick of this this media portrayal bs. Who cares. Leave us alone. Life is a curse for us.
It's not for most. Some it is just though. I can't get out fast enough yet I'm trapped and I hate it. Tired of it. Saving us is not noble. Ending us is noble and people are terrible for thinking anything else

 

[whosready4tmrw]

Especially things like sn that are normally peaceful.
I'm sick of this this media portrayal bs. Who cares. Leave us alone. Life is a curse for us.
It's not for most. Some it is just though. I can't get out fast enough yet I'm trapped and I hate it. Tired of it. Saving us is not noble. Ending us is noble and people are terrible for thinking anything else

HEAVY on this. What harm are we doing to people by trying to talk with the only people who understand what were going through. We dont exist so people can keep worming their own self pride up their ass by "saving us from this evil website"

Being able to speak honestly about things in a like-minded community has helped, befriending people and watching them die has hurt

I havent been here long enough to make any close friends, but I can imagine how sad that is. Unfortunately its not in the nature of this community to make many long lasting connections; I hope those people you met found the peace they were looking for

 

[Naz667]

it feels nice to know there's a space where I can speak like this, but looking in the suicide discussion channel just hurts me. The most recent posts are 90% of people asking how they can CTB. I don't know them, their life circumstance, nothing about them, but just the fact that there's so many kills a little bit of my soul, and theres nothing I can do about it.

 

[iamanavalanche]

this site has helped me express my thoughts and feelings freely without filtering out my suicidal ideation as well as helped my make a lot of amazing friends through chat. however, i feel that sasu rarely improves mental health but keeps you in that hole. especially when you lose people or meet dangerous people that hurt you. but i would rather be on here than not haha. otherwise id be really isolated.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I'd say I'm between the top two 'positively' descriptions. I didn't come here in order to improve my mental health. So- in 'normie' terms I suppose- I don't exactly feel less suicidal being here. Not more either though.

For me, the main positive effect is- it actively helps me to hang on. My hope for 35 years is that I would eventually kill myself but- I don't feel like I can while my Dad is still alive. Sasu gives me an outlet to be honest about how I feel and perceive the world without having people utterly freak out on me or bombard me with shallow platitudes. I also don't want people to worry intensely about something they can't change- my likely suicide. I'd prefer to spare them that for now.

Plus, it gives me a sense of community. Sasu has some remarkably compassionate people here- given what they are going through also. Generally speaking, most people are kind and supportive I've found. Plus, I've been lucky to find one or two people to PM with and get to know a little better. Sasu provides me with social connections I would unlikely have otherwise. Now that I've chosen to isolate so much.

Whether it's debatably good or bad, I would say I have become far more anti- natalist since joining. That's not to say those ideas weren't present before but, they have become far more intense. That might not necessarily be Sasu though. It may just be they have grown as my hatred and resentment towards having life and having to live (for parents) has grown.

I suppose it annoys me when such harsh criticism is levelled at the forum. I'd also argue that people here are far more self aware than we are given credit for. It's not to say it's impossible that the forum could have a negative affect on someone. I do agree that like attracts like, misery loves company etc. It's almost bound to be an echo chamber in some ways.

But- if it truly has become apparent to someone that the forum is affecting them negatively- they should and often do either take a break, move into recovery or, leave. I tend to think we mostly are still with it enough to be able to assess our own mental state and how outside factors influence it. I suppose I'm puzzled as to why people stay if they know it's harming them. Maybe for self harm perhaps.

 

[starryend]

It's helped me a lot being able to feel less isolated about my issues I can usually only keep to myself, and being able to listen to others stories and how they got here.

 

[kuroshimi]

Uhh... not sure.

I've been thinking about it lately. Definitely, interactions with such communities have an impact on person's mental health. It can have a possible effect because it give a opportunity to speak openly about problems, but at the same time it can make things worse.

For me personally I glad that this site exists since it's giving me the space to talk and vent. But I don't think it affects my mental heath much, since it was declining way before I even know that communities like SaSu exists.

Something like SaSu is a consequence, not a cause.

 

[RosebyAnyName]

My post history will be used against me and I can't delete, so yes I'm worse off. But, I inadvertently do this on every social media platform and in real life despite my best efforts so I deserve it and I'm not allowed to be upset about it.