Speaking of Suicide … Within Limits

[Dragon]

Stacy Freedenthal - has posted two more articles on her blog.  One I need to visit since it has to do with suicide among military veterans, then other is a question and her decision regarding how she responds to comments that take a pro-suicide stance.

If you're so inclined, I'd appreciate your view on how I describe our forum, comparing it to the blog she writes.

[Jmliliana]

You know, it's interesting. There are certain explicit differences between a blog and a forum. In a forum, you have cross-member communication, and each member has an account and comes back to it (if they so choose), so you can kind of follow certain individuals through their posts. In a blog, you don't have that same continuity. Like she mentioned, you will have one member comment on how hopeless they feel, but you don't see that the person is doing better.

I like the way this forum is run in that the talk of suicide is not something that is immediately taboo. One of the few people I have told I am suicidal opened up the conversation of suicide. Instead of immediately jumping to "no, suicide is bad!", we had an interesting conversation about humanity's tendency towards suicide and death (he's a philosopher who believes that at the very core, every person wants to end their lives). Being able to talk about it without judgment brought a great sense of catharsis. This forum helps to allow these sorts of conversations to happen. The way you describe this forum is as a space where people can discuss ideas, topics, or situations and receive support without judgment and also without discussion of methods.