Migraine

Hey Teri.

I was wondering about what happens when someone posts (be it here in the forum or on that sharepost blog) a comment that may be considered suicidal?

I know that when in such pain and despair someone could be blogging and mean nothing more than trying to vent and get things off their chest when they write things like "I wish I wasn't here" or "I wish I wouldn't ever wake up again".......

But I also know that similar comments could very well be a cry out for serious help.

As you know my wife was a crisis counselor and this question has been burning in her the past few days.

Is it ok to post hotlines is we read such comments? What is the protocol here on this issue?

Thanks for all you do Teri!!!!!

Peace,

Dave

Certainly, posting numbers for well established hotlines is fine.

Just so you know, when such things are said, there's a great deal that goes on behind the scenes. We take such comments very seriously, and the moderators and I often get to work via email.

Speaking of email, would you please email me? I tried to email you, but it bounced.

Thanks.

Thanks for the reply. Sol figured that you all work behind the scenes so to speak but we saw a post that concerned us and kinda felt helpless.

Yeah I will email you. I made this email address to access this site only and frankly forgot about it. The main email I use is my work one which is for just that.

I will email you via my wife's email, feel free to email me there as well.

Have we done something wrong? For the most part we have been keeping it quiet as my wife heals.

Dave

Hey.

I just figured out the problem with my email. Since I never used the account for email purposes it became inactive. I just now made it active again and emailed you Teri. I will do my best to check may yahoo account weekly.

I sincerely hope that we've done nothing wrong because I know this community means so much to my wife. She has even told other people she talks with online about how great this place is and has recommended this site to her doctor's patients who also suffer with migraines.

Anyhow...

Peace,

Dave

You haven't done anything wrong. We just miss our Dave and Sollie fix.

To expand on this a bit...

If any of you ever see a forum post or SharePost that makes you feel worried or concerned about the member, please don't hesitate to post a suicide hotline number. Also, please don't hesitate to email Nancy or me to let us know about it. We're obviously not online every minute of every day, so y'all see a lot of things before we do.

We take this kind of thing very seriously. We have contacted internet service providers and law enforcement agencies to have authorities check on members to be sure they're safe. That is never done to disrespect a member's privacy, but for their safety. Unfortunately, there have been a couple of times when police arrived in time to stop someone from doing something desperate or to get them to the hospital in time to save a life.

So, everyone here is part of this online community, and your help does sometimes save lives - literally.

Thanks for advising us of this. At one point I had some concerns that one of our members might be becoming suicidal, and I thought about emailing you, but I was pretty sure the hosts would be looking for things like that. From future posts, the person seems to be doing better; whether or not you intervened is certainly between that person and you. But in future I will go ahead and email you if I start to be concerned.

Never feel like "should I??" If you are worried about someone - do it. Teri and Nancy are always on top of this! As they have said before, there is a lot that happens behind the scences.

I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say - I'd rather be safe then sorry - I'd rather see someone's email in my inbox then know nothing could have been done.

I know we are - for the most part - just friends over the internet - but you guys are sometimes more my family then my family is - and we need to look out for each other.

You're welcome, and thank you. Each and every one of us is a kind of safety net for each other. It makes me feel better knowing that someone will email one of us if you're concerned.

hugs,

quote:

Originally posted by nutcracker1:
Thanks for advising us of this. At one point I had some concerns that one of our members might be becoming suicidal, and I thought about emailing you, but I was pretty sure the hosts would be looking for things like that. From future posts, the person seems to be doing better; whether or not you intervened is certainly between that person and you. But in future I will go ahead and email you if I start to be concerned.