The mental health of this community [Read Staff Post Before Posting]

[Jindrax]

I'm not sure about this but ( mods confirm?) the frequency of suicide threads on this forum is spiking?

I feel like we get a new one every 4/5 days? At which point should we consider doing something? And to what extent can we actually do something?

Does anyone know if this is common to online forums? Or are we exceptional (in the negative sense) on this point?

I was wondering if the mods are looking into this? I don't know but at some point we should start asking questions about this occurrence, right?

EDIT: this is in no means a finger pointing thread, more of a discussion on what we can/should/want to do or try.

 

[uzipukki]

There's not much an online forum can do about this, as sad that really is. We do have the Mental health thread that should function as a place where people can talk about these things, but in at the end of the day, countries should have more resources to give people suffering from mental health issues better treatment and quickly. We should also strive to make it so that people shouldn't feel ashamed of asking for help for mental health related issues.

 

[Deleted member 3010]

I don't know what the administration here can do to prevent that. Most people expressing their death wishes here aren't doing it because of forum related problems, it's mostly personal issues.

Best we can do as a community is support these people the best way we can and encourage them not to end their days.

 

[StraySheep]

I think it is fair to ask these questions.

 

[Arebours]

I don't know what the administration here can do to prevent that. Most people expressing their death wishes here aren't doing it because of forum related problems, it's mostly personal issues.

Best we can do as a community is support these people the best way we can and encourage them not to end their days.

Click to shrink...

there's a lot of pessimism, cynicism, fatalism and defeatism going around here though. Just randomly browsing era makes me feel depressed. I don't think it's unique to this forum though.

 

[It’s Time To Go]

Maybe we could sticky the mental health thread? I know its not much.

 

[Relix]

It's getting way worse. Like really dark lately. I find myself visiting Era less and less because of the negativity, nihilism and constant suicide threads. No kidding we get a few of these every week. Mods don't seem to be doing much with what is a very hard issue to manage. I know post of these people are doing it as a cry for help, but the effects on mental health of other users gets amplified. It's like a huge echo chamber at points. It can trigger other people. I find myself just avoiding or ignoring these users at this point.

 

[Deleted member 48434]

there's a lot of pessimism, cynicism, fatalism and defeatism going around here though. Just browsing era generally makes me more depressed. I don't think it's unique to this forum though.

Click to shrink...

It's not just era, it's everywhere. Everywhere I look, people just aren't doing too well.
I think someone mentioned that maybe it's a good thing that people cry for help here. Because then we as a community have the opportunity to hold out a hand.

 

[Geoff]

It's the most negative and nihilistic community I've ever encountered

 

[Aurongel]

The mental health thread is a great resource that might not be getting the visibility or engagement it should. Handling threads like this are tricky because on one hand you want to provide a safe place for those with suicidal thoughts but on the other hand I worry about the "copycat effect" this has when other users in similar positions see these threads get engagement on the front page of OT.

 

[BarryFishFinger]

Standard online forum stuff isn't it? At least for forums which have sprung up around a shared enjoyment of something with users that are familiar.

I've been seeing "I'm killing myself tonight/I can't go on/I'm so weary of life" type threads on every forum I've ever frequented over the years so it's no surprise to see them here too. I will agree that the frequency of them has increased noticeably over the last few months, and I will say there probably isn't much anyone, including admins, can do about it.

 

[Quiksaver]

I'm actually feeling pretty good. How are you?

 

[Deleted member 5127]

Yes we should definitely start asking questions as to why this keeps happening in this quantity, never seen this happen so often on other forums. This is not normal for forums.

I myself have been part of this community for years, since way back on NeoGaf. It's definitely not the same anymore.

The admin/mod team should try and do something about it.

I think it would help just to chill out with the negativity in OT especially, no we're not going to die in a few years because of climate change, we're not facing a Nazi problem that is in any way shape or form similar to what it was in WW2. The mods should start doing something about hyperboles because they are affecting the mental health of members here obviously.

 

[SuperBanana]

It's not just era, it's everywhere. Everywhere I look, people just aren't doing too well.
I think someone mentioned that maybe it's a good thing that people cry for help here. Because then we as a community have the opportunity to hold out a hand.

Click to shrink...

I feel like Era is especially negative and is small enough that it can fuel itself.

Maybe have a sticky or announcement detailing some helplines, etc?

 

[Arjen]

I wouldn't be suprised if it's because the toxic negativity of this forum. It's definitly not nomal, been a member on a lot of forums, and I never seen so many suicide threads.

 

[Temp_User]

Got no problems with suicide threads or world-wide bad news threads. Just learn to filter some things out and do positive things that you can. Hope the admins does nothing to curtail them as they provide valuable insights.

 

[Uncivilized Elk]

It's the most negative and nihilistic community I've ever encountered

Click to shrink...

Is it... Is it the only community you've ever encountered?

 

[Deleted member 1248]

Most people are struggling with life and eventually begin thinking about suicide at some point. Outwardly expressing suicidal ideation inspires others to do the same and has a compound effect. It's not just this forum.

I have no idea what to do about it. I do worry that bad actors on various hate sites whose hobby it is to harass people here will attempt to encourage people here to kill themselves.

 

[Jimnymebob]

It's a community that I feel unfortunately prides itself in basking in negativity, and most of the positivity comes from hyping themselves up for things that don't end up happening, which continues the cycle.

 

[danowat]

I don't think it's unique to this community unfortunately.

 

[Potterson]

When you're having such thoughts and you see someone sharing similar feelings in public (like, here for example), you can feel the urge to do the same.

 

[HazySaiyan]

I wonder if part of it is because as a community we're more likely to take it seriously.

 

[Geoff]

Is it... Is it the only community you've ever encountered?

Click to shrink...

By no means

 

[Ananasas]

Threads like that should be locked, and moderator should PM the person with phone numbers and links for self help.

 

[Ultimate Bear Cub]

Yeah, I've noticed it too. I wish I had better ideas than just listening and supporting them.

 

[Mass_Pincup]

Yes we should definitely start asking questions as to why this keeps happening in this quantity, never seen this happen so often on other forums. This is not normal for forums.

I myself have been part of this community for years, since way back on NeoGaf. It's definitely not the same anymore.

The admin/mod team should try and do something about it.

I think it would help just to chill out with the negativity in OT especially, no we're not going to die in a few years because of climate change, we're not facing a Nazi problem that is in any way shape or form similar to what it was in WW2. The mods should start doing something about hyperboles because they are affecting the mental health of members here obviously.

Click to shrink...

I agree, some of the day to day discourse here is quite clearly impacting people IRL in really dangerous ways.

 

[Banzai]

Threads like that should be locked, and moderator should PM the person with phone numbers and links for self help.

Click to shrink...

Silence someone's cry for help? That doesn't sound helpful.

 

[Rendering...]

It's getting way worse. Like really dark lately. I find myself visiting Era less and less because of the negativity, nihilism and constant suicide threads. No kidding we get a few of these every week. Mods don't seem to be doing much with what is a very hard issue to manage. I know post of these people are doing it as a cry for help, but the effects on mental health of other users gets amplified. It's like a huge echo chamber at points. It can trigger other people. I find myself just avoiding or ignoring these users at this point.

Click to shrink...

I've noticed the same thing. The OT is relentlessly negative and cynical.

Seriously, the first couple pages always have some kind of bad news or negativity. It's a fucking circle jerk of misery.

 

[EarlGreyHot]

Yeah I noticed this too.

I try to keep my problems in the mental health thread, maybe we can make that topic more visible?

 

[Mr. Snuffleupagus]

At least people feel comfortable to reach out here and tell others how they are feeling, thus giving a chance to avoid a worst-case scenario.

 

[Deleted member 31133]

If it wasn't for the support I had here in August last year, I don't think I would be here now.

We cannot prevent anybody having a mental health crisis as it could happen to anyone for a whole host of reasons. We can do, and do already, is be there to support each other.

 

[captmcblack]

Threads like that are common on forums since Usenet.

This particular iteration of this community is the only one I've seen that actively participates and cares about the users that post them as a matter of principle, though...so it's probably a reason for seeing them more often.

That, and the fact that if there was some sort of "crackdown" on them, somebody would definitely take that as an affront to the progressivism of this community.

Really though, what can you do? At least people feel like they might get a response to their cry out here.

 

[Magic-Man]

This sort of thing is more popular than you might think. It happened almost nightly on the r/teenagers subreddit, and we didn't get updates from a decent chunk of them.

 

[dragonbane]

I definetly seen it happen here a shit ton more than any time back on GAF. I literally asked myself the same question as I saw your thread. Maybe the world is just going to hell, but I really can't take so much negativity some days and just blur them out at this point for my own sake.

 

[Deleted member 1478]

Threads like that should be locked, and moderator should PM the person with phone numbers and links for self help.

Click to shrink...

That's a terrible idea. I mean we just had an example of someone posting a suicide thread last night and then this morning thanking everyone for their kind words and saying they are doing much better.

 

[Alienous]

Being banned for awhile and looking at other online discussion boards, and Resetera from a distance, it's atypical and I do think it indicates a problem.

The only thing I could think of as far as a solution would be to have 'mental health moderators'. For them to direct people to the thread, and to be qualified to help and provide resources, maybe even paid for their time.

 

[Maximo]

there's a lot of pessimism, cynicism, fatalism and defeatism going around here though. Just randomly browsing era makes me feel depressed. I don't think it's unique to this forum though.

Click to shrink...

Yeah it's made me in general really back off from social media I'm tired of the constant shit every single day, there is only so much I can be informed about the world before it starts killing you from all the negativity.

 

[HardTimesFamilyPride]

Feel like it's part of being a community that's open about & supportive of mental health. Posters have some level of trust in us to send out a cry for help in their darkest moments. If we are to champion mental wellness then we have to accept that people struggling are going to come here and talk about it because they need a support network.

Everyone is gonna have their explanation for it and they're 100% gonna revolve around whatever that particular person doesn't currently like about the forum. But I can tell you that seeing a thread of members supporting someone through a crisis is way more positive to me than "toy makers didn't make new toy the way I wanted so lets mindlessly shit on it/them/fans for fun for 30 pages".

 

[Geoff]

There is no joy in this place. Anything good is hacked to death by people looking to discredit the people involved for past transgressions. Anything bad is lamented like the end of days with people making wild, ridiculously hyperbolic statements. Everyone seems miserable. People are walking on eggshells all the time knowing that wrong one step means a ban.

 

[cognizant]

Just adding my voice to the opinion that this forum is a depressing place. Let's all try to stop being so damn negative and nihilistic. It's one thing to feel like that on an election night when Trump wins, its another to feel like that when James Bond reviews poorly or something.

Thank God I follow a stoic philosophy and try to meditate when I can or this place would grind me down.

 

[Rendering...]

Threads like that are common on forums since Usenet.

This particular iteration of this community is the only one I've seen that actively participates and cares about the users that post them as a matter of principle, though...so it's probably a reason for seeing them more often.

That, and the fact that if there was some sort of "crackdown" on them, somebody would definitely take that as an affront to the progressivism of this community.

Click to shrink...

On the other hand, we should consider whether the entire site needs to be dragged down by people's negative posting habits.

Other users have suggested stickying the mental health thread. Not a bad idea but I'd take it a step further. It would be great if we could have subcommunities or master threads for all of the most common depressing topics.

Some of us don't want to be constantly reminded that the world, the US, and people's personal lives are brimming with misery and hopelessness.

 

[TheSquozenOne]

At least people feel comfortable to reach out here and tell others how they are feeling, thus giving a chance to avoid a worst-case scenario.

Click to shrink...

If someone had really decided to end their life they wouldn't be posting about it here. I agree the forum being open to the conversation might be a good thing.

 

[danowat]

There is no joy in this place. Anything good is hacked to death by people looking to discredit the people involved for past transgressions. Anything bad is lamented like the end of days with people making wild, ridiculously hyperbolic statements. Everyone seems miserable. People are walking on eggshells all the time knowing that wrong one step means a ban.

Click to shrink...

I think the wider issue is that there is a very narrow scope of right and wrong here, and anyone or anything that steps outside of that gets attacked.

There is very little room for people to have a view, or views, that even slightly deviates from the Resetera path, that isn't healthy IMO.

That and the really wonky moderation.

 

[BarrBarr]

I think it's a situation where the fact that there are suicide threads leads to more people making suicide threads.

 

[Geoff]

I think the wider issue is that there is a very narrow scope of right and wrong here, and anyone or anything that steps outside of that gets attacked.

There is very little room for people to have a view, or views, that even slightly deviates from the Resetera path, that isn't healthy IMO

Click to shrink...

Couldn't agree more.

 

[Uncivilized Elk]

If someone had really decided to end their life they wouldn't be posting about it here.

Click to shrink...

That's dismissive as fuck.

The negativity that actually hurts people? It's shit like that.

Edit: Also the wedge issue that this place being too heavily moderated is responsible for more suicide threads is making me wanna puke.

 

[.exe]

The winter blues maybe? Quite common, as unfortunate as it is. I would be hesitant to say it's something specific to this community per se.

 

[Reckheim]

Being banned for awhile and looking at other online discussion boards, and Resetera from a distance, it's atypical and I do think it indicates a problem.

The only thing I could think of as far as a solution would be to have 'mental health moderators'. For them to direct people to the thread, and to be qualified to help and provide resources, maybe even paid for their time.

Click to shrink...

or you know, people actually go see real therapists in real life.

Why should mods take on any of that responsibility?

 

[Jindrax]

Okay I'm already glad that there is some agreement regarding these threads and even on the negativity all around.

I do echo the idea of sticking the mental health OT to the front page. But maybe we should do more?

Of course, nothing manu militari but as a community maybe we could try and achieve something positive from this.

 

[Kyuuji]

There definitely appears to have been an uptick. One thing that's tough is that suicide threads can provoke others to go into the same space mentally, which could stoke them to make a similar thread. You can't just lock them down though if people are reaching out then getting the response they have has had an effect on numerous past threads and users.

If someone had really decided to end their life they wouldn't be posting about it here.

Click to shrink...

The aim is to try and respond to calls for help and not dismiss them as such so that it doesn't get to that stage.