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Originally Posted by Weasels Rip My Flesh  Oh there are definitely attention whores out there, I've met a few (in my experience: some are insincere and fake it for attention & some are troubled but refuse to seek help, just finding scraps of comfort in the attention they get) I was just coming at it from the perspective that not every suicide threat is a phony cry for attention..
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Ah ok, I can see what you're saying but that's not quite what I was talking about. Yes, people seeking attention are one possible concern, but I was speaking about the risk posed by over action whenever someone talks about depression/suicide. This twitter person clearly needed help, but I do wonder if fear of the Worst Case Scenario has kind of tied the hands of Mental Health Professionals when it comes to how they approach people who mention depression. They don't want to be sued so they're prone to overreact at the slightest 'warning sign'
Knowing that just talking about your feelings can lead to a full blown red alert might ultimately lead people to be *less* likely to seek help or open up.
For example, in early 2007 I was having a conversation with someone and he asked if I'd thought of suicide before
Now, as people on this board might already know, if you ask me a question, I'll answer it in full.. complete with footnotes and anecdotes. That's just the way I am. If I'd gone to see an Internist because I needed vaccinations for an Asian adventure I was planning, he might have asked "Have you ever been to China before?" My answer would have been three minutes long and covered topics ranging from the systematic slaughter of Tibetans to the extinction of the Yangtze River Dolphin
"Never forget .."
So when this guy asked if I'd ever thought of suicide, I truthfully answered:
"Sure, but I also think about what it would be like to have webbed feet, or live in ancient Greece.... or WaterWorld, for that matter. I think about how cool it would be to work for NASA, or what my life might have been like if I'd grown up as a princess in Tsarist Russia. I *think* about alot of things, but that doesn't mean that I think suicide is an attractive or acceptable option for my situation
Then he asked "Do you think it's ok for someone to commit suicide?"
At that point, I began to get the feeling that maybe I should just shut up, but instead I basically gave an answer where I said that I didn't even necessarily believe that psychiatry was a real science and that the definition of what is and isn't 'crazy' is in fact amorphous and has changed along with cultural attitudes throughout history. Our brains are biologically identical to those possessed by the Romans, who would have seen nothing morally or ethically wrong with slavery. Does that mean they were "crazy"? What about India where people will throw themselves on the funeral pyre upon the death of a spouse? Or what of the Samurai, I asked, "Were they all mentally ill for thinking that suicide could be an honorable death?"
His reply? "Yes"
That answer really annoyed me, and decided I that I needed to stick up for the Romans and Ninjas, so I argued the point further with him (for those who can guess where this is going, yes, that was a bad idea)
Anyway.. Long story short: The 'Crisis Team' (much less cool than it sounds, unfortunately) got called and it totally ruined my weekend.
Keep in mind this was early 2007. I tried to explain that there was no way I could possibly off myself.. the second season of ROME was about to start on HBO! Anyone who knew the first thing about me would know that there was *no way* I could end my life without first getting to see how the Tale of Pullo concluded
What I didn't realize is that he was not interested in a rational discussion of a complex issue, but instead was only waiting to see if I crossed an invisible threshold on his make-believe brain-science rubric, at which point he could wash his hands of me and call in other people so he wouldn't have to worry about a law suit down the road
Anyway, that experience kind of instilled in me a distrust of our mental health practices and it's why I said that for people seeking help the result might be a lot less fun than a surprise celebrity intervention
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Originally Posted by Weasels Rip My Flesh Well, I imagine she has very little else on her plate these days. She was probably glad for the potential press attention she would get, since nobody has given a fuck about any of her post-Portly Greek Committment Ceremony projects.
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I know it's probably unreasonably cynical of me to say it, but I do kind of wonder if the Greek Bride called police so she could get her name in the news. I guess I'm kind of horrified that no one else in the world that read Ms Moore's twitter felt a suicide threat warranted additional action.
