Posted by Tabitha on March 6, 2005, at 17:47:41
In reply to Re: immediate concerns, posted by alexandra_k on March 6, 2005, at 15:14:49
From a technical perspective I don't think Dr Bob can necessarily trace each poster's location. He probably won't want to share specifics, but I suspect his ability to locate a poster isn't fool-proof. So even if he extends this "notify the ISP" power to us posters, it still might fail to provide that person's physical location to the police. This makes us uniquely helpless here in cyberspace.
If I tell my therapist or pdoc I'm going to kill myself, they can take action to get me hospitalized. If I call a crisis hotline or 911, they can trace my call and locate me. This forum might be the only place I can announce my intent to kill myself without any consequence. I don't think such a situation is healthy for the suidical person or for the other members.
I also question whether allowing group members to provide suicide intervention makes any sense. Would any real life support group have its members able to or responsible for intervening in other members' suicide attempts? Just does not seem like good boundaries to me. In fact it seems really messed up. I think Dr Bob should discuss this idea with some other psychiatrists or mental health professionals and get their input.
poster:Tabitha
thread:466899
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20050219/msgs/467504.html