vestal (03/20/83)
I've spent the past week perusing the various groups of network news, and I was quite surprised to find one named "net.suicide". After scanning the articles, I'm not quite sure what the nature of this group is. My initial two guesses are: 1 -- An underground forum for dealing with a phenomenon which has touched some people's lives. 2 -- A group assigned the name "net.suicide", and attracting people who, although they can't face serious discussions on the subject, are nevertheless drawn subconsciously by the word "suicide". My own inclination is to select (2) above. There are strong traits in the messages I have seen which crop up in cases of suicide -- the ammount of hostility in the messages, the great interest in personal (by computer?) communication, the assertion that a strong element of black humor is present, etc. Nevertheless, I am somewhat confused by what appears to me to be an indirect or facious approach. Is this all a joke? A question: A) How many of the readers have actually attempted suicide (required treatment by medical professionals)? b) How many of the readers have witnessed a suicide by someone close to them (lover, friend, parent, sibling)? ...decvax!microsoft!uw-beaver!vestal VESTAL@WASHINGTON