Let me preface this now:
I in no way, shape, or form believe that Reddit is the best place to go for suicide prevention.
For the amount of trolls on the internet, no one with a mental health condition or who is considering suicide should seek help from Reddit. For some sick and twisted reason, trolls online like to make people feel bad about themselves (mostly because they probably don't like themselves). There are a multitude of things that can trigger someone and the fact that some people online blatantly say things to do just that is part of the reason I don't believe Reddit is the best place to go for help online.
However, there are good people on Reddit and there are people who want to help those in need and it's simply a matter of finding them. Sometime the trolls get blocked from the forums or sometimes there's just enough support and unity that they don't even try to enter into the conversation.
In the end, I think that if people would just talk about the issues they and others have, this topic wouldn't be so taboo and we would have less and less people needing help and trying to find it in these online communities and thus, less people finding a troll instead of someone willing to help.
Hey Shannon! I agree with you, Reddit is not the best place to go for suicide prevention. I would never even consider that as an option if I am or I know someone who is considering ending their life. I believe that the internet can be used for bad and for good but people are constantly using it for bad like trolling. They have nothing better to do with their boring lives so they decide to bother others online. Reddit may not be the best for suicide prevention but I think it is an awesome platform for a great discussion on topics of interest such as sports, food, quick answers, advice etc. but suicide is the last thing reddit is good for! Great post!
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