Dustin K MacDonald

Menu
  • Home
  • About
  • Economic and Community Development
  • Nonprofit Management
    • Counselling and Service Delivery
    • Suicide Prevention / Crisis Intervention
  • Politics and Governance
  • Math and Statistics
  • Salesforce
Menu

How to Respond to Suicide Threats on Social Media

Posted on February 5, 2015May 28, 2016 by Dustin

As social media finds a greater and greater importance and significance in our lives, it’s important that we get better at responding to suicidal threats that appear on social media sites like Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.

Table of Contents

Failures To Respond

There have been a number of situations where a failure to respond appropriately (or simply an inability to locate an individual in time) when threats on social media are posted has led to suicides and homicides.

In December 2014, Amber Cornwall, aged 16, died of suicide by hanging after posting on Facebook “If I died tonight, would anyone cry?” She killed herself later that night, and was found the next morning by her parents. Her parents say she was heavily bullied before her death. (WLOS News 13, 2014)

Adrian Alvarez shot himself at his school in October, 2013 after posting on Facebook that he was sorry for all the pain he caused his friends and family. The father of an infant son, he was 16 years old. (NY Daily News, 2013)

A woman from Shanghai, going by the instagram username jojostai1012 posted a series of pictures including the lines “I will haunt you day and night after I’m dead”, and burning her possessions before she jumped out of a high-rise building in March of 2014. (Daily Mail, 2014)

In each of these situations, evidence of statements of lethality was present hours before the individual took their own life. Dozens, in some cases hundreds of people saw these messages and nobody reached out to ask the individual if they were feeling suicidal.

In the case of the woman from Shanghai, the photos of her destroying her possessions represent an imminent risk factor that required immediate intervention to preserve life.

How to Respond

The process for responding to online posts that make you concerned a person may be considering ending their life is similar to the process you would take if they were in person or on the telephone.

Start by reaching out via private message (if possible), and asking the person if they are feeling okay. Incorporate an empathy statement and begin to build that rapport.

This process will be easier if you have a pre-existing relationship with the individual, but even if you don’t, getting them talking will demonstrate that someone out there does care about them.

Once you have built up a rapport and began to have a conversation about how they are feeling, ask the question! All you have to do is ask. “Sometimes when people say they’re sorry for all the pain they’ve caused, they’re thinking about suicide. Have you thought about suicide?”

Then you can move into the CPR Risk Assessment. Do they have a plan? Means and access? A timeline? Do they have any previous history of suicidal behaviour or bereavement by suicide? What kind of coping mechanisms do they have? Who in their life can they rely on?

Once you’ve determined the depth of their suicidal danger you can work collaboratively with them to establish a safety plan, as per the ABC Model of Crisis Intervention. Is there somewhere they can go (hospital, friend’s house, mental health crisis bed) for more intensive support than they can get right now? Can their access to lethal means be mitigated?

In the aftermath of the suicidal crisis, you’ll want to help them connect to counselling, case management or therapy to help them cope better in the future.

Emergency Intervention

If you have access to their location, 911 or emergency services can dispatch a police officer or paramedics to provide them with transportation to the hospital or immediate medical care. If you lack specifics, this may be a more difficult process.

Police often work with phone companies to provide the GPS of individuals in a rough area, and this may aid in your locating them if they have a cell-phone.

Facebook provides an option to report posts that are of a suicidal nature but as they point out, “If you’ve encountered a direct threat of suicide on Facebook, please contact law enforcement or a suicide hotline immediately. If the person you’re worried about is a member of the US military community, be sure to mention this so they can provide this person with custom support.”

Correct Responses

For all of the failures to help people feeling suicidal, there are some examples of proper responses online, although it’s likely most of these are not published, as the person simply stays alive rather than their death being reported in the media.

An 18 year-old man who posted “Thinking of jumping” next to a photo of the George Washington Bridge was helped by officers of the Port Authority police, after they were tipped off by a concerned friend.The Emergency Services Lieutenant sent the man his phone number, and he reached out. The officer convinced him to meet in person, and after talking he agreed to go to a local hospital for help. (CNN, 2013)

In 2009, a woman used the social networking site Twitter to send a message to the actress Demi Moore detailing her plan to kill herself using a large knife, followed up with “gbye … gonna kill myself now”.

Moore responded to the tweet publicly which led to people reporting the threats to the San Jose Police Department. The woman was found, uninjured, and taken for mental health evaluation. (ABC News, 2009)

In each of these successes, a person posted obvious statements of lethality, and individuals reached out. They reported the threats, built empathy with the persons in distress and referred them to the support they needed.

Additional Resources

The Suicide Prevention Resource Centre publishes a guide (PDF) on Suicide Threats on Social Networking Sites which provides a brief overview, some risk management pointers for helpers and social networking sites and some guidelines for both your safety and the safety of the distressed person. (Olson, 2011)

Bibliography

ABC (2009, Apr 3) “Did Demi Moore’s Twitter Feed Stop a Suicide? | ABC News” Accessed electronically from http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/AheadoftheCurve/story?id=7248406 on February 3, 2015

CNN (2013, Nov 15) “Teen’s remarks on Facebook sends cops into social media action to save a life – CNN.com” Accessed electronically from http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/15/us/social-media-suicide-stop/ on February 3, 2015

Daily Mail (2014, Mar 17) “Chinese woman appears to post her suicide on Instagram | Daily Mail Online”, accessed electronically from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2582395/Did-hundreds-people-ignore-girls-cry-help-Chinese-woman-appears-post-suicide-Instagram.html on February 3, 2015

NY Daily News (2013, Oct 17) “Texas teen posted Facebook warning before school suicide”, accessed electronically from “http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/texas-teen-posted-facebook-warning-school-suicide-article-1.1488343” on February 3, 2015

Olson, R., (2014) “Suicide threats on social networking sites”. Suicide Prevention Resource Centre. Accessed electronically from http://www.sprc.org/library_resources/items/suicide-threats-social-networking-sites on February 3, 2015.

WLOS. (2014. Dec 22) “Bullying Led To E. Henderson Student’s Suicide, Says Family”, accessed electronically from “http://www.wlos.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/bullying-led-e-henderson-students-suicide-says-family-18998.shtml#.VNEA6J3F-Ck” on February 3, 2015



Cite this article as: MacDonald, D.K., (2015), "How to Respond to Suicide Threats on Social Media," retrieved on September 23, 2023 from https://dustinkmacdonald.com/how-to-respond-to-suicide-threats-on-social-media/.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Privacy Policy

See here for our privacy policy. This site uses affiliate links and Adsense ads to provide targeted advertising.

Tags

analytical technique assessment city council communication community development counselling crisis chat crisis intervention data science eastern university economic development education empathy evaluation forecasting fundraising governance humint intelligence intelligence analysis keokuk county language learning legal local government management peer support personal development politics professional development protective factors psychosocial risk factors safety planning salesforce sigourney social media statistics suicide suicide assessment suicide risk assessment technology terrorism training violence risk assessment youth

Recommended Posts

  • Conducting Psychosocial Assessments
  • DCIB Model of Suicide Risk Assessment
  • ABC Model of Crisis Intervention
  • My Friend is Suicidal - What do I do?

Recent Posts

  • Salesforce formula that calculates age
  • Earning the Project Management Professional (PMP)
  • ITS831 Information Technology Importance in Strategic Planning
  • How I Got a Book Contract
  • University of the Cumberlands PhD in Information Technology

Archives

  • September 2023 (1)
  • August 2023 (1)
  • July 2023 (1)
  • May 2023 (1)
  • March 2023 (1)
  • February 2023 (2)
  • January 2023 (4)
  • December 2022 (2)
  • May 2022 (1)
  • April 2022 (2)
  • March 2022 (1)
  • February 2022 (1)
  • December 2021 (1)
  • October 2021 (1)
  • August 2021 (2)
  • May 2021 (3)
  • December 2020 (1)
  • November 2020 (4)
  • July 2020 (1)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • April 2020 (1)
  • March 2020 (4)
  • February 2020 (7)
  • January 2020 (1)
  • November 2019 (1)
  • October 2019 (2)
  • September 2019 (4)
  • August 2019 (2)
  • March 2019 (1)
  • February 2019 (1)
  • January 2019 (1)
  • December 2018 (4)
  • November 2018 (3)
  • October 2018 (3)
  • September 2018 (19)
  • October 2017 (2)
  • September 2017 (2)
  • August 2017 (1)
  • July 2017 (39)
  • May 2017 (3)
  • April 2017 (4)
  • March 2017 (4)
  • February 2017 (4)
  • January 2017 (5)
  • December 2016 (4)
  • November 2016 (4)
  • October 2016 (5)
  • September 2016 (4)
  • August 2016 (5)
  • July 2016 (5)
  • June 2016 (5)
  • May 2016 (3)
  • April 2016 (2)
  • March 2016 (2)
  • February 2016 (2)
  • January 2016 (4)
  • December 2015 (2)
  • November 2015 (2)
  • October 2015 (2)
  • September 2015 (2)
  • August 2015 (1)
  • June 2015 (2)
  • May 2015 (5)
  • April 2015 (3)
  • March 2015 (8)
  • February 2015 (12)
  • January 2015 (28)

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Recent Comments

  • Earning the Project Management Professional (PMP) - Dustin K MacDonald on University of the Cumberlands PhD in Information Technology
  • Dustin on How I Got a Book Contract
  • Ananth on How I Got a Book Contract
  • Aly on Improving Your Helpline Work
  • Dustin on REVIEW: Eastern University Master of Science in Data Science 2021

Tags

analytical technique assessment city council communication community development counselling crisis chat crisis intervention data science eastern university economic development education empathy evaluation forecasting fundraising governance humint intelligence intelligence analysis keokuk county language learning legal local government management peer support personal development politics professional development protective factors psychosocial risk factors safety planning salesforce sigourney social media statistics suicide suicide assessment suicide risk assessment technology terrorism training violence risk assessment youth
© 2023 Dustin K MacDonald | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme