Is there a policy anywhere for what to do when members post about suicide attempts? We have a member who says his wife is assisting his attempt to kill himself. You can imagine how disturbing this is. We're grappling with the issue now. I can't believe we're the first forum to experience this. Any advice appreciated!

Wow - I'm sorry to hear that...

The only time I've ever heard of something similar happening (it was actually a member in trouble and their only way of communicating to the outside world was through the internet), a buddy of his on the board was able to give emergency services his address... If you have his address, or know his hometown and full name, perhaps you can contact local police and see if they can dispatch?

If you have access to an IP address for the poster, it is something that can be used to track them down to get this guy help.

You can call the state police in the state that he lives, provide them with the IP address (and do an IP look up so you also know who their provider is so they can waste less time trying to find out who to call) and that's about all you can do.

Unfortunately, I've dealt with this a few times and this is the quickest way to get them help. They might hate you for it, but at least they'll be alive.

Nor

Good luck

I tracked one member down via ip address, or at least tried to, searching most all night, calling police departments in colorado and tennessee. The ip address could be a block from most anywhere.

The kid's 'mother' came online a couple days later to say he had committed suicide.

The kid himself posted again a couple years later with a 'hey guys, what's up?' kinda post. I responded with a 'glad to see you are feeling better' with a link to his former post. Some kid just wanting attention.

It's nearly impossible, unless you know the person personally, to track/ verify suicide attempts.

I have a 'cutter' who was posting graphic pictures on the board.
I moved the pictures and called the police/ambulance and they got to her.

She emailed and now she is cyber-stalking me, and now another moderator banned her, and now she wants her membership fee back and I don't have the ability to do this.
What would you do in this case?
She obviously violated Groupee's TOS, with the violence of the pics of the knife, and the scans of her forearms, wrist and blood dripping down and the threats to commit suicide.