Hi, Nice To Meet You. Did You Bring the Rope?
This is the most chilling story I think I've seen recently:
Three people were found dead in an apartment in western Japan in what appeared to be the latest in a series of group suicides linked to the Internet, police said Sunday.
More than a dozen people have died so far this year in group suicides in which participants are believed not to have known each other before meeting online.
I don't know whether to be more horrified or saddened. Even when depressed or desperate enough to consider suicide, people don't want to die alone, it seems. The article goes on to blame the extended downturn in Japan's economy... but to me it seems this could happen anywhere. The Internet can connect people, but it can also be a powerful enabler for
folies a deux like a death wish. Why go to the trouble of seeing a doctor, taking meds, and working to get well when you can find a buddy to off yourself with?
(via
Little.Yellow.Different, which supplied the original info about this phenomenon)
posted by Dr. Alice at #
