I agree that if that is his only arguments, that's really thin, because you don't take anti-depressants just for fun.

Let me start by saying that I am in no way trying to be callous to the people whose lives have been affected by suicide.

That being said, I believe that it is completely irresponsible and a disservice to society to keep presenting these stories as if "cyber-bullying" was the the cause of someone's suicide. The real issue is depression, because I don't believe that any amount of bullying could possibly convince a perfectly well-adjusted and psychologically sound person to kill themselves. Obviously, in cases like this it doesn't help the situation but we need only to look at this girls actions leading up to her suicide to see that she clearly had problems beyond cyber-bullying.

As long as the media keeps presenting stories in this light and we keep believing them, it only distracts us from the real issue: depression is a pervasive and potentially life-threatening aspect of society that is not adequately being addressed.

very well put and yes the media is very maniputive and thrives because people believe what they read in the papers and hear and see on the radio and t v. humans are very gullible and stupid and not as good as they think they are.

That being said, I believe that it is completely irresponsible and a disservice to society to keep presenting these stories as if "cyber-bullying" was the the cause of someone's suicide. The real issue is depression, because I don't believe that any amount of bullying could possibly convince a perfectly well-adjusted and psychologically sound person to kill themselves. Obviously, in cases like this it doesn't help the situation but we need only to look at this girls actions leading up to her suicide to see that she clearly had problems beyond cyber-bullying.

As long as the media keeps presenting stories in this light and we keep believing them, it only distracts us from the real issue: depression is a pervasive and potentially life-threatening aspect of society that is not adequately being addressed.

I understand where you are coming from, but going back a couple years I did feel like I didn't want to live - but I never acted on them feelings. But nor did I say in my original post it's a "cool" thing to do, I was simply stating that the way the media sugarcoats suicide more young people who don't know the full effects of committing suicide is and with the way the media say this person was great and such but committed suicide, a younger person may look at it and think;

"My life is not worth living, and it seems like a good option"

Something across those lines anyway, because of the media. But my other point was, Amanda made her own problems and then couldn't sort them out. It sounds harsh, but it's just my view on the matter. But I understand what you are saying.

fair enough. i do see what you are saying up to a point and i would certainly agree the media do play things up and manipulate people. as i said you are entitiled to your opinion, and you were not offensive  where some could and proberly would have been so all's good.

It's all good, Wolfie.  I'm aware this particular subject is one of the very, very few you and I disagree on.  I don't take it personally; I hope you don't either.  You know I'm a fan of The Dave.

then all is well my friend !    let's drink up. belch loudly and let out a hearty "BOLLOCKS" !

One of my best friends, who joined the service with me, hung himself in basic training.  Our DI's found him less than a week into basic, having hung himself with some commo wire from a chin-up bar.   Why?  Because he couldn't tough it out for thirteen weeks.  He could have done any number of things to get himself discharged.  Copped a psych plea, protested as a conscientious objector, etc.  But no.  He killed himself.  Because he didn't have the strength to even just scrape by for three months.  It was a stupid, selfish decision, which left me, as one of his best friends, and his entire family -- including a fiancee -- devastated, and with a bunch of questions that will never be answered.

I've had a number of family and friends commit suicide, and so I can say with complete authority that suicide is NEVER the answer.  It's a selfish, cowardly thing to do.  People who do so rarely take into consideration how their death is going to impact their friends and family, most often leaving those they left behind wondering for the rest of their lives, "Was it me?"  or "Was there something I could have done?"

Things can always get better, if you want them to, if you work for it.  And in my experience, both in my personal life and my professional life as a counselor, people who kill themselves simply don't have the strength or courage to tough things out or even put forth the effort to make things better.  I have zero sympathy for a person who does so, but all the feelings in the world for the folks they callously leave behind.  That may seem harsh, but that's the stand my experience has delivered me to.

That said, I feel bad that the girl in question was bullied to the point where she took her own life.  But on the same token, she made consciously bad decisions which led to her being bullied.  Were her choices so bad as to warrant her death?  No.  She didn't kill anyone, she didn't injur anyone.  She just fucked some guy and flashed her boobs.  At worse, she deserves to be called a slut.  She definitely didn't deserve to die, by her own hand or otherwise.

Lon , i've said many times in the past and i hope you know that i respect you and i do understand what you're saying about the friends and family that are left behind, but the point is when it gets really bad you don't think about those things, you just want to die. if you think that's selfish and cowardly that's your opinion but i've been there seriously twice, and  i know that makes me a double coward and failure because i'm still here and i have known at least three people who have committed suicide. one  was a close friend that still haunts  me at times  because i saw him hours before he did it but i didn't suspect a thing.
i can talk about the way i feel and have felt  more now as i was told not to keep it all inside but to be honest i didn't feel much better when i let it all out. we all have our demons and shit i have mine and still do . the honest truth is i've tried to end it all three times, twice in my twenties ( only one of which was serious i must admit) and once when i was 50, three years ago, where i had all sorts of repercussions and was treated like a criminal , because i tried it at work, i took an overdose. my bag. yeah the truth is i've failed twice and i don't think there will be a third time . i won't go on , this  Amanda Todd case i don't really know the facts, i know she did some " Silly things" but that may have been because of her state of mind or just her youth.   i just can't feel angry at someone who has commited suicide, i'm sorry. i certainly disagree with you on this but we can  agree to disagree.