Trauma often leads to suicidal feelings. So ways of preventing suicide may also provide a first step towards therapy and trauma healing for desperate individuals.
30 million people in the UK, that’s half the population, are now registered with Facebook. And people often share intimate things on Facebook that they are unwilling or unable to share directly with friends and family. Last Christmas a British woman told over 1,000 Facebook friends that she had taken an overdose. But no-one raised the alarm until the next day.
Now, Facebook and the UK charity Samaritans have joined forces to prevent similar tragedies in future. For many years, Samaritans have provided confidential non-judgemental emotional support for those in distress or despair, including those contemplating suicide. This new initiative enables Facebook users to report concerns about their friends’ status updates and wall posts to the Facebook Help Centre, who will put Samaritans counsellors in touch with the distressed person. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to work out how to do this. If you know, perhaps you could leave a comment here.
This link-up shows the potential power for good of social networks. Let’s hope Facebook expands this initiative to other countries.
Thanks to the Guardian newspaper for this story.
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