FL teen commits suicide in front of webcam

[LttleMsPrEp]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081121/...RYRKb0B2fLLJ94


Apparently a Florida teen commits suicide on a webcam while some viewers egged him on, some doubted his method, and others tried to talk him out of it.

Abraham Biggs, 19, of Pembroke Pines, died Wednesday at his home from a toxic combination of opiates and benzodiazepine, a drug used to treat insomnia and depression, said Wendy Crane, an investigator with the Broward County medical examiner's office.

The blogger, Abraham Biggs started blogging on the site about his plans to kill himself about 12 hours before he was found lying dead on his bed. Someone finally notified a site moderator, who pinpointed Biggs' location and called police, but they arrived too late to save him, Crane said.

Some users who read the blog told investigators they did not take him seriously because he had threatened suicide on the site before.
But Biggs' family was infuriated that neither viewers nor the site acted sooner to save him.

"When (police) came in, the webfeed stopped. So that's 12 hours of watching," said his sister, Rosalind Biggs, who said her brother struggled with bipolar disorder. "They got hits, they got viewers, nothing happened for hours."

[Langox510x]

Thats pretty crazy. Curious as to if any blame will be placed on those who egged him on.

[UGAalum94]

He sounded pretty bad off as far as his comments before the suicide. The "online community" who made comments may be blamed, but what about the people who saw this dude is real life; how could they miss that he was this far gone?

[sugar and spice]

Some people reach out for help online because they are unable to do it in real life. Someone could look totally put-together in real life even while planning their suicide, so you can't assume that people in his real life knew what was going on. Even if they had, there's only so much they can do. The police and mental health care professionals aren't allowed to forcibly intervene unless the person is demonstrably at risk of harming himself or others. Even then, all they can do is commit him for a few days, which is hardly a long-term solution. Therapy and medication can help, but they aren't available to everyone, it takes time for figure out the exact combination that'll make a difference and even more time for them to kick in, and they don't work for everybody. There's only so much you can do for someone even if they're willing to admit they're suicidal--which they don't usually do until it's verging on too late to help them. This doesn't mean that I think you shouldn't try, but you also can't blame yourself if it doesn't work.

That said, I don't think that you can blame the people who were egging him on, either. Although it's disturbing, my guess is that the majority of them thought they were watching some elaborate staged prank--fake suicides on the internet outnumber the real ones 10,000 to 1. The internet has taught most people to be skeptical of what they're seeing or hearing, because it's so easy to fake things. At the same time, I get scared because I feel like the internet makes it so easy to dehumanize people, to harass or provoke them in ways where you don't have to watch them get hurt afterward. Cases like this don't scare me nearly as much as the ones where, for example, 4chan decided to make harassing phone calls to the parents of a teenager who killed himself, so much so that they had to change their phone number. At least in the case mentioned above, people have the excuse that they didn't necessarily think it was real. In the 4chan case, they knew it was real, that they were hurting real people who were grieving, and they didn't care. Those are the kind of cases that scare me.

[AKA_Monet]

^^^I think mental health professionals can commit someone longer than a 72 hour hold. It does take wrangling, but it is my understanding there are the 2 week programs to rehabilitate and stabilize the patient... All meds will attempted with a series of psych, laboratory and blood tests, daily.

I don't know why this young man felt that is necessary to post on a webcam his impending suicide. And why others felt necessary to goad this poor individual on. But, there are telltale signs when someone is having an online mental health problem.

I have created a place where folks who desire it can discuss all sorts of mental health issues. If interested, please PM me.

[Army Wife'79]

Or did he just want his 15 minutes (which turned out to be 12 hrs) of fame?

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by Army Wife'79

Or did he just want his 15 minutes (which turned out to be 12 hrs) of fame?

That's the think about emotional or mentally disturbed teens. It's hard to know if something is primarily attention seeking or really a reflection of suicidal action.

I think in real life, one always treats the behavior as sincerely suicidal, but what obligation or opportunity does an online viewer have?

[DaemonSeid]

so, if his family is angry...where were they?

[AKA_Monet]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

so, if his family is angry...where were they?

Unfortunately, they were clueless about his deep-seated feelings... There was no one to probe his thinking...

[preciousjeni]

"This is very, very sudden and unexpected for us," the sister said. "It boggles the mind. We don't understand."

Riiiiiight...

I find it kinda messed up that the article author said "As police entered the room, the audience's reaction was filled with Internet shorthand: 'OMFG,' one wrote, meaning 'Oh, my God.'" Let's hope we don't have a bunch of computer illiterate people running around talking about OMFG and thinking they're only saying oh my god.

[AKA_Monet]

Originally Posted by preciousjeni

Riiiiiight...

I find it kinda messed up that the article author said "As police entered the room, the audience's reaction was filled with Internet shorthand: 'OMFG,' one wrote, meaning 'Oh, my God.'" Let's hope we don't have a bunch of computer illiterate people running around talking about OMFG and thinking they're only saying oh my god.

Having an online video streaming of a suicide is kinna like a snuff film? Just asking, 'cuz I don't know--meaning, I need the GC lawyers to let me know.

Because watching a snuff film--isn't that illegal?

ETA: Answered my own question... This was a suicide not a murder and people watched it and no one who watched it felt compelled to stop it, if there was a way. But it is not a "snuff film" based on the current definition. But it could easily be classified as one along with the language we find in kiddie porn and abuse...

[Kevlar281]

For those wondering about the website. It has a ridiculous amount of users who primarily post in the miscellaneous section. Mostly /b/ channel users that don't even have an interest in bodybuilding. Throw in a bunch of high school jocks and you get one crazy mix.

[AKA_Monet]

CNN's take on the whole thing...

Has Web 2.0 brought us to this kind of dispassionate distance?

To add: this young man had attempted suicide several times before... For those members who posted to him take more pills may seem culpable in the process.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by AKA_Monet

^^^I think mental health professionals can commit someone longer than a 72 hour hold. It does take wrangling, but it is my understanding there are the 2 week programs to rehabilitate and stabilize the patient... All meds will attempted with a series of psych, laboratory and blood tests, daily.

hijack

At the place I work, the police may bring someone to us to be detained. Within 72 hours, they must be given a hearing with a judge and court staff where their mental status and actions over the last 72 hours will be examined. Then, one of 4 things will happen: the person is found competent and released (RARE), they are found unfit for our facility and sent somewhere else, they are offered the option to enter treatment with us voluntarily and (if they don't take this option), they are involuntarily committed. That last one is the one that happens most often and can last until their attending psychiatrist says they are fit to live on their own or the social worker can find them placement in some other facility (anywhere from days to months). While they are with us, they do undergo lab/blood tests and administered medications. They have the right to refuse both but, if their behavior makes them a danger to themselves or others, we can get a court order for administering medications by force. It sounds horrible, but we only do that when there is just no other way.
/hijack

I saw this on Yahoo! News and it just made me so sad. There's nothing to be done legally about the people who egged him on, but the family...IDK, I'm not sure if the article said he was noncompliant with his meds and if he was, how would they know? There are a million reasons why he could've chosen to die in this way and probably just as many ways it could've been prevented. *sigh*

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by AKA_Monet

Unfortunately, they were clueless about his deep-seated feelings... There was no one to probe his thinking...

Not to you dear...but to the parents....that's bullsh*t.