, , , , , , , , , , ,

I follow a lot of blogs. I follow some cooking blogs, travel blogs, fashion blogs, comic blogs, sarcastic blogs, and hundreds of mental health blogs.

Because I follow many mental health blogs I often read about people’s suicidal thoughts or ideation, and occasionally I read a post by someone who is clearly in a psychiatric crisis (probably psychotic).

I do not know what to do when I read these types of posts. If someone says they wish they were dead, or they are having a hard time not hurting themselves, what is the best way to respond? If someone clearly needs to get to a doctor (psychosis) what can we do?

These types of posts alarm me. I would hate to be the kind of person who says someone is just looking for attention and then have that person follow through on their feelings.

As fellow bloggers what can we do if someone is in trouble? Is there a way to contact WordPress? Would WordPress be able to do anything?

The anonymity of the Internet is great until there is a crisis and you have no idea who the person is typing out a help signal.

With the rate of suicide in this country, a cry for help isn’t something I want to ignore, and neither is someone who has become actively psychotic and may be at risk to themselves or others.

I feel like there are many cries that go out into the blogosphere unanswered; I wish there were a way to answer those calls in a helpful way.

If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comment section. This situation has me concerned and stumped.

Have you seen these types of posts? What do you do?