Craigslist intervenes to help suicidal man
MINNEAPOLIS - Administrators for the online classified ad service Craigslist contacted police Tuesday after they saw a disturbing post on the site that indicated a young man wanted to end his own life, reports CBS Minnesota.
The post was accompanied by a picture showing a man - apparently from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area - holding what looked like a noose. The words that accompanied the image reportedly made it clear the man was contemplating suicide.
A Craigslist employee contacted police, who were able to track the IP address and locate the residence from where the post originated, according to the station.
Authorities responded to the home, where they came in contact with a young man who reportedly acknowledged he needed help but didn't know where to turn, so he went online.
Maplewood, Minn. police say the young man admitted he had used neckties to try to kill himself, and when it didn't work he put a post on Craigslist hoping someone would try to help him, reports the station.
The man agreed to go with the officer to Regions Hospital for evaluation.
Dr. Dan Reidenberg, executive director of SAVE, a suicide prevention and education agency, has reportedly worked with executives from Facebook, Twitter, Google, YouTube and others in an effort to develop ways to monitor websites for suicidal thoughts and then create ways to help.
"In this particular case we have a success," Reidenberg told CBS Minnesota. "We have intervention that helped, and today somebody is alive because technology created the opportunity for a life-saving intervention."
He continued, "I know some people worry about the invasion of privacy, but that isn't what these companies are trying to do. What they're really trying to do is create opportunities for people to connect and to share things."
Reidenberg was part of a team that developed Facebook's new interactive safety tools which allow a user to flag a suicidal post. The person who created the suicidal post will then have their page locked by the website.
"It will lock your site and it will say, 'So and so is really worried about you. Is there something we can do to help you? Would you like to talk to a friend? Would you like to talk to the Life Line? Would you like some tips on how to deal with this stress?,'" Reidenberg explained. "So as soon as you click on that, then you'll be able to re-engage with your Facebook platform."
He says the point is to let the person know that someone is worried about them.
Reidenberg also says that many people are clearly more comfortable revealing some of their most intimate thoughts on social media than they are in person, even when they're sharing pain.