Right, but you can get sued for misuse of private information if she lives.
I know that sounds flippant, but what I mean is that we should be encouraging and offer reasons for hope, and suggest where she can go for more. But I don’t think the AF board should be known as “the people that will report you to third parties if they’re concerned about something.”
Suicide is right there on the line. I guess if we had a reason to expect imminent terrorism or mass murder by an AF member, then yeah, it would make sense to report that if there was a realistic chance of avoiding it. I hope and expect that we never have to make that decision.
Suicide is probably an issue that will come up here from time to time, as the financial field has an above-average suicide rate, and people often think that if they aren’t making millions, they are worthless as human beings, and there are plenty of AF posters that will be happy to tell them that. It’s worth coming to a consensus about what the right approach is.
I’m not sure that reporting without consent is the right approach here, and Chad is the only one who can conceivably do it anyway. Encouragement, yes. Offers of help, yes. Taking time to talk to the person and suggesting other options (including contacting hotlines), yes.
Taking someone’s email that was provided in confidence and reporting it to an authority without their consent. Something that in some contexts could get someone fired, or make them unhireable, depending on exactly how it’s done… much harder to say.
As caring individuals, maybe we can do this, but AF is filled with caring individuals, yes? As the management of an online forum, that’s a different story.
i’m confused by what providing an email to a suicide hotline or the authorities would acheive. would a suicide hotline knock down her door and take her to happy land or a place where she can’t harm herself? reporting someone without their consent would likely acheive nothing and could actually make her feel more alienated and down. i think offering support is all we can do. there’s something powerful about an anonymous group of people who show they care without any previous attachment or real obligation to do so.
The local authorities would go to her house to be sure she’s safe, and contact her family and let them know she’s suicidal. Then, at least, her family/friends would know there’s a problem (if they don’t already) and provide the necessary support moving forward.
Sounds like this is working out well though. It’s nice that there were people here that care and are willing to take the time to help her out.
Yes, that was my mistake. I only posted that because I thought Numi had already said so here. In fact, he said so in a message amongs boardmembers, and Itera said something here that sounded similar (but upon rereading, Itera’s comment was more vauge than that). It was my mix-up.
So yes, I probably shouldn’t have mentioned that Numi met up, but at the time, I thought it was already confirmed in the thread. I don’t think it’s a slip that has big consequences for anyone, and I hope Numi doesn’t mind too much. Mostly just shows that Numi is a good, stand-up man.