Hello,

The contemplation of taking ones life seems to be on the increase again.

For some members this is a particularly distressing subject as they have had suicide impact upon their lives in an immediate and intimate manner causing acute and in some cases chronic distress.

I also note that we have some very well meaning members who rally to such threads with words of comfort and encouragement that there is always another way.

However We are not entirely sure who is experienced or qualified to provide counseling in this regard.

While we accept that in many cases the membership are normally on hand to rush in with words of comfort we in staff remain of the view that we are not experienced or qualified professionally to deal with such issues and that there are many agencies out there who do offer professionally trained assistance in this regard.

To this end after much consideration the introduction of a new rule is thought necessary.

Suicide Posts: Here at Spiritual Forums we are not qualified to provide counseling to people who are contemplating taking their own lives. There are however many local agencies that provide professional counseling to those who have suicidal thoughts, such as http://www.befrienders.org/support/helplines.asp and http://www.suicidehotlines.com/national.html for example. With this in mind, all posts and threads pertaining to suicide will be removed from the forums as they are potentially distressing to other members (especially those who's lives have been affected by suicide).



Neville