Rather than giving resources and helping their users to heal, some websites actually encourage self-harm and suicide. These websites are not even underground or hidden. Looking at the first ten results at a number of search engines, researchers found that 30% of the content of these web pages either encouraged or at least did not reject suicide as a viable option. 11% were quite obviously pro-suicide. Youth are especially vulnerable to pro-suicide websites. While in the general population, suicide-related web searches coincided with a drop in suicide rates (presumably due to people finding help), in youth 15-25 years old, suicide-related web searches were positively correlated with self-harming and suicidal behavior. (Durkee et al., 2011)
These websites encourage suicide as an act of rebellion against society and are a useful means of coping with life. People who succeed are celebrated or treated as heroes. The sites detail methods of how to kill one’s self. Some users even create suicide pacts, in which they will
gather and all commit suicide together. Such pacts resulted in 91 deaths in Japan in 2005 alone. (Lester, 2009) To already vulnerable youth who are often isolated due to the depression that often precludes suicide; these communities can be seen as a blessing. However, they encourage destructive behavior and pressure people into killing themselves. (Durkee et al., 2011)
