PSA: Do not threaten suicide to Blizzard customer support

News Reader · Post by **News Reader** » January 1st, 2009, 8:00

PSA: Do not threaten suicide to Blizzard customer support
Filed under: PC, RPGs, MMO

A 17-year-old Ohio gamer was arrested Monday after he allegedly threatened to commit suicide to a Blizzard customer service rep, presumably over World of Warcraft. The rep called 911 and the boy was charged with a first-degree misdemeanor. The police report says the juvenile's excuse was that it was a joke to get "what he wanted" in the game. He'll appear in court Jan. 6.

Although some might find Blizzard's response in calling 911 a bit extreme, just imagine the mess that would have resulted had the kid gone through with it. Regardless, we've learned that telling your MMO's customer support rep about your impending suicide is a bad idea (much like suicide, kids!). They have your account information and know where you live.

[Via GamePolitics]

PSA: Do not threaten suicide to Blizzard customer support originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

Author: Alexander Sliwinski
Category: blizzardcustomer-servicecustomer-supportsuicideworld-of-warcraft
Publish Date: Wed, 31 Dec 2008 18:25:00 EST
Read more...

Source: Joystiq
Description: Joystiq

Post by **Roman Totale** » January 1st, 2009, 11:36

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » January 1st, 2009, 11:56

Post by **Dog Pants** » January 1st, 2009, 12:08

Good call Blizzard, can't risk losing that paying customer. Even if he is a tard.

Post by **HereComesPete** » January 2nd, 2009, 0:33

Have you read the comments after the jump?

One of the posters thinks arresting people with depression is a good idea. The says if they threaten suicide they should be locked up so they can't do it. What an amazing amount of compassion that particular shit for brains possesses.

I took two days off a fortnight ago because I couldn't face work. My boss is apparently a doctor because he told me I wasn't really ill so he was putting me down for paid holiday on those particular days. There was me thinking depression was an illness.

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » January 2nd, 2009, 0:35

HereComesPete wrote:Have you read the comments after the jump?

One of the posters thinks arresting people with depression is a good idea. The says if they threaten suicide they should be locked up so they can't do it. What an amazing amount of compassion that particular shit for brains possesses.

I took two days off a fortnight ago because I couldn't face work. My boss is apparently a doctor because he told me I wasn't really ill so he was putting me down for paid holiday on those particular days. There was me thinking depression was an illness.

Wankers.

spoodie · Post by **spoodie** » January 2nd, 2009, 2:36

HereComesPete wrote:I took two days off a fortnight ago because I couldn't face work.

Surely that's not uncommon. I know it's not with me, but is it an illness? I don't really get this depression thing. Maybe I just don't feel it strongly enough. Have you tried pulling yourself together and maintaining a stiff upper lip? Or alcohol and substance abuse?

Post by **ProfHawking** » January 2nd, 2009, 3:27

waht spoodie saids.

If a company lets one person take a few days off because they don't feel like working then what stops everyone doing it?

Also, fraid to say Pete that if things are that bad then i'm sorry to hear it, but surely sitting at home moping around is probably worse than keeping busy at work? Personally I'd try to just get on with things to keep myself occupied and therefore not get too bogged down by it all.

On the subject of suicide, up until recently i think they did lock them up. It was illegal to kill yourself, so anyone that tried was breaking the law.
I don't want to get properly involved either way, but if people have to kill themselves, please stay away from trains, motorways, etc because that just causes hassle for everyone else, and overdoses etc waste hospital time and nobody wants a slow painful death surely. Best to just go jump off an empty cliff or something i'd say.

Post by **HereComesPete** » January 2nd, 2009, 3:43

None of that works. I don't want to have a go spoodie, but 'pulling myself together...' etc is something I get a lot, and I find it a bit insulting. Granted you said you don't really get it, I'm not sure whether you mean understanding it or actually suffering from it, have you read about it? I find a lot of people just assume I'm soft and lazy and that I should just 'man the fuck up' and a lot of the time I wish I was just soft and lazy and that I could snap put of it. Unfortunately that isn't the case.

Alcohol and drugs (except the proper prescribed ones) generally make it better for a bit, but reinforce the negative aspects and just make it worse. That doesn't stop me from getting messed up though.

It is an illness, and if it gets bad enough I can find myself with no appetite and find myself deliriously happy one minute then crying the next for no apparent reason. I suffer from bouts of insomnia and hypersomnia, and I have vivid dreams containing constant imagery of death, suicide and violence. If I don't go to the doctor as soon as I start feeling like I do, then it just gets worse. When it gets very bad I hallucinate the same stuff I see in my dreams and I'm physically sick.

There's more about it here.

Prof - surely instead of letting people kill themselves they should be helped? Instead of locking them up surely they should be treated for their problem?

And as for sitting around moping instead of working, some days I can't move because I find myself too physically weak to do so or the very thought of interacting with other people makes me sick with panic.

You apply rational thought to an illness that removes rational thought, if the feelings of guilt and despair get to the point where someone wants to end it, they aren't going to think of the pain of a pill suicide, or how they've inconvenienced others.

Fear · Post by **Fear** » January 2nd, 2009, 4:29

From a police point of view:

If someone is believed to be suicidal they will have their door kicked down and be arrested under section 136 of the mental health act. It happens a lot more than you'd think. Especially this time of year. Once they've been arrested they are put in a cell under constant watch (a copper starring at them constantly through the cell door) until a doctor arrives and either tells us to release them because he believes there is a low risk, or they get help and/or sectioned.

Not sure what else you can do for them. The police perspective is all about covering your ass. Same with missing persons. It's a shame that's what it ends up being about, but then the state can't do everything I guess.

Post by **Dog Pants** » January 2nd, 2009, 9:58

I'm sort of like Spoodie in that I don't understand depression. No matter how shit I feel I can always drag my sorry arse wherever it needs to be, and that's been some pretty shite places. However, I've never been depressed. I've seen the effects of it in others, particularly Mrs Pants, and while it's difficult for me to understand having never suffered from it I can certainly sympathise.

Unfortunately for your employers, Pete, they've only your word to take that you suffer from it (unless you had a doctor's note, in which case I think they're breaking the law as well as being cunts).

Work knobbery aside, you've always got access to an electronic resource of bumhugs and horses in us.

Post by **Joose** » January 2nd, 2009, 10:09

The trouble with depression is a lot of people (particularly those who haven't had it, and I would count myself in that until reasonably recently) don't really understand the difference between depression and *clinical* depression. One is just feeling a bit down, which nearly everyone gets from time to time and can indeed to fixed by "pulling yourself together". The other is an actual medical thing, and which really requires the help of trained medical professionals. Its not just being glum and feeble-minded, its fucking horrible.

Unfortunately, a lot of people claim to have the latter when they really just have the former and are being a bit pathetic. This does make it tricky for employers, as acknowledging it on just the employees word does invite other people (who don't have it) to say "oooh, im feeling a bit sad, I need some time off work".

If you have proper depression though, and have actually been diagnosed as such by the doctors, they should be willing to give you a letter saying such, which you can then beat your boss around the head with. Course, some doctors can be annoyingly sceptical about it too...

EDIT: heh, didn't fully read what DP said before I posted that. But yes, when I say "beat around the head" I do mean that they are breaking the law. I think.

spoodie · Post by **spoodie** » January 2nd, 2009, 11:38

HereComesPete wrote:I don't want to have a go spoodie, but 'pulling myself together...' etc is something I get a lot, and I find it a bit insulting.

To clarify: My post was mostly a joke and possibly insensitive, sorry. And of course I wouldn't encourage alcohol and drug abuse to resolve mental problems. I thought that would make it obvious I was joking.

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » January 2nd, 2009, 11:48

spoodie wrote:I wouldn't encourage alcohol and drug abuse to resolve mental problems.

I would

mrbobbins · Post by **mrbobbins** » January 2nd, 2009, 12:50

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:I would

Paging Doctor Berk, paging Doctor Berk.

"I've broken my ankle"
Drink through it

"My arm's come off"
Drink through it

"I'm having a heart attack"
Have a sit down and a cup of tea.
Then drink through it.

Hehulk · Post by **Hehulk** » January 2nd, 2009, 14:49

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:I would

That does explain alot...

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » January 2nd, 2009, 15:37

mrbobbins wrote:

Paging Doctor Berk, paging Doctor Berk.

"I've broken my ankle"
Drink through it

"My arm's come off"
Drink through it

"I'm having a heart attack"
Have a sit down and a cup of tea.
Then drink through it.

Close, but no.

I don't recommend tea. ever.

buzzmong · Post by **buzzmong** » January 2nd, 2009, 15:54

No Tea? HEATHEN!

Shun him!

Shuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » January 2nd, 2009, 15:56

buzzmong wrote:No Tea? HEATHEN!

Shun him!

Shuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!

Not had a sense of smell in years, just tastes like hot, dry water to me.

Post by **Roman Totale** » January 2nd, 2009, 20:26

buzzmong wrote:No Tea? HEATHEN!

Shun him!

Shuuuuuuuuuuuuuun!

Generally speaking I do think that depression is probably over diagnosed. Everybody gets a bit down, but some people take the piss by claiming it's a medical thing.

Unless you've had depression proper, or known someone with it, you cannot comprehend the vast difference between 'feeling a bit down' and depression (alas the term itself is also over used). I have never broken a bone in my body, so it would be a bit like me standing over someone who's just snapped their lag in half saying "it can't hurt that much".

Beginning of October I had somewhat of a massive mental hammering. I was told I had depression when I was 19, but I never did anything about it because I could always see myself through it (hence my reasoning that it's over diagnosed). When it hit this time I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, would spend hours sat on my bed looking at the floor or wall, no enjoyment from reading, gaming or tv, constant bleak and dark thoughts, and an all pervading sense of futility. Really, it isn't something that you can just snap out of.

Amusingly, it was only once I started on the anti-depressants that I had to take time off work (not to say I should have been in work in the first place as my work was suffering badly). For 3 weeks it was fucking horrible - I've never felt anything like it and I don't wish to again. The initial side effects were brutal and some are still present now (mainly because they've upped the dosage each time I've been since October). They're not a quick fix either, you have to stay the course for 6 months once you're on the correct levels.

So I understand that people have a certain view of depression - it is certainly one of the most over used words by moping teenagers to describe the sulk they're in, but if someone genuinely has it it is fucking horrible. Pete isn't a stroppy teenager or an attention seeker, so I've no doubt what he's going through is atrocious. General rule of thumb is that if someone goes on about being depressed all the time, they haven't got it - I refer to a comment I made previously about these nauseating people who talk about it all the time like it's their fucking hobby or something.

Hope everything gets better, Pete - if you need owt, give us a shout.