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Macabre websites put our sons in danger
Vulnerable men tried suicide after logging on
Paul Whitehouse
NEW details have emerged of the threat to a vulnerable section of society from
internet websites that glamorise suicide and peddle details of effective techniques.
The Yorkshire Post has learned that two young schizophrenia patients from this region are among those who have attempted suicide after using computers to seek out such material.
Schizophrenia patients are regarded as particularly vulnerable to suicide, making access to the websites especially dangerous to them.
Both the men, from Doncaster and the Humber region, survived and are now receiving treatment to help them rebuild their lives.
But the development has led to calls for more urgent action from Liz Taylor, who launched a campaign to have those websites outlawed in this country following the death of her daughter Carina Stephenson last year at the age of 17.
Although her demands that access to those sites should be legally restricted in this country, she is disappointed with the rate of progress from the Government.
"The matter has been raised at high levels and everyone seems to be in agreement that something should be done," she said. "The trouble is that nothing is happening to make the change."
Her daughter took her own life after leaving the family's home in the Doncaster village of Branton last spring and it was only after her death that relatives discoveredshehad been using a computer bought originally for her school work to get
into those sites through
the internet and had
overridden security devices on the computer to do
so.
She is gathering names for a petition, which will eventually be presented to the Government, appealing for action.
That can be supported online through the Yorkshire Post's www.yorkshirepost.co.uk website.
In both cases reported to the Yorkshire Post where young schizophrenic men attempted to take their lives, they tried a technique involving car exhaust fumes.
One man lives with his parents in the Humber
region, and his mother said: "If someone really wants to commit suicide they might well try to find a way, but these sites really don't help.
"I know he had been on these sites and then he tried to do it. What we have been through as a family is terrible."
Her son survived because he made a telephone call to a friend and was found before he was overcome by the fumes.
He is now rebuilding his life, although his condition remains fragile.
At the time his condition was undiagnosed and he revealed to his parents that he had been using the sites only after his recovery.
"We were shocked; I didn't even know there were such things," his mother said.
"His schizophrenia was diagnosed a few months later and they are a vulnerable part of society without having access to these sites. There are a lot of suicides among schizophrenics."
The family immediately removed computers from their home, but as their son's recovery progresses have since obtained another, although they remain very vigilant about its use.
In the second case a teenager from east Doncaster attempted to kill himself on three occasions after gaining information from suicide websites.
His mother described the contents of the sites he visited as "absolutely horrendous".
She said: "I'm all for freedom of information but these websites are incredibly dangerous to vulnerable people such as my son and thousands of others."
paul.whitehouse@ypn.co.uk
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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