I agree with your comment about some people appearing to want to take on the role of "traffic cop of SS".
Why is it that some people feel the need to act as though they are bellwethers of this community?
Almost invariably, those who do so have sought to drive a thread in a certain direction or silence an opposing perspective, just as you say.
I think part of the issue is that highly vulnerable people are not in a mindset such that they are ready to spot or defend themselves against highly manipulative people or predatory behaviour.
This is not a failing on their/our part, as it is a result of mental state. But predators seek to take advantage of the relative ease by which vulnerable people may be coerced.
When there's name calling, labeling, arbitrary groupings of "we" vs. "they," and no evidence of positive or negative assessments, a discussion is provocative and polarizing. It's especially so if someone does not agree with the label they feel has been put on them, or that they do not agree they are part of either the labeled "they" or the "we."
I've started to get confused about the point of this thread, so I went back to the OP and considered what the balanced view is that he presented.
The first point is that there are people like the OP who are and who act in a way he approves of: depressed, in need, and empathetic.
The second point is that there are people who encourage suicide, and the OP does not do that and does not approve of that.
It seems to me, then, that the OP's scales for appropriate behavior in the community in which he participates are off balance. I hope that's a fair assessment.
So, because the thread is devolving into accusations and complaints about what some dislike that others do, I ask, what are specific examples of both points -- but especially the second, as that seems to me to be the primary focus of the thread.
